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Sistine Chapel, etc

"Using their eyes to look at our world."

  1. The School of Life
  2. Sistine Chapel Virtual Tour
  3. Raphael's Rooms
  4. Boticelli Room
If you look at any of the above sites (or all of them), what you see is beauty. The Renaissance, possibly more so than any other period in history, emphasizes form,

Renaissance Art

shape, and esthetics over practicality and function. Art in the Renaissance was meant to be uplifting, to bring us to a higher, nobler place.

What they forgot, from a Christian point of view, is that a higher, nobler place can truly only be achieved with God on our side. The beauty we seek must somehow reflect not just our ideas of beauty, but ultimately the beauty of God himself.

The video especially applied Renaissance art to the layout of some Italian cities that were developed in this time. With this thought in mind, consider a few things:

  1. What does beauty mean to a Christian?
  2. What does Christian beauty mean to a city?
  3. How does Winnipeg's downtown reflect or not reflect those Christian ideas of beauty? 

What you're going to attempt

  1. Define beauty. What does it mean for a person or a place to be beautiful from a Christian point of view? From a deeper point of view, is it just about eye candy, or is there a form or function that is critical to beauty? Try to write out your definition in a sentence or two.
  2. Look at the map of Winnipeg's downtown. Rearrange things. Demolish streets, building and whatever else you need to in order to build the parts of a beautiful downtown.
  3. Write a few sentences to justify the arrangements you have made.
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