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All Aboard: The Huma Spaceship Museum
Traveling to Uranus, Year 2100
As curator of the Huma Spaceship Museum, (Since the Earth will no longer be inhabitable) I chose La Maison Carée from France, "The Madonna Enthroned" from Italy, the book "Utopia" from England, and the collection of stories "The Arabian Nights" from the Middle East as a representation of the amazing artwork of Earth created from prehistory to the Renaissance. I have employed an architect to construct a way that The Maison Carrée can fly the remaining people on Earth to Uranus, where we will be inhabiting. <!--more-->The Maison Carrée was built in 19 B.C.E., so it is essential to seal and preserve the entire temple inside a large un-shatterable, indestructible glass box where everyone will still be able to breathe and live during the trip through space. Upon entering the temple, everyone will be handed a printed copy of "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More, or a digitalizes palm reader piece, where they insert a microchip into their hand and view the text on the inside of their palms (or open their palms towards a white wall provided and use their limbs like an overhead projector). People can stay their as long as they like to read/ discuss his text, or they can move on to the next exhibit. However, it is super important for riders on the Huma Spaceship Museum to understand that More's concepts are highly emphasized on the space craft. Because we ruined the world once, it is essential to work towards a Utopian society when we reach Uranus. We had the chance to follow More's advice once and didn't. Moving on: Inside the temple, there will be original paintings of Cimabue's throughout. The main piece at the center of the temper will be "The Madonna Enthroned." This beautiful altarpiece will be the center of attention when people walk into the temple, and an informant/ assistant curator will do a constant tour explaining all of the paintings and their histories. Even the floor of the temple will have Cimabue's artwork on it. The paintings on the floor however will not be originals, we wouldn't want to step on/ or even touch his original works. Only the walls will be covered with Cimabue's original pieces, and those too will be sealed off with a special glass film. After the people walk into the temple (after viewing the beautiful exterior) and the paintings, they can enter the auditorium, a special room built onto the back of La Maison Carrée, where they can sit and watch actors act out plays from "The Arabian Nights." This auditorium will not only have live theatre, but has a separate room to watch movies portraying the stories of "The Arabian Nights." The most entertaining part about all of this, since it is year 2011 and most people don't wear extensive clothing anymore (most wear latex suits or nothing at all) because it isn't necessary (hardly anyone leaves their house due to the increase in technology) clothing stores will be implemented in this facility. It is a rule for everyone to dress up how people did in the society of the artwork they are studying during each tour through the museum. This part of the museum tour will not only serve as entertainment, but will work as a learning tool for people to really feel like they are traveling back in time, getting the full effect of the beauty of the art. After each segment, there will be a restaurant/ lounge area for people to taste the food from France, Italy, England and the Middle East. This part of the tour will be a time for people to really get to know each other and have a Q&amp;A section between the riders and the tour guides. The museum tour will be an enlightening, entertaining experience for everyone involved. The people aboard the ship will have a chance to learn about the Earth's history and will create memories with their new fellow inhabitants of Uranus. Each person will have the chance to learn these facts about the four pieces I chose to include in my museum:
La Maison Carrée (the square house) is a Roman temple built in Nîmes, France in 19 B.C.E. The Roman shrine was built by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Agrippa who was the “right hand man” and son-in-law to Augustus and the patron of the Pantheon in Rome (Hayes, 1). La Maison Carrée was built in hopes to impress the citizens of Nîmes, keeping with the Roman style architecture to honor the new emperor Augustus. The temple was built in dedication to Augustus’s two adopted sons to promote the new imperial control. The building has a bronze inscription that reads “To Gaus Caesar, son of Augutus, consul: to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul designate; to the princes of youth” (Hayes, 1). The temple stands on a 12 ft high podium like a Greek shrine with a stairway that leads up to a colonnaded portico (porch) and then to a single entrance. The Corinthian Order, or the laws of symmetry and proportions, is used in the portico and ornate columns that cover the exterior walls. The building door leads to a large, single room which houses a collection of Roman sculptures (once filled with sculptures of Augustus, his family and the Gods) and other classical fragments (Britannica, 1). The building  is 82 ft long by 40 ft wide. La Maison Carrée served as a spiritual center for the Romans and is an example of classical refinement (Fiero, 6.13). The temple is one of the best preserved  in the world. “It Is one of the most beautiful monuments built in Gaul by the Romans” (Norton, 913). La Maison Carrée is unusual for its time, because it is a Roman temple in the middle of France. The Roman’s brought over a new style of architecture along with their power of the Nîmes area, and it seemed to stand out against the other buildings. Although Nîmes was a provincial city, it was a priority to build a temple there just as nice as any in Rome. Augustus wanted the temple built by the best architect available (Hanser, 147). The style of the building is specifically Roman and the fineness of the construction shows the architect was familiar with the architectual style fashionable in the capital of Rome. The scrolls on the molding of the building are almost identical to the Altar of Peace in Rome which was also dedicated to Augustus. The Romans combined the style of the Etruscans (Italian society that ruled Rome for about a century) using the rectangular form on a podium with columns, a portico and stairs. The architecture also has Greek details; Corinthian order and the organization of the columns, moldings and proportion of the building. Although the Maison Carrée resembles a Greek temple, its architecture is not exactly the same. Most Greek temples have freestanding columns all around the building, making the front and back identical. However, the Maison Carrée has a distinct front and back, and a set of stairs only to the front entrance, where usual Greek temples have stairs all around the building. Romans admired the architecture of Greeks and portrayed it in temples like The Maison Carrée, but were more concerned with ornate details and magnificent architecture to portray Roman power. “There was nothing provincial about The Maison Carrée when it was built” (Hanser 146). Even though The Maison Carrée waws a peculiar architectural style in France, In Rome this style was very popular.La Maison Carrée represents the beautiful history of France, the structure represents the classical beauty of Roman architecture, and the fact that it is so well preserved is astounding. Although it has been reconstructed a few times, its original beauty shines. It is obvious it is important to the French government, and the people that live in Nîmes today. The square has been renovated and now holds a modern art museum and library and makes the area even more inviting to visit. I like the fact that the square makes modern style work with the old, classical architecture of The Maison Carrée. When looking at a picture of the temple, it seems as if it were picked up in Rome and placed in the middle of the square it sits in. It seems a little out of place beside the buildings around it, which makes it unique. The architecture is simple, but stunning. I love the columns and the way they wrap all the way around the building. I think it is rather interesting how many different identities the building has had. It started out as a temple or church, then a town hall, stable, etc and is now a museum. I would love to visit and see with my own eyes the beauty and integrity of the building. It would be amazing to walk up the steep set of stairs and think of how many came before me. When I visit France     someday soon, I will for definitely make a stop at La Maison Carrée and give praise to those that designed and built the beautiful temple.For future generations, it is important to understand the significance of La Maison Carrée. It is not only a beautiful piece of architecture, it is a representation of the struggle for power during its time. It represents the hard work men put into building the structure. It is historical evidence of the Roman Empire, and represents the power Augustus had during his reign in France and other European regions. Due to the fact that is the best preserved temple from its time period, future generations can visit it and view the original beauty and artistic intelligence it took to build it. It is important for future generations to realize the building was made by real men with their bare hands. Blood, sweat and tears went into building The Maison Carrée, unlike many buildings today. Architecture today lacks structural beauty, and many people do not think of proportions and symmetry the way these men used to. The Maison Carrée is a prime example of the Corinthian Order, and would be important for anyone to visit in order to understand the rules of the order. The Maison Carrée is not just a beautiful building, it is a representation of the people that lived in Nîmes, worked there and ruled there. It is an example of the Roman reign and the colorful history of France.

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The “Madonna Enthroned” is an altarpiece painting done by one of the most famous Italian painters Cimabue (1240-1302.) Cimabue was a Florentine painter in the second half of the 13th century and the early years of the 14th century. Although none of his paintings are signed and few are still in tact, his activity in the Basilica of S. Francesco in Assisi is documented in 1280/1290. Cimabue studied with some of the Greek Masters in St. Maria Novella and was involved in the Neo-Hellenistic movement of the Paleo Organ Renaissance. His training was not exclusively Byzantine, although he lived and learned during this time period. The “Madonna Enthroned” is an altarpiece painted in or around 1285. This piece was the largest in its class of paintings at the time. The “Madonna Enthroned” was a forerunner of the Renaissance style paintings. It is said to have an “otherworldly appearance” with its network of gold lines on and around the Madonna. The figures in the “Madonna Enthroned” are flat and almost transparent as gold “swims” through them (World Book, 583.) This painting was done as an altarpiece using egg tempera on wood and is 12ft 7.5 inches by 7 ft 4 inches. Cimabue was a patriarch of Italian painting, only five or six of his originals are left today. The “Madonna Enthroned” was picked to live in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Cimabue’s religious Frescos are still housed in the Church of Saint Frances in Italy. Cimabue influenced many painters during and after his time period to shift their techniques and follow the trends of the everchanging artistic world. Cimabue used techniques common in the Byzantine tradition while moving towards a Naturalist and Renaissance style. His spatial depth in the “Madonna Enthroned” created a three-demensional effect uncommon during this time period. Cimabue added a dramatic effect to all of his paintings and changed the art world not only in Italy, but worldwide.In this time period, Italy was not unified and was made of a large number of states. Italy was more urbanized than many other European countries at the time. Major cities in Europe competed with major cities in Italy with the artistic patronage in Italy. The higher-ups in Italy wanted the churches and local buildings to be bigger and better than the rest of Europe, and wanted them decorated and painted by the BEST artists around. Religion was a major factor of inspiration to all artists during this time. Altarpieces and Frescos dominated the artistic world along with painting and sculptures, usually centered around pulpits and statues of saints. These painting all were housed either inside a church or in a civic building or town hall. The styles of this time period endured for centuries to come. The most popular type of art was made with tempera (wooden panels painted with colors mixed with egg) later called “egg  tempera.” The second most popular was called a Fresco, a wall painting that was applied to fresh, damp plaster. Many artist of this time were masters of both of these techniques. Sculpture usually consisted of marble and bronze sometimes gilded with soft layers of gold (this was expensive, so it  wasn’t near as easy to find.) The people who had money to pay artists for the contributions were the churches. The only documented payment made to Cimabue was for his St. John mosaic in the main apse of the Pisa Cathedral in Italy. Most of Cimabue’s work was done inside churches throughout Europe. His earliest work was the “Crucifix” in S. Domenico, Arrezo painted inside a church.  During this time, art had many influences. The gothic style dominated in Europe. Constantinople was captured by crusaders in 1204 which increased contact between Italian and Byzantine art. Later Byzantine art was “softened by naturalism and humanity looking forward to the Renaissance” (Art, 84.)  Cimabue was a master of both egg tempera, frescos and mosaics and his artwork centered around secular subjects adding “tender humanity” to each of his pieces (Art, 85.)The “Madonna Enthroned” is an example of Medieval art with influences of the Byzantine and Gothic era leading up to the Renaissance style of painting. Some of the most stunning pieces of art from this era is in the form of altarpieces installed in churches in honor of one of the saints or the Virgin Mary (Madonna.)  Typical altarpieces were done on one or more wooden panels  coated in a white chalky plaster or “gesso” with tempera, which produced dull, flat colors. The altarpiece was then decorated with gold leaf that would reflect the candles lit in the altar for a more dramatic effect (Fiero, 13.34.) Cimabue’s altarpiece the “Madonna Enthroned” used these techniques. His piece showed a scene of the Madonna and her child elevated on a large seat that is a throne and a tower. Angels are all around her and beneath her feet are four Hebrew prophets holding scrolls. The Madonna is centered in the piece and is significantly larger than the rest of the people in the picture, showing her importance. “Such hierarchic grading, while typical of Medieval art, also characterized Egyptian and Byzantine compositions” (Fiero, 13.)  Cimabue’s devotional altar piece is lavish and elegant. It’s lines are sharp and the metallic detail on the Virgin’s dark blue drapery sets off the sharp wings of the angels and the distinct features of Christ and the decorative throne. The Virgin has a little more character in her face than what was usual at the time, but like most Byzantine art- all of the faces of the saints, Christ and angels looking similar. Cimabue used egg tempera on wood because it was stable and durable and the colors remained strong through time. The colors are added to the mixed with the solution and applied to the wood. This solution dries quickly so Cimabue (or any artist) could not mix color on the actual Fresco.For future generations it is important to know the Cimabue was one of the first famous artists of his time. His artistic style was so innovative and precise that he made many other artist create new styles, and inspired them to use his techniques. He studied classical Greek artwork, and was trained by  “The Greek Masters” at the Saint Maria Novella. Cimabue was a trained artist and worked hard at his hobby. He was paid for his work, and people felt privileged to work with him and view his incredible masterpieces. Cimabue inspired artist like Giotto to further their career and change the artistic world as we know it. Cimabue used the current artistic styles of his time and molded them into his style and created masterpieces. His art was a forerunner to Renaissance style art and was one of the first in his time to step outside the box and go against the grain, which ultimately made him stand out and live on as a legacy in the artistic world.
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<p style="text-align: left;">Sir Thomas More was born in England in 1478 and worked as chancellor to King Henry VIII during the king’s controversial break with the Catholic church. More was a Christian man who relied heavily on his own conscience. He stood up for religious tolerance and Christian charity. He was “unwilling to compromise his conviction as a Roman Catholic” (Fiero, 19) and by opposing the actions of the king, was executed for treason in 1535. Although More worked for the kind most of his life, he had a constant struggle on whether to remain loyal to the king and continue to join his services, or to remain a philosopher. When More wrote his most famous piece: Utopia (1516) the first literary description of a “perfect” or ideal state since “Republic” by Plato. More centered this story around Europe’s statecraft and current state of society and titled it Utopia, meaning in Greek both “good place” and “no place” (Fiero, 19). More created a society where everything was equal (except to slaves) and where all citizens were equally responsible for social justice. The Utopians in the made-up society are not Christians, but stand by the Christian morals of charity and morality. More wrote “Utopia” in the form of a critique (on European state at the time) and as a political satire. In Utopian society, wives serve their husbands, and children serve their parents. Cities are divided equally into four separate parts and there is a marketplace in the center of each. At the marketplace, people bring their crops or tools they make and lay them out for people from their cities to come take back to their houses. The fathers of each family take what is necessary for their family’s survival and need not pay anything in return. In “Utopia,” there is no such thing as greed and people do not want things because excess is not part of their vocabulary. People do not need money, because there is no denial for anything- there is plenty of everything to go around. The Utopians hoard a vast array of metals that they take from foreign trade and use them for the military or for anything else they need. ” They have no inducements to do this, since they are sure they shall always be supplied” (Fiero, 19). People have no need for gold or silver or anything of “value” because they don’t find it necessary to live. “The folly of men has enhanced the value of gold and silver, because of their scarcity. Whereas, on the contrary, it is their opinion that nature as an indulgent parent, has freely given us all the best things in great abundance” (Fiero, 19). In other words, to the Utopians things in vain are worthless. If something like gold or diamonds is attained, it is because someone in society has come across it by accident- and in this case they adorn their children with these treasures. The goods given to their children will “glory” them while they are children and when they are older they will understand that “none but children use such baubles, they of their own accords, without being being bid by their parents lay them aside” (Fiero, 19). One of the last main points More puts in his “Utopia” is that war is brutal and is extremely unnecessary and should be avoided at all cost. More says that “nothing is more inglorious than glory attained by war” (Fiero, 19) and that no matter what if a truce is made- it will never be broken. The Utopian society takes truces so seriously that nothing can make them break it. The Utopians will not burn an enemy’s crops, kill their horses or kill any man- unless he is a spy.“Utopia” is definitely not a typical work of its era. More’s thought were completely out of the ordinary for the average person during his time. Sure, many philosophers (like Plato) thought like him, but the common man wouldn’t think of writing a critique on the country they live in- not without thinking of dying for treason first! His thoughts were so before his time that many disagreed with his opinions. “Utopia” was radical in its day- More’s view on “idealistic revolution” (Gerard, 1) is still controversial today. Even though the world has progressed (somewhat) towards this utopian-like place, many issues addressed in “Utopia” are still not fixed today (war for instance). More was critical of the world he lived in, economic order was constantly changing and More believed a lot of the changes were evil. He wrote “Utopia” to suggest some solutions to the problems Europe was having. More’s differed from philosophers like Plato’s writing, because More gave to everyone in his scenario. More shows the difference between his own corrupt society and compares it to his idealistic universe. Plato, in his “Republic” talks about how idealism deals with separation of the mind and matter. He explains that someone might get ahead and be virtuous by the benefits of both the individual and the society they live in. Like more, Plato built an idealist society where people worked together to achieve a virtuous environment. Like Plato, more also feels that an educated society is a stronger society.“Utopia” should be preserved and should be continually taught throughout the rest of time. “Utopia” can reach many generations and can speak to anyone who has a heart. More’s words are thought out and his story is in-depth, but it is easy to understand. His morals and ideals placed inside “Utopia” are ones that everyone seeks. Peace and harmony reside on Utopia, and this is something we all wish to live in. I love the geographic context of the actual Utopian island, it is a deserted island where the country can choose to interact with the rest of the world or not. I believe this is how the United States should act, we should chose our battles wisely and think twice (or a million times!) about the price and necessity of war. “Utopia” is not only an entertaining read, it is truly inspiring.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">“The Arabian Nights” also known as “The Thousand and One Nights” is a classic assembly of stories whose origins branch from the eighth and tenth centuries from Arabic, Persian and Indian cultures (who wrote the actual stories is uncertain). This collection of stories is the most famous piece of Arabic literature in the west. Famous characters such as Ali Baba, Aladdin and Sinbad all stem from these adventurous tales. The collection of prose tales, uses a narrative technique called a “frame tale,” where a story is “composed for the purpose of including a group of shorter stories” (Fiero, 19).  The specific frame story used in “The Arabian Nights” focuses on an Indian fairy tale: “Shahrasad (in English, Scheherazade) marries a king who fears female infidelity so greatly that he kills each new wife on the morning after the wedding night. In order to forestall her own death, Scheherazade entertains the king by telling stories, each of which she carefully brings to a climax just before dawn, so that, in order to learn the ending, the king must allow her to live.” (Fiero, 19). The storytelling techniques of Scheherazade has a “humanizing” effect on the kind who, after exactly a thousand nights begins to love his witty wife (so he decides not to behead her like the rest!) Within the story lies 250 tales which include fantasy, romance and erotica. “The Arabian Nights” has been translated into various languages throughout time. In the 1700s, Jean Antoine Galland executed the first translation in French and in the 1880′s John Payne and Sir Richard Francis Burton did an English translation. Since then, the stories have been translated into various other languages including Persian and Egyptian. Stories such as Aladdin focus on the lower people in society; rogues, tricksters and vagabonds were all added during the Egyptian translations of the stories. Islam, from the very beginning, has had the status of being a state-sponsored religion. Islam holds ethnic diversity, where theocratic rule brought together an assimilation of many different people. The main languages of the Islamic world include: Arabic, Persian and Turkish (but there are many, many others). Like “The Arabian Nights,” Islam “absorbed” different styles of art from non-Arab people as it expanded. “The Arabian Nights” can be compared with the ever-changing styles of Islam; as the stories of “The Thousand and One Nights” expanded, so did its content and art styles. Muhammad had a dictum where people were to “seek knowledge,” like the western world in order to understand the happenings of the natural world. A burst of literacy happened during the 1300-1500s and people began to explore literature from all over the world. The availability of paper was an important factor in the burst for knowledge, “and in the production of new types of literature, such as scientific treatises, cookbooks, poems and tales, paper provided a major advance over parchment and papyrus, expensive materials from whose surfaces ink could easily be erased.” If paper wasn’t easily attainable and knowledge wasn’t sought after, like Muhammad had asked, “The Arabian Nights” would have never graced this Earth.The stories of “The Thousand and One Nights” continues to inspire many Western readers about the ideas of the “romantic” East. Most stories during this time period focused on tribal wars, heroic deeds and brave warriors. Shortly after the printing press was invented, people began printing cheap books, some with illustrations. “The Arabian Nights” was different for its time because it was pure entertainment. The stories are fun and adventurous which is why they became so popular. “The Arabian Nights” inspired stories of romance and fairy tales in a time period when mostly poetry, riddles, lullabies and war tales were circulating. “The Arabian Nights” were collected over many centuries from Persia, India and Arabia and include a vast assortment of subjects and styles. The stories include: Adventure fantasies, erotica, animal fables and display an accurate descriptions of the daily entertainments of the Islamic world. The stories are compared to the Islamic art in the way that they loop into each other, linking each story to the last. This technique is a principe of the design in Islamic art, where repetition and “infinite extension” loop within each other to “form a meandering overall pattern” (Fiero, 19).“The Arabian Nights” serves the same purpose in Islamic culture as do our fairy tales about little pigs and magic carpets. The story of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” was made into a Disney movie and is loved by millions of children every year. This collection of stories made many of its characters household names, what child doesn’t know who Aladdin, Sinbad or Ali Baba? What kid doesn’t know the song “Arabian Nights” from Aladdin the movie? These stories are still relevant today because they inspired generations of writers and readers to dream and feel free to explore parts of the world they aren’t familiar with. This collection of stories should be preserved because the themes and literary advancements in the texts were so far before their times. The stories speak and will continue to speak to generations to come. Anyone can pick up a copy of “The Thousand and One Nights” and be entertained. The stories are not strictly Islamic in lesson, they speak to every culture. Entertainment is what we live for today- people during the time when these stories were written looked at them like we do movies today. The tales let people escape from their lives and dream about the lives of the characters in the stories they read. “The Arabian Nights” is not only a literary classic, but a fine example of pure entertainment.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;">Overall, the museum will be a great way to teach people about the beautiful history and the incredible art of planet Earth. Being part of this exhibit while traveling into outer space will hopefully inspire the people to become artists themselves. Since Uranus has no history as of yet, it is important to educate the people so they can create beautiful masterpieces just like the artists of La Maison Carrée, "The Madonna Enthroned", "Utopia," and "The Arabian Nights." Hopefully the people aboard the ship are in awe of these pieces and feel very blessed to be in the presence of some of the original pieces of art. The reason I created this museum was to educate and entertain, but mostly to bring the people aboard the Huma Spaceship together as an artistic union. Culture cannot exist without art and art cannot exist without culture. I assume everyone will be extremely excited about visiting the museums and will continue to pass along the beautiful traditions these artists originally succeeded in doing. I hope people work towards a Utopian society and use Uranus as a new, fresh place to create beautiful art and live in peace and harmony!</p>