Fine art and music history woven together in a single book

It is a well-known fact that art works of the Middle Age were motivated by Christianity to be drawn in a more 2-dimensional viewpoint compared to those during the Renaissance. After Christianity was declared as the state religion of the Roman Empire, worshiping became the holy grail of the arts. This led artists to do the least to make drawings recognizable enough in all directions to deliver the Bible. It was not until Christians lost power and gave way to noblemen and rich merchants during the Crusades from the 11th to the 13th century that drawings and paintings started being created for the sake of the arts per se.

This book might have been relegated to one of thousands of millions of mundane art books out there on the shelves if the author had not added a spoon of sugar – music. Given that fine art and music have changed together in the same historical backdrops, this book describes a combination of fine art and music to help you get closer to the arts.

For example, a chapter on medieval art will make you walk through the backgrounds of church music development. In the Middle Age, most of music pieces were composed for the sake of worship. That is why this era is characteristic of polyphony in music history. Gregorian chants, currently sung across Christian churches, were born in this era. After Christianity withered did triple music, a symbol of the Holy Trinity, change to duple, which has given birth to a wide range of complex and varied songs. With fine art and music history overlapped with each other, the arts of each epoch come across as a 3-dimensional entity in this book.

The author proclaims herself as a curator cellist. The cello major graduated from the National Conservatory of the Versailles Region (Conservatoire National de Région de Versailles) in France while being officially qualified as an assistant curator by passing the national exam in South Korea. In recognition of her efforts to break the barrier between music and fine art, the author was selected 2030 Power Leader in Art & Culture by the Forbes this year. 　

Songs are recommended by the author that go along with each chapter. By scanning a QR code printed on the first page of each chapter, you are directed to a YouTube page to enjoy a piece of music that represents a time that the corresponding chapter deals with. Literally, you are invited to an art museum where music flows.


chan2@donga.com