History Commons^™

“In The Spirit Of A Millennial Inheritance:” The Nazi Ambition To Regenerate German Civilization Through The Visual Arts, Marco J. Lloyd

Student Publications

This paper intends to explain the complex and seemingly contradictory implementation of Nazi cultural policy regarding the visual arts by understanding Nazi cultural ideology. By examining the writing and speeches of Adolf Hitler and his ideological predecessors, it is apparent that the Nazis did not object to many modern art styles for purely aesthetic reasons. Instead, they associated the perceived degeneration of art with the degeneration of German society due to the influence of Jews and political opponents. Therefore, the Nazi hope to regenerate German civilization informed the policy of removing “degenerate art” from public display and purifying the art …

Lost Art And Lost Lives: Nazi Art Looting And Art Restitution, Sophia Gravenstein

Student Publications

During the Nazi Regime, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seized an estimated one fifth of all art in Europe and more than 5 million cultural objects before 1945. The Nazis established control over the regime and furthered their racist ambitions through stealing art of any cultural or monetary value to them. They stole “degenerate” art in an attempt to annihilate “racially inferior” races, and “racially pure” art for the glorification of the “Aryan” race. Since the end of WWII, the return of Nazi-looted art to its original owners or their heirs has been an important avenue for remembrance of and …

David Alfaro Siqueiros And “Los Vehículos De La Pintura Dialéctico-Subversiva:” Four Principles To Create Revolutionary Artwork, Joy Zanghi

Student Publications

As one of the most distinguished Mexican muralists, David Alfaro Siqueiros played an important role in Mexican political and artistic history in the twentieth century. Despite the violence that took place in the first half of 1900s in Mexico, art flourished during this period. Inspired by the democratization that characterized the revolution, political art became common during the early twentieth century, and as Mexicans grappled with post-revolutionary identities, many artists, including Siqueiros, turned to communism as the way forward. In his speech “Los vehículos de la pintura dialéctico-subversiva,” delivered in 1932, Siqueiros delineated how to meld revolutionary ideology with the …

Illusions Of Grandeurs: Washingtonian Architecture As Seen By White And Black People Of The Early Nineteenth Century, Lillian D. Shea

Student Publications

In the early nineteenth century, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson built a classically inspired capital designed to legitimize American republican ideals. White interpretations of the architecture gradually aligned more with the founders’ intentions, especially following its reconstruction after the 1814 conflagration. Enslaved and free black observers recognized their exclusion from the message of freedom and equality. Rather than finding their identity through federal buildings, they established their communities within churches, houses, and businesses owned by black people. The varied reactions to Washington’s and Jefferson’s designs demonstrated how the aesthetic idealization of republicanism revealed incongruities in the new capital.

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Fall 2019, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library News

• Cite and Bite Workshops
• Open Access Week (Janelle Wertzberger, Alecea Standlee, Hana Huskic)
• Notes at Noon
• Friends Sponsor Guild Participation (Mary Wootton)
• Stop the Bleed
• The Wall Must Go
• Story Time
• Table to Farm
• Pop-up Library
• Take the Reading Challenge
• 1,000,000
• Grant to Digitize Asian Art

Vietnam Oral Histories (Ron Bailey '67, Sue Hill '67, Michael Birkner, Devin McKinney)

Alexander von Humboldt's Secretary (William Bowman)

Focus on Philanthropy: Walter Miller Trust

A Gift in 3 Dimensions (Richard C. Ryder '70)

Remembering Richard Ryder '70 (Michael Birkner)

New Externship - Careers in Library and …

The Plains Of Mars, European War Prints, 1500-1825, Melissa Casale, Bailey R. Harper, Felicia M. Else, Shannon Egan

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Over fifty original prints by renowned artists from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth century, including Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Théodore Géricault, and Francisco de Goya, among many others, are featured inThe Plains of Mars: European War Prints, 1500-1825. On loan from the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the works of art included in this exhibition examine the topics of war and peace, propaganda, heroism, brutal conflicts, and the harrowing aftermath of battle. Spanning from the Renaissance to the Romantic periods and encompassing a wide geographic scope including Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the Low …

Face To Face, Carl Beam And Andy Warhol, Keira B. Koch

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Keira Koch ’19 examines representations of indigenous cultures in prints and photographs by American artist Andy Warhol and First Nations artist Carl Beam. In this comparative study, Koch considers the topic of appropriation and re-appropriation of Native imagery. Warhol, as a non-Indigenous artist, is using this imagery to highlight the dominant narrative of the American West. Beam, however, incorporates photographs of Native subjects and traditional narratives by re-appropriating those images to tell a distinctly Native narrative. This exhibition invites discussion about the role of contemporary indigenous artists and how indigenous identities are expressed in contemporary art. This exhibition intersects with …

The City: Art And The Urban Environment, Angelique J. Acevedo, Sidney N. Caccioppoli, Abigail A. Coakley, Chris J. Condon, Alyssa Dimaria, Carolyn Hauk, Lucas Kiesel, Noa Leibson, Erin E. O'Brien, Elise A. Quick, Sara E. Rinehart, Emily N. Roush, Shannon Egan

Schmucker Art Catalogs

The City: Art and the Urban Environment is the fifth annual exhibition curated by students enrolled in the Art History Methods class. This exhibition draws on the students’ newly developed expertise in art-historical methodologies and provides an opportunity for sustained research and an engaged curatorial experience. Working with a selection of paintings, prints, and photographs, students Angelique Acevedo ’19, Sidney Caccioppoli ’21, Abigail Coakley ’20, Chris Condon ’18, Alyssa DiMaria ’19, Carolyn Hauk ’21, Lucas Kiesel ’20, Noa Leibson ’20, Erin O’Brien ’19, Elise Quick ’21, Sara Rinehart ’19, and Emily Roush ’21 carefully consider depictions of the urban environment …

A Monument To Culture And Achievement: The Samurai Suit Of Armor And Katana At Gettysburg College, Carolyn Hauk

Student Publications

Of the many artifacts found in Gettysburg College’s Musselman library, perhaps the most unusual and seemingly out of place may be the centuries-old replica of a samurai suit and katana standing guard over visitors and students from an oversized glass case on the first floor. Though hard to miss, their connection with Gettysburg College is not so obvious. A plaque located below the suit reads, “Samurai Armor and Warrior Katana; Late 19th Century; Gift of Major General Charles A. Willoughby; Class of 1914.” These artifacts represent hundreds of years of the ancient Samurai tradition in Japan, a crucial element of …

Coronal Plane: Cristin Millett, Grace Linden, Shannon Egan

Schmucker Art Catalogs

Coronal Plane is the culmination of Millett’s research on the anatomical theater at the University of Padua built in 1594, the oldest surviving anatomy theater in the world. The installation allows viewers to walk into and through a space that evokes physical, emotional, and psychological reactions similar to those experienced in the historic anatomy theater in Padua by audiences of the past. Illustrations depicted on red “windows” in Millett’s work are appropriated from De Formato Foetu, a text written by Girolamo Fabrizi d’Acquapendente (Hieronymus Fabricius), the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Padua. It was under his leadership that …

Ancient China And Its Eurasian Neighbors: Artifacts, Identity, And Death In The Frontier, 3000-700 Bce, Katheryn M. Linduff, Yan Sun, Wei Cao, Yuanqing Liu

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This volume examines the role of objects in the region north of early dynastic state centers, at the intersection of Ancient China and Eurasia, a large area that stretches from Xinjiang to the China Sea, from c.3000 BCE to the mid-eighth century BCE. This area was a frontier, an ambiguous space that lay at the margins of direct political control by the metropolitan states, where local and colonial ideas and practices were reconstructed transculturally. These identities were often merged and displayed in material culture. Types of objects, styles, and iconography were often hybrids or new to the region, as were …

Jasper Skulls And Memento Mori, Kathleen C. Paul

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The jasper skulls in this Curiosity Cabinet sit on the scale atop the touch-ables table. Jasper, a type of impure silica usually a reddish color, is commonly carved for small sculptures, as we see in the skulls.

The reddish tones of both skulls match the overall tone of the cabinet nicely, as well as complimenting the rich medium blue of the walls. Thematically, skulls perfectly align with other objects in the cabinet.

A ubiquitous theme of curiosity cabinets in the 16th and 17th century is the inevitability of death. Symbols of this notion in art work are known as …

Ortelius Map Of Africa, Meredith D. Staats

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The “Presbiteri Iohannis Sive, Abissinorvm Imperii Descriptio,” or “Map of the Kingdom of Prester John,” is a work by Abraham Ortelius, a cartographer, cosmographer, and publisher who was born and died in Antwerp, Belgium. This map was published in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, or Theater of the World, “the first uniformly sized and systematically collected set of maps by different mapmakers which is acknowledged as the first atlas,” published c. 1570 and edited into a number of languages posthumously through 1612. The atlas contained 70 maps engraved by Frans Hogenberg on 53 folio sheets. [excerpt]

19th Century Miniature Landscape And Seascape, Kathleen C. Paul

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

As a gift to Gettysburg College, known as Pennsylvania College at the time, Johann Heinrich Wilbrand Stuckenberg willed his vast estate including an extensive 17^th-19^th century map collection after his death in London in 1903. J.H.W. Stuckenberg, and his wife Mary, were fond of the college for its progressive curriculum and support of his philosophical endeavors in publication, sociology, religion, and his native politics and culture.Two items that were bequeathed to the college are a pair of small paintings, one a landscape, the other a seascape. [excerpt]

Botanical Illustrations, Emily N. Roush

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

Botanical illustrations were an integral facet of botany in the Renaissance era. Many naturalists and physicians studied plants in collections to observe and record the naturalia. In many collections, specimens were displayed for visitors to draw and then create illustrations or prints. With an illustration, detail in plants could be captured and visually understood instead of learning through text. The great feature of illustrations was the fact that the specimens could be exotic yet still studied. Kusukawa says, “Pictures enabled scholars to access unobtainable objects, build knowledge of rare objects over time, and study them long after the live specimens …

Butterflies And Rebirth, Meredith E. Brown

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

During the Renaissance, collectors saw Morpho butterflies as beautiful, elegant, and rare creatures. Their exotic origin and sophistication made these fascinating creatures the subjects of scientific observation, decoration, and symbolism. Butterflies of the Morpho genus include a wide variety of marvelous, striking, and beautiful species. Home to South and Central America, Morpho butterflies thrive in the rainforests of Nicaragua, Colombia, and Venezuela. When Renaissance Europeans began exploring American rainforests, they were quickly captivated by these butterflies. Morphos feature vivid blue coloration and iridescence on the dorsal side of their wings as well as a yellow-brown coloration on the other side. …

Carved Ivory Puzzle Balls, Erica M. Schaumberg

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The Chinese Carved Ivory Puzzle Balls reference the interest in combing art and nature while designating curiosity in Chinese craftsmanship and imagery affecting a European market.The Chinese Ivory Carved Puzzle Balls have been beloved items in the Gettysburg College collection since they were donated in 1959 by Frank Kramer and John Hampshire. The Puzzle Balls, featuring nine balls were displayed in the Schmucker Hall Library. Alumni love the items and regularly ask about the collection in Special Collections as they represent an aspect of the college they continue to love. [excerpt]

Romanticism And Religion: The Superb Lily, Alexis Marie Michelle Zilen

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

“The Superb Lily,” was donated by Geoff Jackson, class of 1991 and beloved benefactor of Gettysburg College, to Special Collections. This first edition piece was published in the twenty first page of the book, Temple of Flora. This text is considered the greatest and most famous florilegia of the twentieth century due to its accuracy of descriptions and vast size. It contained a total of thirty five floral prints. The publisher, Robert Thornton, produced numerous copies of this book in the same year, however, the exact number of copies is unknown. (excerpt)

Quintus Curtius, Francesca M. Costa

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

This book would have been created and read during the 1600’s, and throughout the European Enlightenment period. Written in Latin, it was made to be consumed by a wealthy and educated gentleman. This example was donated to the exhibit by Charles Emmons. It is covered in not-so-well-tooled vellum and gold leaf. All in all, it is in good condition with no marginalia, so while the vellum cover in the Renaissance is sometimes used on textbooks or other travel-appropriate tomes, this was probably only in a stationary location for a long period of time. [excerpt]

Fossils: Digging Into The Past, Sidney N. Caccioppoli

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

Fossils collected in Renaissance collection cabinets were items of wonder and curiosity. Although sometimes mistaken for other pieces of naturalia, they were widely collected by owners of princely cabinets and scholarly collections.Though naturalists and collectors often kept fossils in their collections, they did not have the same understanding as we do today of what they are. Due to their belief in mythological monsters and naturalia with magical properties, there were often misinterpretations or mislabeled objects to something they were not. According to Kenseth’s “A World of Wonders in One Closet Shut,” some collectors believed that fossilized shark’s teeth were “adders’ …

Under The Wing Of A Creature Of The Night, Julia M. Chin

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

Magnificent in its sheer power and beauty, this owl wing has a wingspan of 18 inches and measures 10 inches from the shoulder bone to the secondary feathers. Wings such as the one displayed play a vital role in the lifestyle of owls and other hunting birds who fulfill their dietary requirements through stealthy foraging in the dark of the night. Being predatory animals, an owl depends upon its wings as a weapon, equipping it with an arsenal worthy of any hunter. Because of their composition of downy feathers, soft fringes, and comb-like primary feathers, these light appendages create less …

Seutter Map Of America, Meredith D. Staats

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The map featured in our show, Novus Orbis sive America, was printed in 1730. The engraving measures 50 x 58 centimeters and is a 1:19,000,000 scale.1 The map was donated by John H.W. and Mary G. Stuckenberg. It shows the “New World,” North and South America; the copy Special Collections owns features hand-colored continents. Different states or regions are colored in yellow, pink, orange, and green. On either side of each continent are islands with trade routes highlighted across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Also present are two text boxes, both in Latin, one in the upper left-hand corner and …

Veduta Del Tempio Di Antonino E Faustino In Campo Vaccino, Emma J. Conant-Hiley

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

Giovanni Battista Piranesi is one of history’s best etchers and architects. His two main series of copper etchings, I Carceri (The Prisons) and Vedute (The Views) spread out across the European continent and beyond both during his life and after his death. The “Wonders of Nature and Artifice” exhibition at Schmucker Art Gallery is lucky to have one of his original prints from the Vedute series generously on loan, from the Collection of Professor Charles F. Emmons, Professor of Sociology here at Gettysburg College. The print sizes in at 35 inches by 25 and a half inches, depicting a temple-church …

In Defense Of His Holiness: The Cellini Plaque, Christopher J. Condon

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The plaque depicting Cellini was donated to Gettysburg College by Reverend Jeremiah Zimmerman, Class of 1873, who later became a lecturer at Syracuse University and a frequent benefactor of Gettysburg College. A highly educated alum, Reverend Zimmerman became a clergyman and traveled the world for over a decade to further his studies, ranging from Asian culture to ancient coinage.

The plaque itself measures 32” x 26.75” x 2.5”, is of considerable weight for a porcelain plate, and is painted in the 19th century academic style to offer a dramatic interpretation of Benvenuto Cellini’s actions during the 1527 Sack of Rome. …

Immolation Of The Phoenix, James H. Raphaelson

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The time period of wunderkammer opened a plethora of sciences that scholars devoted their lives to. Among these were botany, zoology, ethnography – studies that had already been somewhat established before. But there were some fields that had not been tapped into, one of them being the study of human anatomy. Up until the late 15th century, the most legitimate writing on anatomy was the Fasciculus medicinae which had very crude illustrations and professed incorrect, archaic theories about the human body. [excerpt]

16th Century Antiphon, Abigail K. Major

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

The Renaissance era, which spanned from the 14th century until the 16th century, served as a transitional period. Considered to be a period of rebirth, the Renaissance commenced a revival in culture, literature, and the arts throughout Europe. The 16th century antiphon not only signifies that music was indeed an important aspect during the Renaissance, but is also tangible evidence that choral music, and more specifically Gregorian chant, were prominent forms of musical expression.

Blue-And-White Wonder: Ming Dynasty Porcelain Plate, Laura G. Waters

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

This authentic Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) plate is a prime example of early export porcelain, a luminous substance that enthralled European collectors. The generous gift of Joyce P. Bishop in honor of her daughter, Kimberly Bishop Connors, Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Plate is on loan from the Reeves Collection at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The plate itself is approximately 7.75 inches (20 cm) in diameter, and appears much deeper from the bottom than it does from the top. Gradually sloping forms are what make the dish so deceptively shallow. In fact, from the reverse, it appears closer in shape …

A Latin Letter, Francesca M. Costa

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

This manuscript was written sometime within the Renaissance, and can open up the world of a gentleman to us. Johannes Lampreicht would have been classically trained around the same time as he learned how to read, write, and count. Because of this, he could compose letters in Latin, and possibly Greek too. He mentions a few Greek authors, and seems well versed in their work. Throughout he uses many shorthand symbols to make writing faster, including an em-dash, and an ampersand. These do not help date the document, however, because they wereinvented by Cicero’s right-hand-slave Tiro in the first century …

Small Asian Wonders, Gabriella A. Bucci

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

As curiosity grew in the Renaissance, so did the scope of collections of wonders. The Cricket Cage, Jade Screen, and Iron Dragon are three examples of rare collection items from the Far East. While these three east Asian small wonders may have been commonplace in their country of origin, they were considered marvelous to the collectors of Europe who had never seen objects such as these produced in their own countries. [excerpt]

Quartz And Prehnite: Minerals During The Renaissance, Shannon R. Zeltmann

Wonders of Nature and Artifice

Minerals were displayed in wonder rooms for their beauty and used by apothecaries for their medical properties and artists, for sculptures and pigments. Minerals during the Renaissance were collected and displayed in wonder rooms to illustrate the beauty of nature. Humanists would have categorized minerals by their external qualities- color, transparency, form, luster, and smell. Over time, geologists continue to study these external qualities when they are first analyzing minerals, and the internal properties. Today the six major factors in identifying minerals are cleavage, the tendency of minerals to break into flat surfaces; color; crystal form or how the form …