Welcome, Members of Parliament

Welcome, Members of Parliament. This blog is designed to act as a student forum for anyone enrolled in my classes at a Dallas-area proprietary college, former students, and/or others who find our conversations interesting. The Parliament will be moderated to ensure civility and relevance. The directions we take, the paths we follow, and the concerns we address are all up to you.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Art History in the Movies: Hildegard of Bingen

History of Art & Design I students may remember, from our discussion of illuminated manuscripts, the image Hildegard of Bingen painted of herself receiving a vision. So you might imagine how pleased I was to read in the Daily Poop this morning about a new film, showing at the Angelika in Dallas, called Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen, and directed by Margarethe von Trotta. Here's a trailer (sorry about the German--but there are subtitles).


I always recommend seeing good films that help make the past more "present" to us, and the review of the film makes it seem promising. It looks like it focuses on her visions more than anything, but she was a remarkable woman and certainly deserves to be recognized by a broader audience than antiquated art history instructors and lovers of Gregorian chant.

If you are at all interested in Medieval music, you might also enjoy this YouTube version of her Kyrie Eleison:



Real fans of the genre can check out some of the best versions of Hildegard's music, recorded by Anonymous 4; my favorite album is 11,000 Virgins (samples are available at the link).

This just in: Painless (Art) History. I got a link to this YouTube page through my daily dose of Good. The perpetrators are history teachers, and much more familiar with pop music than I am. I'll probably show a couple in class, but you may want to check them all out before finals--no matter which of my classes you're in.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats a shame its almost like banning kids from seeing the Eiffel tower or the statue of liberty..if the sensor out the naughty bits its fine but banning it completely would be uncalled for

Anonymous said...

I would really like to see the movie. i just fear what Hollywood does to realty some times. some of the cinematic footage look cool though..

Owlfarmer said...

Thanks for the comment, but I think you responded to the wrong post.
:)

Owlfarmer said...

Also: I don't mind anonymous posts, but you don't earn points if I don't know who you are.

Moi said...

I didn't know the Human League could be educational. That was a rather strange, but catchy little song.

Shea Antoinette Leeper (aka Moi)