University of Edinburgh History of Art

Session 2021-22

COVER SHEET FOR PRE-HONOURS EXAM

Course Organiser: M. McNamee

Course: HoA1B Art at the Crossroads of World Cultures

Tutor: Peter Rimmer

Day & Time of Tutorial: Thursday 2.10pm

Student Exam no (must be added): B205525

Indicate below which Questions you have attempted. (Question 1 is compulsory)

Question 1 - YES

Question 2 - YES

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

IF YOU HAVE A SCHEDULE OF ADJUSTMENTS

Please list any exam-related adjustments:

Compare and contrast the ways that artists adapted ‘foreign’ elements to suit local tastes and

needs.

Whilst we tend to observe and study artworks in relation to their intimate surroundings and

societal norms, centuries of intercultural interactions, from that of trade, migration and

conflict can be observed in artworks across time. This cultural hybridity expresses itself

through juxtaposing aesthetic elements, ranging from motifs to methods, materials, and

compositions – Producing much more complex pieces of art then we may realise, that through
profound analysis reveal “a mirror of the world’s” interconnectivity, as Julian Bell would

come to suggest in his geo-chronological organisation of art movements. However, perhaps

even more curiously these global exchanges led to the development of new artistic elements,

as artists adapted foreign techniques to appeal to local tastes and needs, as observed with

George Trubert’s pseudo-Arabic aesthetic in his La Vierge au Voile Bleu and Al-Hakim II’s

extension of the Great Mosque of Cordoba that reflected the potent pan-Mediterranean

cultures of the time, whilst reminding visitors that his reign was continuation of that of his

ancestors in the middle-east.

Upon first impressions, George Trubert’s La Vierge au Voile Bleu displays a modest,

mournful, and sacred image, as the Virgin Mary casts her eyes down in a sorrowful gaze. As

golden beams of light seem to emanate from behind her, Mary is depicted in her usual divine

nature; emphasised through the small stars that border the frame, alluding to her associations

with the transcendental and holy world. This miniature painting is a copy of a celebrated

Byzantine depiction of the weeping Madonna which belonged to King René which may

highlight the subtle elements of Arabic and byzantine visual culture that are interwoven

within this painting. To a Eurocentric eye it may not be apparent that the curved inscriptions

at the top and bottom of the panel are nothing more than decorative swirls and nonsensical

arrangements of Arabic characters producing an illusion of real Arabic, but this is exactly

what Trubert is doing. Through pseudo-Arabic motifs, Trubert is able to entice the European,

renaissance spectator’s fascination with what lied beyond known borders. Imbuing a sense of

exoticism through the fictitious foreign elements and consequently reflecting the desirability

of imported objects from afar in Europe, as well as the growing tendency to record the

‘unknown’, even if it was warped to suit local tastes, needs and even skills as it was very

unlikely that a European artist was trained in writing Arabic calligraphy. Not to mention that

by appropriating these calligraphic elements, Trubert is also able to situate his depiction of the

virgin Mary in a biblically authentic setting – Reclaiming figures of Christian importance

from their Muslim past and evoking the exotic and other-worldly splendour in an attempt to

enhance the Virgin Mary’s divinity and overall brilliance. The nonsensical nature of the
writing is also crucial, demonstrating that illusions of Arabic were enough to cement an image

of Islamic association. In working as an aide-memoire then, La Vierge au Voile Bleu does

more than just project an image of Christianity but also an image of Renaissance Europe

which valued Islamic visual culture without rejecting or subduing its own traditional motifs

and art styles.

Built around 500 years earlier, The Great Mosque of Cordoba’s extension, commissioned by

Al-Hakam II, reveals a global interconnectedness that went beyond purely aesthetic value but

rather a complex configuration of politically charged iconographic and architectural elements,

which reflected Al-Hakam II’s Umayyad past and his Andalusian present. Al Hakam’s

expansion, most prominently, featured the inclusion of a maqsura and a mihrab in addition to

detailed ornamentation and oil lamps that acted as a metaphor for the spiritual illumination

provided by the caliph in the often dark and warm sanctuary of the mosque. The extension of

the mosque was an extension of divine space, mirroring the growing Muslim population

which through a striking visual composition of interlacing arches, carved marble panels,

mosaics and looming structures provided an architectural expression of both the new Islamic

reign in Spain and the traditional grandeur back home in the ‘east’. Unlike La Vierge au Voile

Bleu then, The Great Mosque of Cordoba reflects a local need for tradition and the

establishment of the Muslim religion in a new space, as opposed to a fascination with the

unknown and the ever-evolving trade routes and links across the globe.

Define the concept of ‘cultural hybridity’ and assess its utility for investigating visual

material.

Cultural hybridity can be defined as the meeting, mixing and consequent product of two

cultures, whether these be from two different places or even different time periods in the same

location. As an “an aesthetic of diversity” (Paul Wood) it is an important phenomenon which

defies traditionally European derived senses of order, classification, and systemisation,

instead highlighting art as a potent, dynamic, and active force. Reminding viewers, art

historians and even artists that though artworks may be stationary, their creators, influences
and overall background are most certainly not. Visual hybridity thus allows things to be

analysed more profoundly because it forces us to question why an object makes references to

other cultures and how this has come to be. It urges us to rethink whether cultural hybridity in

art is done consciously and whether it is a celebration or critique, thus making it a useful

framework to address social and political issues in the art world. As Oleg Grabar argues “why

we choose to know one thing over another is a conscious or unconscious moral choice” and

perhaps this is why cultural hybridity as a concept for analysing art has received so much

backlash – It actively challenges our knowledge of the canon and of how artistic

developments came to be. Making space for the traditionally oppressed and marginalised and

also for those who may feel like they do not belong to a distinct culture but rather feel like a

product of several. Guillermo Gómez Peña invites us to think of cultural hybridity as “border

culture” whereby unique fusions of cultural artistic practices lead to new artistic models.

Nonetheless it can also be argued that cultural hybridity is a form of erasure, to which I will

respond by arguing that cultural hybridity offers clarity and depth to art, pushing everyone to

rethink the persistently pushed notion of artistic practices as individual to their time and

location and instead embrace visual culture as part of a large, complex story of human

production that considers ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ parts of history.

Perhaps an obvious place to employ cultural hybridity as a tool of art historical examination is

renaissance Italy, where trade in spices and sugar was booming, fomenting a growing

economy and a allowing for the growth of “sketchbook culture” whereby artists began to

rapidly document their curiosity for new people and objects through careful drawings that

emphasised foreign decoration, textiles and physiognomy as European painters re-examined

their notion of ideal proportions as people with different features were introduced to Europe

and vice versa. Albrecht Durer and Andreas Vesalius were at the forefront of this,

documenting people arriving from different African nations as well as India, Iran and Turkey,

taking particular interest in their customs and depicting them doing such tasks. These sketches

highlight a fascination with different cultures and approaching these artworks with cultural

hybridity allows us to realise the interactions that must have been taking place and the
negative effects of them also, through the fetishization and exoticisation of the non-European.

In the contemporary world, cultural hybridity is equally as present in art. In Latin America

artists decorate inherited American school buses with traditional designs and colourful motifs

and artists such as Paula Rego mix their dual heritage in their paintings, exploring Portuguese

and British traditions and what it means to possess both. Politics of integration and

multiculturalism call on us to employ cultural hybridity in the way we observe and analyse

art. It both unifies and points out individual traditions and is thus crucial for art historical

practice.