I wouldn't be writing this, only my history teacher is kind of making me. You see, art is not fun. Art makes no sense. It looks nice and probably has a meaning in there somewhere but I have no clue how to get to that message because it's buried under like fifteen layers of paint and a mass of artistic methods.
I'm no artist. I have no clue how to see the artistic methods, let alone dissect them.
But since when does school care! I have to a) find a piece of Renaissance art, b) explain the method and message of it, c) connect it to the changes of the Renaissance and Reformation, and d) connect it to modern-day society. Real fun.
So. Art. I found this sculpture called "Celestial globe with clockwork," by Gerhard Emmoser in 1579.
Okay. That's one part down. So. Let's see. We have a horse - more specifically a pegasus - carrying a globe that shows the constellations. The pegasus doesn't look overly burdened by the globe, which seems odd, considering it is carrying an entire globe on its wings no less. Wings are no doubt less strong than the body of the pegasus itself, adding to the globe's weightlessness.
Well, the globe is covered in constellations, meaning astronomy, meaning math, meaning SCIENCE! So the globe's seeming lightness could symbolize the way math and science gave humanity a new ability to study and make sense of the world, thereby giving human ingenuity and innovation "wings." Instead of burdening humanity, it could help us learn "to fly." This is further supported by the globe's coloring - white and gold - which symbolic of heaven and all that jazz, adding to the globe's lightness and also creating a sense of the goodness that learning provides.
Super cliché, but also kinda nice, don't you think? Science is awesome like that. See, it's so awesome that they made art about it.
Anyways, the new emphasis on science and math and technology during the Renaissance were clearly huge influences on this piece. During the Renaissance, and especially the Reformation, people were no longer willing to be told what everything around them meant. This represents them breaking out of that cycle to learn and discover for themselves.
And of course, I can't forget the Coronavirus Connection tm. In an era where politicians are blatantly ignoring science, this sculpture, with its clearly pro-knowledge meaning, holds a bit of irony. As people say that stay-at-home orders are doing more harm than good, as people gather without a second thought, we are becoming all the more lost. We are becoming a people that disregards and even attacks the very thing meant to keep us safe. Emmoser, with his vision of knowledge and enlightenment, must be disappointed.