How illiteracy influences people’s life Essay Example for Free

How absence of education impacts people’s life Essay In the film, The Reader, Kate Winslet assumed the job of Hanna Schmitz, an uneducated train conductor who was sent to prison without understanding what she has fouled up. When Hanna said the line, I would prefer to hear you out , I was moved in light of the fact that these couple of words permitted me to sympathize with individuals who are uneducated. It gave me a brief look at the sentiments of powerlessness and dissatisfaction they should experience in their regular day to day existence. The film additionally gave me how absence of education can influence a people life. Due to the way that they don't approach the data the remainder of the world has, they wind up being oppressed by the assessments of the proficient. It is inconceivable for them to develop assessments as they do come up short on the subtleties expected to make one. Simultaneously, they are compelled to be reliant on individuals who can furnish them with this data. They are additionally under the leniency of individuals who have information in the composed law. The film likewise demonstrated me how lowering it must be not to have the option to peruse or compose. Toward the beginning of the film, she took part in an extramarital entanglements with a man a large portion of her age. What's more, at whatever point the man would peruse for her, her position blurred away as a result of the manner in which she would act like a youngster hanging tight for her dad to peruse her a sleep time story. Hannas story shows how significant being proficient is. It assumes a significant job in a people life as it can change their predetermination. In this article, I might want to discuss the progressions and impacts of proficiency to a people brain and life. I might want to show how proficiency can give keenness and capacity to an individual by experiencing crafted by Staple, Douglass and Kozel which they made so as to stress the significance of education in the popularity based world. Brent Staple, a writer and article author for the New York Times, described the manner in which his granddad completely changed himself by figuring out how to peruse. In one of his articles, he composed: Name of Author 2-â€Å"Nevertheless, the capacity to peruse and compose gave them a vantage point on their conditions and shielded them from double crossers who routinely stripped uneducated individuals of land and different resources. † (p. 1) Staples granddad had the option to pick up his autonomy by figuring out how to peruse and compose. He likewise figured out how to recognize what is acceptable based on what is terrible, what can profit him and what can demolish his life. He additionally wound up with the ability to think and offer his input as he presently has a superior handle of the issues around him. Outfitted with the information he had the option to get from perusing, he found the ability to settle on his own choices and battle for his privileges. He had the option to liberate himself from the jail of different people groups considerations. Another essayist, Frederick Douglass, who is renowned for his line: I would join with anyone to do right and with no one to foul up, composed an article that is corresponding to Staples article in the manner that he discussed the manner in which proficiency affected his life and his reasoning. Douglass story, nonetheless, is very not quite the same as that of Staples granddad. In his story, he related that he figured out how to peruse covertly with the dread of being beaten. Being brought into the world a slave, Douglass was given starting with one proprietor then onto the next. The spouse of one his proprietors showed him the letters in order despite the fact that she realized that there was a law against showing slaves how to peruse. Her significant other clearly objected about this when he discovered. He accepted that a slave who picks up education will be unsatisfied with his condition and long for opportunity. Indeed, even with the danger of being gotten and pummeled, Douglass figured out how to peruse with the assistance of the white youngsters in the area. He additionally gave a valiant effort to watch the manner in which the request white men would compose. His point of view changed after he has accomplished proficiency. Douglas understood that dark men are not beasts or savages who ought to be constrained to functioning as a slave, Name of Author 3 they reserve the option to be instructed and regarded. As his lord anticipated, he longed for the opportunity that the white individuals have. As he keeps on figuring out how to peruse and compose, Douglass demeanor to life is step by step changed by proficiency. Douglass makes reference to in the article: â€Å"I read them again and again with unabated intrigue. They offer tongue to intriguing idea of my own soul†¦. The ethical which I picked up from the exchange was the intensity of truth over the inner voice of even a slaveholder. † (p. 45) By figuring out how to peruse and compose, Douglass learned the importance of words and sentences, however the intensity of information. He gradually got mindful of his privileges as an individual and how unjustifiably the individuals of color have been dealt with. He additionally understood that ignorance is the motivation behind why the white individuals had the option to subjugate his race for such a long time. In addition to the fact that illiteracy kept them uninformed of their privileges, it likewise made them incapable to have an independent mind, to recognize from good and bad, what is hurtful and what isn't. It additionally prevented them from getting the information that they have to seek after their opportunity. Consequently, they were impacted by the white individuals to accept that their lone reason in life was to work for them. With his freshly discovered information, he had the option to transform him and increase his opportunity. Simultaneously, having valued the estimation of education, he gave the information to different slaves, allowing them the chance to change their own lives. In Kozol’s article, he centers around how absence of education can compromise a people lifestyle and thinking. He accepts that one will never truly have capacity to ensure himself in the event that he is uneducated in light of the fact that he is consistently ignorant of whats going on. He cannot peruse the bizarre signs on the road that cautions him of peril or discloses to him that he is violating the law. Neither would he be able to peruse authoritative reports, making him defenseless against being cheated. He is additionally ignorant of his privileges. Kozol Name of Author †4 says, â€Å" They don't have a clue what rights they have, what cutoff times and necessities they face, what choice they may decide to work out. They are half-residents. Their correct exist I print however not truth be told. † (52-53) They can't ensure their own privileges since they dont recognize what their privileges are. Neither would they be able to apply their privileges or settle on a decision since they don't have the foggiest idea what their alternatives are. Similar focuses were handled by Douglas in his article when he said that individuals of color were dealt with like slaves since they were not educated and were not allowed to realize that they don't need to restrain themselves to such a status. They recently imagined that would experience this bad dream for the remainder of their lives on the grounds that nobody could spare them. What they didnt know was they couldve spared themselves had they realized that they had rights to battle for. On the off chance that they had been proficient, they would have understood that they are not slaves and they have option to be taught and regarded in light of the fact that they are people. Lack of education, be that as it may, has banished them to such a nightmarish presence where their predetermination is directed by their lords. Presently education despite everything assumes the most significant job in the public arena. On the off chance that you can't peruse and compose, it would be extremely difficult for you to live. You wouldnt realize how to manage a great deal of things. You wouldnt realize what is correct or wrong, what might profit you and what might hurt you. Due to the various things that you don't have the foggiest idea, your absence of information can bring you hurt. Simultaneously, your absence of information, prevents you from having your own convictions or feelings. What's more, since you have know access to the choices you can look over, you wind up accepting that there are none and the main thing you can do is follow what the others are doing or to have a similar assessment as they do. Without proficiency, all the individuals can do is follow and comply, permitting others to assume responsibility for their own lives. In the event that a nation is loaded up with ignorant individuals, at that point vote based system is futile since the careless greater part can be constrained by the Name of Author 5-government and the votes of the individuals who are proficient and have their own personalities can be outperformed by the individuals who arent. On the off chance that that is the situation, at that point the legislature can turn into a despot in the appearance of majority rules system. Subsequently, it is protected to state that without the nearness of education, there is no information. Without information, there are no decisions. Also, without information, there is no opportunity which is the very substance of vote based system.

The Need to Study English as a Foreign Language Free Essays

For what reason DO WE STUDY ENGLISH It is important to learn in any event one unknown dialect today. That’s why understudies have such subject as an unknown dialect at school. The issue of learning unknown dialects is significant today. We will compose a custom paper test on The Need to Study English as a Foreign Language or on the other hand any comparative subject just for you Request Now Unknown dialects are socially requested particularly right now. We realize that the advancement in science and innovation has prompted a blast of information and has added to a flood of data. The all out information on humanity is known to twofold like clockwork. Unknown dialects are required as the fundamental and the most proficient methods for data trade of the individuals of our planet. Today English is the language of the world. English isn’t just the national or authority language of approximately thirty states, which speak to various societies, yet it is likewise the significant worldwide language of correspondence in such territories as science, innovation, business and mass entrainment. English is one of the official dialects of the United Nations Organization and other political associations. It is the language of writing, instruction, present day music and worldwide the travel industry. I learn English since I comprehend that I can utilize it. As I’m going to work in the circle of the board in Electronic Equipment Trade, I imagine that it is significant for a pro of high capability to talk at any rate one unknown dialect. English is amazingly essential as it is the most mainstream language of universal business correspondence. I learn English since I need to peruse remote writing in the first. Plus, the English language is the language of the extraordinary writing. A great deal of current writing and numerous new movies in English come out each year. On the off chance that you know English, you can comprehend them without interpretation. No big surprise that most taught individuals communicate in English fluidly. I like to travel, however it is hard to visit new places, when you don’t know the language of these nations. What's more, it is a lot simpler to travel when you know the language. On the off chance that I need to ask something, I can do it in English. Today, one individual in seven of the world’s populace either knows English or learns it. So a cutting edge and a refined individual must learn unknown dialects. The most effective method to refer to The Need to Study English as a Foreign Language, Papers

Studying for the SAT for 20 hours on Khan Academy associated with 115-point average score increase

Studying for the SAT for 20 hours on Khan Academy associated with 115-point average score increase We’re excited to announce today that studying for the SAT for 20 hours on Khan Academy’s free Official SAT Practice is associated with an average score gain of 115 points. That’s nearly double the average score gain compared to students who don’t use our free test prep.Official SAT Practice is free for everyone and personalized for each student. Start getting ready for the SAT today! We think a 115-point score gain can make a real difference when applying to college. If you don’t have 20 hours to practice, don’t worry. Shorter periods of time also correlate with meaningful score gains. Six hours of study on Official SAT Practice is associated with an average 90-point increaseâ€"no small bump.We’re also excited that more than 16,000 students from the class of 2017 who used Official SAT Practice improved their scores by more than 200 points. Way to go!Together with the College Boardâ€"the maker of the SATâ€"we studied data from nearly a quarter million high school student s from the graduating class of 2017 who took the PSAT/NMSQT and the new SAT in the past year. Score gains were consistent across genders, family income levels, races, ethnicities, high school GPAs, and parental education levels.Since its launch in 2015, Khan Academy’s free Official SAT Practice has been used by more than 3.7 million students. We’re glad so many people are finding it helpful!* Nearly 40% of all test takers report using our free Official SAT Practice, making it the number one tool for SAT prep.* Twice as many students report using Khan Academy as paying for commercial test prep.Khan Academy and the College Board developed Official SAT Practice to create personalized tools to help all students, regardless of income level or background, prepare for the SAT and college-level courses.Official SAT Practice reinforces what students are learning in school by helping them focus on the knowledge and skills most essential for college. And it’s free, for everyone, forever.

Impact Of Racism On The Movie Crash - 1257 Words

The movie Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socioeconomic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. In this brief essay, I am going to discuss the impact racism and stereotyping have on the lives of some main characters in the movie, considering the development of the storyline and the impact of various incidents that change their perspective towards themselves and each other. Martin and Nakayama define racial identity as being based on physical characteristics, but they are also constructed in fluid social contexts (pg. 105). The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife constantly scared of the other; two African American thieves, a racist police officer who offends an African American TV producer and harasses his wife, a non-racist police officer, a Latino lock maker. The plot of the movie int ersects all characters lives and their attitudes towards each other, while making the audience question the validity of prejudices and racial stereotypes. In the beginning of the film the white American district attorney and his wife were car jacked. The wife is terrified and the family gets their home locks changed, but when she sees a thug (who in reality is an honest family man who just wants to make a living for his wife and daughter) is in charge, she asks that her husband changes theShow MoreRelatedThe Film Crash, Directed By Paul Haggis974 Words   |  4 PagesThe film Crash, written and directed by Paul Haggis, examines racial exchanges in several different ethnic groups living in Los Angeles. As the film move forward, we are able to view how each characters’ own racist experiences change their attitudes towards other races. Paul Haggis illustrates those change through the mood tone, setting, and even the music. By the end of the movie, the audience is left with a feeling of hope and an ambition to examine its own thought and actions towards othersRead MoreMovie Analysis : Crash 1362 Words   |  6 Pagescalled â₠¬Å"Crash†, this movie basically talks about racism and the impact it has on the lives of people in Los Angeles. This movie got a good response from the viewers, as it concentrated on some real harsh realities of racism and asked some hard questions which are generally avoided in movies. This movie clearly promotes the a very delicate issue, and hence requires some detailed assessment. I personally feel the movie was good and it portrayed some very common events of racism, I think â€Å"Crash† showsRead MoreA Sociological Concept Of The Movie Crash894 Words   |  4 PagesLive your life at the point of impact, moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other. A sociological concept is a way sociologists develop a certain and unique way for understanding the world around us because of one s specialized training. How one approaches society leads to making different types of discoveries that some to various conclusions. These individual perspectives can tell one something about what one is trying to understand. A sociological concept is affectedRead MoreThe Movie Crash Essay1568 Words   |  7 PagesKC Libecki Professor Eisenberg SOC1101 The movie, Crash, demonstrates the lives of various individuals from divergent socio-economic classes, who have life changing experiences in between their conflicting prejudices and stereotypes. The theme of multiculturalism has also made its influence on the major characters of the movie: a white American district attorney and his wife who is constantly scared of the other; two African American thieves who steal their car, a racist police officer who offendsRead MoreMovie Analysis : Crash By Paul Haggis1287 Words   |  6 PagesPaul Haggis’s film â€Å"Crash†, examines characters’ who’s seemingly diametrically opposed views of racial equality cause them to crash into one another. The characters of Officer Ryan and Officer Hanson played by Matt Dillion and Ryan Phillipe are affected when the crash provides them with introspection into to their own prejudice behaviors. The crash breaks up skewed fragments of their beliefs, ideas, and perceptions. Literally , crash means to move with force and speed into an object or obstacle followedRead MoreColonialism And Racism In Crash By Paul Haggis839 Words   |  4 Pages Paul Haggis’s 2004 melodrama â€Å"Crash† is a film depicting the way diverse societies, cultures and environments affect each other’s lives. Characters are forced to interact and assist in uncomfortable and traumatic chains of events that impact the film’s ability to create intense moments that questioned are initial perspective of a character’s sense of morality. Haggis does an excellent job structuring the story around the concept of everyday life with unexpected moments of conflict, and developingRead MoreCrash Movie Review1215 Words   |  5 Pageswhen making an opinion about a person. The movie Crash shows the authenticity of how people negatively stereotype each other’s race and ethnicity. It also shows how people are racist towards each other because of their different race. Stereotypes and mistrust are considered to be barriers that inhibit interracial relationships among people. Crash is a movie that shows acts about racism and stereotypes within the United States. The first scene is the car crash involving Ria, Jennifer Esposito, and anRead MoreMovie Scenes Occurred When The Police Officer Spoke With Shaniqua Johnson, An Insurance Agency Supervisor906 Words   |  4 Pages The greatest impact from movie scenes occurred when the police officer spoke with Shaniqua Johnson, an insurance agency supervisor, about his father’s health and the conversation escalated. At first glance, the officer is a bigot who is racist against minorities and blames Mrs. Johnson for his father’s misfortune. The officer bursts out with â€Å"I can’t look at you without thinking five or six more qualified white men who didn’t get the job.† The officer is using his prejudices against Mrs. JohnsonRead MoreRacial Prejudice And Crime And Criminal Justice1749 Words   |  7 Pagestrust others and a hardworking Hispanic family man who is a locksmit h. The film different from other racial films for it is impartial compared to others. For example, the movies does not split the characters into victims and offenders. Victims of racism are often shown to be prejudiced themselves in certain situations. Also, racist remarks and actions often stem from ignorance and misconception rather than hate. I plan on showing race and ethnicity are related to social class and poverty whichRead MoreReview on the Movie Crash1033 Words   |  5 PagesFILM SYNOPSIS: In Crash, a simple car accident forms an uncompromising foundation for the complex discovery of race and prejudice. Paul Haggis overwhelming and incredibly thought provoking directorial debut succeeds in bringing to the forefront the behaviours that many people keep under their skin. And by thrusting these attitudes toward us with a highly deliberate, reckless abandon, Haggis puts racism on the highest pedestal for our review. There is no better place for this examination than

Rational Choice Theory Essay - 1848 Words

White-collar crime accounts for billions of dollars in losses for companies every year (Gottschalk, 2017). Particularly, internal company theft has reached pandemic proportions, with evidence that it is one of the fastest growing categories of crime in many Western countries (Gottschalk, 2017). Thus, the purpose of this paper will be to examine this fast-growing phenomenon of employee theft using two theoretical backgrounds: rational choice theory (RCT) and hormonal influences. Specifically, these two theories will be used to provide reasoning as to why a single mother of two who is a senior management team member of a mid-sized telecommunications industry would issue herself false cheques, thus committing fraud. Rational Choice Theory†¦show more content†¦This convenience can be seen as one of the most important aspects of white-collar crime that may influence the offender in perceiving that the benefits of the crime outweigh the costs. Being head of the payroll department, Janine could have easily exploited opportunities and illegally benefitted by issuing herself cheques. Her high position in the company allowed her to hide her illegal transactions in legal transactions, making it look like ordinary business. Gottschalk (2017) explains that the fact that there is little risk and great reward is what makes white-collar crime so attractive to rational people. When further applying RCT to this specific scenario, it is evident that background factors, current life circumstances, and situational variables played a prominent role in Janine’s determination of the benefits of her actions outweighing the costs. Being a single mother of two, Janine struggled to get by. She worked long hours, weekends, and holidays, which was barely enough to cover the costs of daily living expenses as well as daycare for the children. One day, Janine was reading the newspaper and saw an article on workplace fraud. She couldn’t believe how common it was, with a whopping 26% of Canadian small-and mid-sized firms being victims of fraud, and those were only the ones that had been discovered. Later that day Janine was called to the president’s office. She left feeling overwhelmed andShow MoreRelated Rational Choice Theory Essay1246 Words   |  5 PagesThere are three main points that are reinforced in rational choice theory (Cornish and Clarke, 1986). First, it may work better or worse for different types of crime, yet it is thought that there are rational choices in every type of crime even impulsive and pathologic crimes. Second, the theory should be applied on a crime-specific basis. Hence, burglaries can’t be grouped together in among residential and commercial categories. Rather, they must be broken into smaller facets such as publicRead MoreEssay about Rational Choice Theory in Political Science4404 Words   |  18 PagesRational Choice Theory in Political Science According to one of rational choice theory’s prominent and more thoughtful contemporary exponents, Peter C. Ordeshook, â€Å"four books mark the beginning of modern political theory: Anthony Downs’s An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), Duncan Black’s Theory of Committees and Elections (1958), William H. Riker’s A Theory of Political Coalitions (1962), and James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent (1962). These volumes, along with KennethRead MoreRational Choice Theory as a Deterant to Crime Essay622 Words   |  3 PagesWritten Assignment 1 (Due October 1st ) Rational choice theories are among the fastest growing theories in social science today. Many sociologists and political scientists defend the claim that rational choice theory can provide the basis for a unified and comprehensive theory of social behavior. What distinguishes rational choice theory from other forms of theory is that it denies the existence of any kinds of action other than the purely rational and calculative. All social action can be seenRead MoreRational Choice Theory Essay1726 Words   |  7 PagesRational choice theory, also known simply as choice theory, is the assessment of a potential offender to commit a crime. Choice theory is the belief that committing a crime is a rational decision, based on cost benefit analysis. The would-be offender will weigh the costs of committing a particular crime: fines, jail time, and imprisonment versus the benefits: money, status, heightened adrenaline. Depending on which factors out-weigh the other, a criminal will decide to c ommit or forgo committingRead MoreRational Choice vs. Trait Theory Essay1492 Words   |  6 PagesRational Choice Theory VS. Trait Theory Student Name Criminology : Park University Online Program In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the Rational Choice Theory(s) and the Trait Theory(s). We will start with the history of the two theories and progress toward some of the individual principles in the theories. Next step will be explaining how each theory contributes to criminal behavior. My closing paragraph will concludeRead MoreThe Rational Model of Policy Decision Making2827 Words   |  12 PagesSelected Essays by Lefoko O. Molebatsi (2001) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Public Policy and Policy Analysis: The Rational Model Question: The rational model of public policy making, though heavily criticized, is the most widely used and or talked about model. Discuss why. By Lefoko O. Molebatsi (University of Botswana) Instructor: Prof G. S Maipose 2001 1 Selected Essays by Lefoko O. Molebatsi (2001) -Read MoreFactors Affecting Rational Choice2729 Words   |  11 PagesFactors Affecting Rational Choice Most consumer behavior analyses and programs seek to dig out consumers’ needs and wants, which direct their purchasing and decision behaviors. Consumer behavior and choice are complex, inherently dynamic and potentially affected by a number of factors. According to this, it seems that the rational choice theory should make some adjustments to be adopted to this increasingly more dynamic reality and marketing environment and thus set a realistic and stable base forRead MoreDebate Controversy Regarding Free Speech And Hate Speech1940 Words   |  8 Pagesmyself need to examine and explore two theories of behavior, egoistic and affective, that will give us insight into how students make their decisions on whether or not to protest. A flyer will be designed for each theory either discouraging students to attend protests or encouraging them to participate. After this, we will examine both flyers for their probable success or failure and choose one flyer based upon its likelihood t o succeed. An egoistic theory of behavior is one way to explain the â€Å"waysRead MoreAre People Rational (in the Economist’s Sense) and Reasonable (in the Lawyer’s Sense)? Whatever Your Answer to That Question, Does It Matter?3193 Words   |  13 Pagesaround the world.† ~ Chaos Theory Everyday, you make decisions that affect the path that you have taken, to different degrees, resulting in the current situation you now find yourself in. Chaos Theory reflects the fact that however small the decision may be, the consequences have the potential to be substantial. These day-to-day decisions, may have huge implications on tomorrow’s, thus one would believe/hope that they are made rationally and reasonably. This essay aims to discuss whether theseRead MoreDeterrence And Rational Choice Theory777 Words   |  4 Pagespeople may feel as if the deterrence theory does not work. Due to the fact that crime still happens in the world. This essay will look at the support for the theory. As well as the key problems for the theory. Next, it will explain some of the newest directions in deterrence/rational choice theory. Finally, it will either agree/disagree with someone’s thought on deterrence and how it does not work and is a waste of time to study. Deterrence and rational choice are two different things. Deterrence

Economic Activity as Reflected in Painting Free Essays

string(122) " discussing with his wife the fairness of a particular commercial deal, helped by the religious book his wife is reading\." ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AS REFLECTED IN PAINTING: THE CONTRASTING VIEWS OF ECONOMISTS AND ART HISTORIANS [1] Manuel Santos-Redondo Universidad Complutense de Madrid [las diferencias con respecto al Documento de Trabajo disponible en la Web estan subrayadas] 1. Introduction The Moneychanger and his Wife is probably the picture most widely used to illustrate economic activity, and so it is (supposedly) well known by economists, managers, and accountants. The accounting book which appears in the picture is the origin of former AECA (Spanish Association of Accounting and Business Administration) logotype. We will write a custom essay sample on Economic Activity as Reflected in Painting: or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is a Flemish painting from the early 16th century. Not so many economists are, however, aware that there are two different versions of this picture: one by Quentin Massys, painted about 1514 (now in Paris, the Louvre), and another by Marinus (Claeszon) van Reymerswaele, painted in 1539 (now in Madrid, in the Prado). There are significant changes between the two versions. This being the Scholastic period and also the epoch of the commercial revolution in Europe, we would expect this picture to have some sort of economic meaning, and for the changes in the pictures to reflect these changes in economic activity and economic thought. We will argue in this paper that there does exist such a meaning; and that also the very important changes between Massys’s and Reymerswaele’s pictures have much to do with the economic changes in Europe in the beginning of the 16th century. Most art historians have seen in Massys’ and Reymerswaele’s paintings a satirical and moralising symbolism, The Money Changer and his Wife being the representation of greed. Others think that the picture shows economic activity in a respectable way. Flanders at that time was the centre of a flourishing industrial and commercial activity, and also was the centre of a mercantile trade in works of art. Both things led to a representation of the professional activity of moneychangers, goldsmiths, and bankers in a way that shows those activities as respectable professions. The second view is the one implicitly shared by economists when choosing this picture to illustrate many books on economics or business. Some scholars have proposed more subtle interpretations. Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, the historian of economic thought who first aroused the interest of economists in the Spanish Scholastics of â€Å"School of Salamanca†, considers Massys’ painting to be an illustration of the intention of Scholastics to make compatible the commercial customs of the time with Church doctrine on usury. According to her interpretation, Massys’ painting would mean the money lender working and, at the same time, discussing with his wife the fairness of a particular commercial deal, helped by the religious book his wife is reading. You read "Economic Activity as Reflected in Painting:" in category "Papers" It is important to notice that, 25 years on, the book in Reymerswaele’ painting is no longer a religious work but an accounting book. But art historians claim that there is still some symbolism in the painting which gives it a moralising and satirical intent. According to them, this symbolism was clear to contemporaries but not to us; or sometimes would have been intentionally difficult to notice for those contemporaries who were not in the same religious group as the painter or his client. For instance, the long, curved fingers of the bourgeois couple allegedly represented avarice. But Reymerswaele painted the fingers of Saint Jerome in the same way , so it must have an aesthetic intention and not a symbolic one. In the process of reviewing the different interpretations provided by art historians of this picture and other similar ones, we shall see that they are consistent with the views that most art historians share about the economy (as Hayek points out in his chapter of The fatal conceit, 1988, â€Å"The Mysterious World of Trade and Money†) rather than based on any objective interpretation of the painting and history. Thus, while the picture shows commercial and financial activity to be a normal, respectable occupation, most art historians see a moralizing and satirical intention. My view is that art historians’ prejudice towards commercial and financial activity leads them to a wrong interpretation of the paintings. When the painters wanted to be satirical and moralizing, they did it in a way that is clearly recognizable by us today. And that this is not the case with the The Moneychanger and his Wife, in either the version of Massys or that of Reymerswaele. 2. Quentin Massys Let us start with Quentin Massys,[2] The Moneychanger and his Wife, dated 1514. Figure 1]. It is probably derided from a lost work by Jan van Eyck, c. 1440. [3] On the table are placed coins, a set of scales, and various other tools of their trade. (â€Å"various other tokens of their wealth†, says the art historian Jean-Claude Frere, 1997, p. 186. This is our first difference in interpretation). The man is wei ghing gold coins with great care. At that time, coins with the same face value varied in the amount of gold they contained (and therefore in their real exchange value), because it was a normal practice to file them down, clip them, or to shake them together in a bag in order to collect the gold dust they produced. So, the moneychanger is simply going about his business, not counting his money as a miser would do. And, if you look at his face, it is not the face of a miser, but the face of a concentrating working man, carefully carrying out his job. His wife is looking at the coins and scales too; but she has a book in her hands. The book is a religious one, an illustrated â€Å"book of hours†. Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, the historian of economic thought who first brought economists attention to the Spanish Scholastics of the â€Å"School of Salamanca†, considers Massys painting an illustration of the intention of the Scholastics to make compatible the commercial practices of their time with the Church’s doctrine on usury. According to her interpretation, Massys painting portrays the money lender at work and, at the same time, discussing with his wife the fairness of a particular commercial deal, helped by consulting the religious book his wife is reading. [4] Many other interpretations of Massys’s work consider this picture as to be a oralizing one, in a much stronger sense than that of Grice-Hutchinson’s view. The Encarta Encyclopedia says: â€Å"In The Moneychanger and his Wife, the subtly hinted conflict between avarice and prayer represented in the couple illustrates a new satirical quality in his paintings. â€Å"[5] (It is curious that t he â€Å"Web Gallery of Art†, together with the Encarta article, provides this contradictory explanation: â€Å"The painting remains in the Flemish tradition of van Eyck, with the addition of a profane sense of beauty, sign of a new world†). [6] Another scholar says this about Massys: â€Å"Painters also began to treat new subjects. Men like Quentin Massys, for example, played an active role in the intellectual life of their cities and began to mirror the ethical concerns expressed by humanist thinkers with new paintings that used secular scenes to impart moralizing messages. Vivid tableaux warned against gambling, lust, and other vices. â€Å"[7] At the bottom of the painting there is a circular mirror; we can see the tiny figure of a man wearing a turban. [Figure 2] For some reason, the following is the explanation of the art historian Jean-Claude Frere: â€Å"a side window, under which we can just make out the tiny figure of a thief. He would seem to be spying on the couple as they count their gold, while they would seem to be oblivious to his presence, blinded by their greed†. [8] Let us leave aside the greed and concentrate on the tiny man. Is he a thief? I don’t know. But I’m sure he is not â€Å"spying on the couple as they count their gold†: I am not an art historian, but it seems clear to me that the man is inside the room, he is reading a book and looking out of the window to the street. In think that this is not a casual mistake: it is consistent with art historians’ interpretation. Symbolism, a source of moralistic interpretation My view is that art historians explanation of The Moneychanger and his Wife as a satirical work containing symbolic allusions hidden from contemporary observers, is merely a reflection of their own prejudices concerning certain economic activities. Let us consider the serious arguments supporting the symbolic explanations of paintings of the Flemish Renaissance, in order to be able to judge when a painting has this meaning and when has not. The famous art historian Erwin Panofsky held that the Early Flemish painters had to reconcile the â€Å"new naturalism† with a thousand years of Christian tradition. Based on St. Tomas Aquinas, who thought that physical objects were â€Å"corporeal metaphors for spiritual things†, Panofsky (Early Netherlandish Painting, 1953) maintains that â€Å"in early Flemish painting the method of disguised symbolism was applied to each and every object, man made or natural†. [9] There are other historical sources that point to a symbolic meaning in the painting of Quentin Massys. In his painting Portrait of a Merchant and his Partner,[10] [Figure 3] there is a clearly legible inscription, in French: â€Å"L’avaricieux n’est jamais rempli d’argent†¦ N’ayez point souci des richesses injustes, car elles ne vous profiteront en rien au jour de la visitation et de la vengeance. Soyez donc sans avarice†. This is a paraphrase of the Gospel of St Luke, ch. XII, 15, 21-34; Saint Matthew, ch. VI, 19-21. Jean Cailleux says that the main character in the painting â€Å"est soumis a la parole evangelique. Il est vraiment fidele dans les richesses injustes. Il ne cede pas a la sollicitacion du Tentateur qui, derriere lui, le visage tordu par lavarice et la soif du lucre, lui propose des comptes fantastiques†. 11] Painting and Economic Activity at Flanders We can expect the Flemish painters to be familiar with market oriented economic activity and the money world, because of the society in which they lived. Flanders at that time was the center of a flourishing industrial and commercial world, and also was the center of a mercantile trade of works of art. Both things led to a representation of the professional activity of mo neychangers, goldsmiths, and bankers in a way that shows those activities as respectable ones. Most Flemish artists were familiar with this world because of their own craft of painting, which was indeed market oriented. Massys was the most important of Antwerp painters of his time; and this means his shop was an example of how artistic production was organized in Antwerp, and formerly in Bruges. It is not at all odd that Flemish painters should portray business people. Massys worked for religious confraternities, and also painted portraits and other profane subjects, sometimes satirical, in response to commissions from humanists and scholars. Frere says that Massys was â€Å"perfectly attuned to the new mercantile conception of art. Antwerp was already established as an active and liberal center for trade in art† (1997, p. 186). Both Antwerp and Bruges had a regulated guild system for painters at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is important to notice not only the art of the painter, but also the evolution of the master’s workshop. At the beginning of the Renaissance, training in a craft took place in workshops regulated by civic authorities: apprenticeship was followed by admission to a guild. By the end of the century, â€Å"workshops had become more like shops nowadays, turning out goods for a flourishing private market accountable to no one. And change came without a defining moment and without artists missing a beat. Workshop assistants had certain preparatory tasks, including grinding pigments, laying grounds, and the transfer of under-drawings. Experienced assistants took on subsidiary passages, including background or stock figures. Assistants also made copies to keep pace with demand, and they had access to the master’s designs once they set up for themselves. Workshop copies ranged from straightforward replicas to transpositions into other media and from large commissions to private, devotional images. â€Å"[12] The conventional portrait of a rich man But this familiarity of artists with a commercial society does not lead them automatically to portray business people in their trade, as â€Å"occupational portraits†: the common way to portray a business man was in a way that showed him as a religious man, or as an intellectual in his house, surrounded by works of art and literature. The best known example is The Arnolfini Portrait by van Eyck, but there are many others. In the triptych The Last Judgement, painted in 1480 by the Flemish painter, working in Bruges, Hans Memling, we can see the portraits of Tomaso Portinari and his wife, naked inside the scales; and those of Angiolo Tani and his wife, Catarina Tanagli, kneeling on the floor at prayer. [Figure 4] Both Portinari and Tani were important business men working in Bruges branch of the Medici company. In the Italian Renaissance, Lorenzo de Medici is portrayed as one of the Magi in Gozzoli’s Journey of the Magi, 1459. 13] It was quite common to include the donors’ portrait in a religious scene. Tomaso Portinari and his wife, Maria Baroncelli, were also directly portrayed by Memling, at prayer. [14] (The fact that Antwerp was a rapidly enriched city and lacked a traditional aristocracy, may well have been an important reason for the artist representing economic activity in the portraits of busi nessmen, instead of the traditional â€Å"rich and cultured† portrait). 3. Marinus van Reymerswaele Let us now move on to the other version of the portrait and to a different year. Marinus van Reymerswaele[15] The Moneychanger and his Wife, [Figure 5] painted in 1539, is inspired by Massys. [16] This is the explanation of the painting provided by the Spanish Association of Accounting and Business Administration, AECA, which in 1979 chose as the symbol of the association a section this painting. [Figure 6] â€Å"The painting which has inspired our logotype is internationally famous as an image of financial activity during the Renaissance: it shows a scene typical of the counting house of a banker of the period. The subject of the pair of moneychangers shows us a new profession which has appeared in the period, a profession related to the world of finance, taxes and commercial accounts. Reymerswaele adapts the subject of the banker and his wife from Massys’s painting now in the Louvre in Paris. In Reymerswaele’s painting, the bourgeois married couple are seen counting out gold and silver coins, and the husband is weighing them with great care in a small set of scales, since most of them would be clipped or scraped. The coins are probably the product of tax-collection, an exchange of foreign currency or the repaying of a loan. This would imply the use of the abacus which the banker has at his right on the table, and then the setting out of accounts in the accounts book which the wife is holding in her delicate fine hands. â€Å"[17] Compare the explanation of this picture given by the AECA with the moralistic and over-sophisticated explanations of the art historians. The changes Between 1514 and 1539, many things have changed. In particular, the accelerated growth of the economy that stemmed from the discovery and colonization of the New World, and the religious transformation known as Lutheran Reformation. Reymerswaele was himself involved in the Lutheran Reformation. (We know that in 1567, being an old man, he took part in the sack of Middelburg cathedral, and was severely punished (six years of banishment and public humiliation). Reymerswaele specialized in everyday scenes of flourishing Flanders, with great realism, which gives his works a considerable documentary interest. (Paintings by masters of Northern Renaissance realism often recorded official contracts or acts. The Lawyer’s Office, 1545, by Reymerswaele, [Figure 7] is a remarkable example of this practice. Recent research has demonstrated that the documents, which form the background of the painting, refer to an actual lawsuit begun in 1526 in the town of Reymerswaele on the North Sea). [18] His subjects were businessmen: usurers, notaries, tax gatherers; but what could be seen as â€Å"occupational portraits† are always stressed as moralizing: Another art historian says â€Å"usuriers, changeurs, avocats, notaires, percepteurs d’impots, monde apre et rapace de l’argent toujours plus puissant dans le metropole enrichie. †¦ ] L’art de Marinus [Reymerswaele] presente une accentuation presque caricaturale, qui donne a l’ouvre sa portee moralisante† (Philippot, 1994, p. 173). Puyvelde considers that, in the genre painting by Marinus van Reymerswaele, the realist portrait turns into a caricature of rapacious and greedy businessmen. In Reymerswaele The Moneychanger and his Wife, he says, â€Å"l’esprit de lucre est plus nettement marque dans les physionomies et les doigts maigres† (Puyvelde, p. 13; we will turn to the fingers latter). The study of the gold coins that appear in the painting shows that â€Å"the coins are mostly Italian and are all of types minted before 1520† (Puyvelde, p. 17). This could mean that the painting is a trial effort done by Reymerswaele, before his first clearly datable painting, Saint Jerome, of 1521. The importance of Puyvelde’s argument is not the exact date, which I cannot dispute, but the fact that Puyvelde considers The Money changer and his Wife closer to a portrait than to a satire, as ompared to later works by Marinus: later in his career, Reymerswaele would have abandoned portraiture and turned to satire and caricature (â€Å"pamphlet†, says Puyvelde). [19] The public appears to have had a preference for satire, and Marinus sought to satisfy the public with pleasant humorous pictures which enjoyed great popularity among collectors of the period. Other paintings contain inscriptions which refer to the taxes charged on beer, wine or fish. In one of the copi es or imitations of The Lawyer’s Office, titled The Notary’s Study, the document the notary is reading has been deciphered: it appears to be a parody of legal slang. Even the signature on the document in French reads â€Å"Notaire infame et faussaire†. [20] Usually museum guides reflect the views of art historians. Referring to Reymerswaele The Moneychanger and his Wife, a guide to the Prado says: â€Å"In this painting we find all the characteristics of Northern European painters: minute detail, fine quality raw material, an empirical approach to reality, and above all, the naked sordidness with which Van Reymerswaele approaches one of the principal evils of his time: usury, the greater of all possible sins in a commercial society such as Flanders. Corruption and fraud affected all levels of society, even the clergy, producing a critical reaction on the part of writers, theologians and artists. â€Å"[21] Reymerswaele was not the only painter who developed Massys portraits; several other Flemish painters did. Again, there are significant differences in their style, differences which influence the overall â€Å"tone† of the picture either as â€Å"occupational portrait† or â€Å"caricature†. My point is that a common spectator of today can spot the difference. Corneille van der Capelle painted Le Percepteur d’impots et son Garant and Le Percepteur d’impots et sa Femme,[22] [Figure 8] in which we can notice a real, kind portrait of the businessmen, quite far from any caricature. But, even given the very different styles, I find no moral satire in Reymerswaele The Moneychanger and his Wife, as compared to his other works. In Reymerswaele version, the religious book has disappeared. This is an obvious change, since Marinus was a Protestant and wouldn’t have accepted any other religious book for daily reading than the bible. But there is no bible in Marinus painting. Instead, there is a hand-written book, with no illustrations, which seems to be an accounting book. The characters in Reymerswaele painting are most elegant, with luxurious clothes, and long, delicate fingers. This is also thought by some scholars to be satirical: â€Å"Long, curved fingers were, in XVI century, a sign of greed or avarice, so an apparently domestic subject can also be full of moral meaning†. [23] Long, curved fingers and noses use to represent Jews and, by extension, greed or avarice in Christian iconography. It may be important to notice that Jews played an important role in Antwerp’s economic activity. The money market was controlled by the Italian Lombards, and Jews could only act as minor money-lenders. The Jews lent mainly small amounts of money for shorter periods of time to less wealthy people such as butchers and bakers. Scarcity was an excellent situation for Jewish money-lenders. As a consequence, the y had many clients among the common people who probably had great difficulties in paying them back. This fact may have reinforced the strong anti-Semitism prevalent at that time. There were a massacre of Jews in Antwerp in 1350, and then many Spanish and Portuguese â€Å"marranos† came to settle there after 1492 and 1497, expelled from Spain and Portugal. [24] I haven’t fully explored yet the possibility of the satirical portraits being racist or anti-Semitic). But the long fingers can imply other things: they can be an esthetic technique to make people appear more mystical, unmaterialistic, attractive. We could interpret thus the fingers of Reymerswaele’ Saint Jerome, in 1521. [Figure 9] And Saint Jerome transmits you the idea of ascetic sanctity, the antithesis of greed. Although, again, some scholar says that Reymerswaele painting of Saint Jerome is â€Å"stressing the crabbedness of scholarship†. Even if that is correct, it would not be the crabbedness of greed). To me, the long, curved fingers of the moneychanger and his beautiful wife imply simply elegance. This is my personal impression. If I then look at other paintings by Reymerswaele, for instance, the two Tax Gatherers (also The Misers), described by the same scholar as â€Å"exceedingly ugly and covetous†, I don’t need to be his contemporary to notice the satirical meaning. [25] After comparing their clever interpretations with what a spectator sees in these pictures, I would recommend that the meaning of a painting, as given by art historians, not be accepted uncritically: their judgments appear to be based upon certain prejudices, in this case concerning commercial and financial practices, rather than any objective analysis of the painting. 4. Other Flemish â€Å"occupational portraits† If you look at other paintings of the same school, it is easy to find examples of â€Å"good†, non critical or satirical, representation of moneychangers, goldsmiths, and bankers. Adriaen Isenbrant Man Weighing Gold (c. 1518),[26] [Figure 10] is described in this way by Jean E. Wilson: â€Å"This sensitive portrait of a banker or, perhaps, a moneychanger reveals the sitter’s evident pride in his occupation. The portrait also serves as an example of the widening interest in portraiture, which had gradually extended to members of the business sector† (Wilson 1998, p. 196). But another scholar points out that â€Å"the act of weighing coins may allude both to the man’s profession and to his contemplation of higher values, comparable to Saint Michael’s weighing of souls on Judgment Day†. [27] In Hieronimous Bosch’s The Table of the Deadly Sins,[28] 1480, [Figure 11] avarice is shown as a judge who is being bribed. This is completely different from the activity of the banker: what Bosch shows us is not a profit-seeking commercial practice which is therefore sinful, but an act of corruption which would be taken to be immoral equally in a commercially oriented society or in an ideal world described by Scholastic theologians. Another example of an â€Å"occupational portrait† is the Portrait of a Merchant [Figure 12] by Jean Gossaert (c. 1530),[29] thought to be a portrait of Jeronimus Sandelin, a real merchant from Zealand, in Flanders. There is nothing satirical about it: it is a purely â€Å"occupational portrait†. But the National Gallery of Art Brief Guide says this: â€Å"the sitter’s furtive glance and prim mouth are enough to inform us of the insecurity and apprehension that haunted bankers in the 1530s, when the prevailing moral attitude was summed up by the Dutch humanist Erasmus, who asked, â€Å"When did avarice reign more largely and less punished? â€Å"[30] St. Eloy (Eligius) in His Shop, 1449, by Petrus Christus,[31] [Figure 13] is the clear representation of a goldsmith working in his shop and attending two clients: a rich, well-born bridal couple. It seems to be a representation of the goldsmith’s trade, with the excuse of the portrait of a saint (hardly a subtle ploy, since St. Eloy is the patron of goldsmith’s guild). The goldsmith sits behind a window sill extended to form a table, a pair of jeweler’s scales in one hand, a ring in the other. Only his halo suggests that the painting deals with legend. On the right is a display of examples of the goldsmith’s craft. The picture may very well have been painted for a goldsmith’s guild (the one in Antwerp). St. Eligius is the Patron of metalworkers. As a maker of reliquaries he has become one of the most popular saints of the Christian West. Eligius (also known as Eloy) was born around 590 near Limoges in France. He became an extremely skillful metalsmith and was appointed master of the mint under King Clothar of the Franks. Eligius developed a close friendship with the King and his reputation as an outstanding metalsmith became widespread. It is important to notice that most prominent features in the life of St. Eligius can be seen both as indications of sanctity and the best professional characteristics of a good goldsmith. In the goldsmith’s trade, skills were as important as reliability, as Adam Smith notices in Wealth of Nations: â€Å"The wages of goldsmiths and jewelers are every-where superior to those of many other workmen, not only of equal, but of much superior ingenuity; on account of the precious materials with they are intrusted†. [32] Eligius is praised for both qualities. From his biography, we can see how important this reliability of his goldsmith was, for the king to become Eligius’ protector: â€Å"The king gave Eligius a great weight of gold. Eligius began the work immediately and from that which he had taken for a single piece of work, he was able to make two. Incredibly, he could do it all from the same weight for he had accomplished the work commissioned from him without any fraud or mixture of siliquae, or any other fraudulence. Not claiming fragments bitten off by the file or using the devouring flame of the furnace for an excuse. â€Å"[33] The portrait Saint Eligius by Petrus Christus is a fine example of the â€Å"occupational portrait†, describing a goldsmith’s shop, the only religious connection being the halo and the fact than the saint is the patron of the guild. The true â€Å"moralizing† pictures of the Flemish School Look at the painting The Ill-Matched Lovers, c. 1520, [Figure 14] by Quentin Massys:[34] again you don’t need to be a contemporary of his to notice the satirical intention. (It is important to notice that the theme of love between the old and the young was extremely popular in sixteenth century, and we can agree that both the popularity and the moral view has changed on this subject in modern times. The meaning of the painting, however, hasn’t changed at all, because the artist doesn’t paint the old man with tenderness and love and mature elegance, but as undignified uncontrolled, despicable desire). There are other paintings by Marinus which shows a clearly satirical approach, or at least an ugly expression which does not imply pride in the profession: see The Lawyer’s Office, 1545, and The Misers [Figure 15] (also known, in different versions, as The Tax Gatherers or The tax gatherer and his guarantor). This one shows â€Å"two tax collectors, or rather a treasurer, or an administrator with his clerk, the collector with a winking grimace†¦. The treasurer enters in a book the sums received for the taxes†¦ with his right hand counts and weighs the coins†¦ â€Å"[35] Both of them look clearly satirical for a modern observer. 5. Conclusion This paper has compared the rival interpretations provided by economists and art historians of the painting The Moneychanger and his Wife. The painting is seen as an â€Å"occupational portrait†, showing a banker in his office, carefully weighing coins simply because this is one of most prominent features of his trade. It is a clearly secular subject, much more so in Reymerwaele’s version: the religious books in the woman’s hands has been turned into an accounting book. We could expect Flemish painters to be familiar with market oriented economic activity and the money world, because of the society in which they lived. Flanders at that time was the center of a flourishing industrial and commercial world, and also was the center of a mercantile trade in works of art. [36] Both things led to a representation of the professional activity of moneychangers, goldsmiths, and bankers in a way that shows those activities as respectable ones. In the process of reviewing the different interpretations provided by art historians about this picture and other similar ones, we have seen that they are consistent with the views that art historians share about the economic activity, rather than based on any objective interpretation of the painting and history. Thus, while the picture shows commercial and financial activity to be a normal, respectable occupation, most art historians see a moralizing and satirical intention. This paper maintains that art historian’s prejudice towards commercial and financial activity leads them to a wrong interpretation of the paintings. LIST OF ILUSTRATIONS 1. The Moneychanger and his wife, by Quentin Matsys, 1503-1505. 2. The Last Judgement, by Hans Memling, 1480. Portrait of Angiolo Tani and his wife. 3. The Moneychanger and his wife, by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1539. 4. Saint Jerome, by Marinus Reymerswaele. 5. Logo of the Spanish Association of Accounting and Business Administration (AECA). 6. Adriaen Isenbrant, Man Weighing Gold, fist half of the sixteenth century. 7. St. Eloy (Eligius) in His Shop, by Petrus Christus, 1449. 8. The Table of Deadly Sins, 1480, by Hieronimous Bosch. 9. Portrait of a Merchant, by Jean Gossaert, c. 1530. 10. The Ill-Matched Lovers, by Quentin Mastsys. 11. The Misers, or The moneylenders, by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1545. 12. Marinus van Reymerswaele, Two Tax-Gatherers, 15–, National Gallery, London. [Yamey, p. 52, Plate XVI] 13. Marinus van Reymerswaele, Two Tax-Collectors, 15–, Alte Pinakotheck, Munich. [Yamey, p. 54, 29 XVI] 14. Map of Flanders and Antwerp. 15. The Lawyer’s Office, by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1545. 16. Portrait of a Merchant and his Partner, by Quentin Metsys. 17. The taxgatherer and his Wife, by Corneille van de Capelle (Corneille de Lyon? ) BIBLIOGRAPHY Ainsworth, Maryan Wynn (et al. (1994), Les Primitifs flamands et leur temps (sous la direction de Brigitte Veronee-Verhaegen et Roger Van Schoute). Louvain-la-Neuve: La Renaissance du Livre. Benezit, E. (1976), Dectionaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs (nouvelle edition, entierement refondue, revue el corrigee sous la direction des heritiers de E. Be nezit). Libraire Grund. Vol. 7. â€Å"Marinus Van Roejmerswaelen† Campbell, Lorne, et al. (1978) â€Å"Quentin Massys, Desiderius Erasmus, Pieter Gillis and Thomas More†. The Burlington Magazine, Vol. CXX, n? 908, november, pp. 716-724. Cassagnes, Sophie (2001), D’art et d’argent. Les artistes et leurs clients dans l’Europe du Nord (XIVe -XVe siecle), Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes. Frere, Jean-Claude (1997), Early Flemish Painting, Paris: Terrail. Friedlander, Max J. (1967) [1929] Early Netherlandish painting. Vol 1, The van Eycks–Petrus Christus, Brussels: La Connaissance, and Leyden: A. W. Sijthoff. Genaille, Robert (1967), Dictionnaire des peintres flamands et hollandais, Paris: Larousse. Grice-Hutchinson, Marjorie (1993) â€Å"Santo Tomas de Aquino en la historia del pensamiento economico†, in Ensayos sobre el pensamiento economico en Espana. This essay, lectured to receive the Honoris Causa Doctorate from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, is not in the English version of the same book). Hayek, Friedrich August (1988), The fatal conceit. The errors of socialism, London: Routledge. Chapter 6, â€Å"The Misterious World of Trade and Money†. Mackor, Adri:  "Are Marinus’ Tax Collectors collecting taxes? † Bulletin du Musee National de Varsovie XXXVI (1995; n? 3-4) pp. 3-13. Mackor, Adri: â€Å"Marinus van Reymerswale: Painter, Lawyer and Iconoclast†, Oud Holland 109 (1995) pp. 191-200. Mund, Helene (1994), â€Å"La copie†, in Ainsworth (et al. ) (1994), pp. 125-141. Panofsky, Erwin (1971) [1953], Early Netherlandish painting: its origins and character (2 vols. ) London: Harper and Row. Panofsky, Erwin (1993) [1955], Meaning in the visual arts, Penguin. Philippot, Paul (1994), La peinture dans les anciens Pays-Bas. XV-XVIe siecles. Paris: Flammarion. Puyvelde, Leo van (1957), â€Å"Un Portrait de Marchand par Quentin Metsys et les Percepteurs d’Impots par Marin van Reymerswale†, Revue Belgue d’Archeologie et d’Histoire de l’Art, vol. 26, pp. 3-23. Silver, Larry (1984), The paintings of Quinten Massys with catalogue raisonne, Oxford. Montclair, N. J. : Allanheld Schram. Smith, Adam (1976) [1776], An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Comps. R. Campbell, A. S. Skinner y W. B. Todd. Oxford : Clarendon Press. Van Houdt, Toon (1999), â€Å"The Economics of Art in Early Modern Times: Some Humanist and Scholastic Approaches†, History of Political Economy, 31(0), Supplement 1999 (Economic Engagements with Art, edited by Neil De Marchi and Craufurd D. W. Goodwin, London: Duke University Press), pages 303-31. Vanhoutte, Edward (1997), â€Å"In your seed all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed. Importance and unimportance of the Jews of Belgium from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment†,. Guest-lecture. Lancaster (UK): Lancaster University, 6 february. In . VVAA (1994), El Prado, Barcelona: Lunwerg. Wilson, Jean E. (1998), Painting in Bruges at the close of the Middle Ages. Studies in Society and Visual Culture. Pennsylvania : University Press. Yamey, Basil S. (1989), Art and Accounting, New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ———————– [1] The author wants to thank John Reeder for his useful comments. A previous version of this paper, with the title â€Å"The Moneychanger and his Wife: from Scholastics to Accounting†, is in Internet, [http://www. ucm. es/BUCM/cee/doc/00-23/0023. tm]. [2] Quentin Massys (1465/66 – 1530), also Matsys, Metsys, Metsijs, Massijs. Famous Flemish painter, the founder of the Antwerp school, he was probably born in Leuven, Belgium. He was the main painter of his epoch. [3] Yamey (1989), pp. 24, 45. [4] Grice-Hutchinson (1993), pp. 203-205. [5] â€Å"Massys, Quentinâ₠¬  Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000, . In the same Encarta website, Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, says that Massys painted â€Å"a witty commentary on greed. The banker’s wife pretends piety by leafing through a religious book, while stealing a glance at her husband’s gold. [6] â€Å"Web Gallery of Art†, . The pages says that â€Å"the comments were compiled from various sources†. [7] National Gallery of Art (Washington D. C. , USA), 2000, â€Å"Antwerp in the Early 1500s†, . [8] Jean-Claude Frere, Early Flemish Painting (1997, pp. 187-188). [9] Wilson (1998), p. 191; quoted from Panofsky, Early Netherlandish painting, 1953, p. 142. â€Å"Every perceptible thing, man made or natural, becomes a symbol of that which is not perceptible†, says Panofsky (â€Å"Abbot Suger of St-Denis†, 1946, in 1955, p. 161) following Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite. 10] Quentin Massys, Portrait of a merchant and his partner (Paris, collectio n M. Cailleux). [11] Puyvelde (1957, p. 5), quoting from Jean Cailleux, Les Richesses injustes, Reforme, Paris, n? 72, 3 aout 1946. In Antwerp, a tax-collector was obliged to have a surety or guarantor, who had the right to supervise the collection of money and its recording. The tax-collector is â€Å"shown as a respectable person, accompanied by his guarantor, malicously rendered with a pronounced scowl†. Yamey (1989, p. 54), confronts this van Puyvelde’s interpretation with other art historians’ view. 12] â€Å"The Boys in the Back Room†, written by John Haber in the Website â€Å"Postmodernism and Art History: Gallery Reviews from Around New York†. The informations refers to the exhibition â€Å"From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting†, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 1999. . [13] Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497), Italian painter. Procession of the Magi, 1460, Medici Riccardi Palace, Florence. [14] The Triptych The L ast Judgement, now in Gdansk, Narodowe Museum, was painted by Memling (also Memlinc) in 1477. Angiolo Tani is painted in the outside of the wings. Tani had been the head of the Bruges branch of Medici Bank from 1455 to 1465. Tomaso Portinari was his successor in the position. Memling, Tommaso Portinari, 1470, tempera and oil on wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Maria Maddalena Baroncelli (Mrs. Tomasso Portinari), 1470, tempera and oil on wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. For details, see Ainsworth et al. (1994), chapter â€Å"Hans Memlinc†, pp. 462-466. [15] Marinus (Claeszon) van Reymerswaele (also Roymerswaele) is a Flemish painter (c. 1495-1566). He received his first artistic training as an apprentice to an Antwerp glass painter named Simon van Daele in 1509. Known as a painter of genre and satire, Reymerswaele was famous enough to have been mentioned by the Florentin historian Guicciardini and the art historian and painter Vasari. [16] Reymerswaele (or his workshop) made a lot of copies of this subject. Puyvelde (1957, p. 15) claims that the two paintings in the Prado and the one in the Collection of the State of Babiera, signed in 1538 and 1539, are inspired by Massys The moneychanger and his wife. Puyvelde considers that most other copies are inspired by Massys Tax Gatherers. 17] â€Å"El cuadro inspirador del logotipo es conocido internacionalmente como una imagen de la actividad economica del Renacimiento, especialmente de la financiera, ya que en el se muestra una situacion caracteristica de lo que podria considerarse un banquero de la epoca. El tema de la pareja de cambistas pone de manifiesto el surgimiento de una nueva profesion renacentista relacionada con el mundo de las finanzas, de los impuestos y de las cuentas mercantiles. Marinus toma de Quintin Metsys el tema del banquero y su mujer, que se expone en el Louvre de Paris. En el cuadro de Marinus, el matrimonio burges recuenta las monedas de oro y plata y el pesa en una pequena balanza, con gran delicadeza, aquellas, ya que la mayoria de las mismas eran raspadas o recortadas. Posiblemente provendrian de una recaudacion de impuestos, de una cambio de monedas o de la devolucion de un prestamo, lo que implicaria despues controlar o calcular la operacion con el abaco que tiene a su derecha sobre la mesa y a efectuar anotaciones en el libro de Contabilidad que ella tiene entre su bellas y delicadas manos†. From AECA’s Website, 1999. 18] â€Å"Recent research has demonstrated that the documents, which form the background of the painting, refer to an actual lawsuit begun in 1526 in the town of Reymerswaele on the North Sea. The suit arose between three heirs of Anthonius Willem Bouwensz and Cornelius vander Maere, the latter having purchased a salt refinery from the heirs of Anthonius. Difficulties began when Cornelius vander Maere refused to ma ke the initial payment and subsequently had his goods seized. The legal transactions lasted until 1538, by which time the property under dispute had probably been ubmerged or destroyed by storms. Ironically, the court fees still had to be paid. † New Orleans Museum of Art, Information written by Joan G. Caldwell. [http://www. noma. org/MARINUS. HTM]. The Museum owns one of the many versions of the painting: â€Å"Several versions of this composition exist in Munich, Amsterdam, Cologne and Brussels. While the Museum’s version is apparently the last in the series, it is painted with the greatest detail, thus clearly revealing the documents in the lawsuit†. [19] Puyvelde (1957), pp. 7-18; â€Å"le veritable portrait fait place a la caricature de l’homme de affaire rapace† (Puyvelde, 1957, p. 13; also, p. 20). [20] Puyvelde (1957), p. 23. [21] â€Å"Es esta tabla encontramos todas las caracteristicas de los pintores nordicos: el detallismo, las calidad es materiales que se aprecian a la perfeccion, la aproximacion empirica a la realidad, y sobre todo, la sordidez descarnada con la que Van Reymerswaele aborda uno de los principales males de su epoca: la usura, el mayor pecado posible dentro de una sociedad comerciante como era la flamenca. La corrupcion y la estafa afectaban a las capas de la sociedad, llegando al clero y provocando la reaccion de escritores, teologos y artistas†. CD-ROM La Pintura en el Prado, 1996, Editorial Contrastes. [22] Corneille van der Capelle, Le Percepteur d’impots et sa Femme. Jadis Sigmaringen, Pince of Hohenzollern collection. [23] The illustrated book El Prado (Barcelona: Lunwerg, 1994), p. 389. [24] Vanhoutte (1997). [25] â€Å"Web Gallery of Art†, description of the painting The Tax Collectors, 1542 (Wood, 103,7 x 120 cm. Alte Pinakothek, Munich), : â€Å"The Tax Collectors by Marinus Van Roymerswaele appears to be a deliberate caricature; the painter’s Calvinist background clearly comes through in his depicting the tax collector’s greed with a fierse grimace and claw-like hands, whilst the administrator records the money in the ledger, maintaining his proper distance. Marinus van Reymerswaele was a painter of three themes, all more or less caricatura l. He painted a number of straightforward S. Jeromes, all derived from Durer’s picture of 1521 (Lisbon) but stressing the crabbedness of scholarship. The other two themes are interdependent: two exceedingly ugly and covetous Tax Gatherers and a Banker and his Wife (the banker counting his profits). The Banker is closely related to Massys’s picture of the same subject, and it may be that the Tax Gatherers derive from Massys’s borrowings from the caricatures of Leonardo da Vinci. There are about thirty versions of the Tax Gatherers (the best is in London, National Gallery; another has the date 1552), and what nobody has so far explained is why so many people should want to own a picture of tax collectors (and excessively ugly ones at that) gloating over their imposts. There are also examples in the British Royal Collection and in Antwerp, Berlin, Ghent, Madrid, Munich and Vienna. † The Website says on the Welcome page that â€Å"the comments were compiled from various sources†. [26] Adriaen Isenbrant (? ) Man Weighing Gold, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Friedsam Collection. Adriaen Isenbrant is also known as Hysebrant or Ysenbrant. He was active in Bruges, 1510 – 1551. He was first mentioned in 1510 when he became a master in the Bruges painters’ and saddlemakers’ guild. He was recorded as a stranger, but his native town was not mentioned. Between 1516/1517 and 1547/1548 he was listed numerous times as a vinder or minor offical of the guild and in 1526/1527 and 1537/1538 was a gouverneur or financial officer. Because of the uncertainty, some authorities prefer to use the name Isenbrandt in inverted commas or with or with question mark. See the Website of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. , [27] Bauman, G. , â€Å"Early Flemish Portraits 1425-1525†, M. M. A. Bull. XLIII, Spring 1986, pp. 46 f. On the contrary, Wehle, H. B. , and M. Salinger, M. M. A. , A Catalogue of Early Flemish, Dutch and German Paintings, 1947, pp. 100 f. , â€Å"identify the sitter as a banker or a money changer and consider the portrait to be purely secular, not a ‘donor’s likeness in a religious ensemble'†. References provided by Sandra Fritz, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Catalog. [28] The Table of the Deadly Sins, 1480, by Hier onimous Bosch (c. 1450-1516). Oil on panel, 120 x 150 cm. Prado Museum. Bosch is the name given to the Dutch painter Hieronimus van Aeken. [29] Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1532), Portrait of a Merchant, c. 1530. Oil on panel, . 636 x . 475 m Washington, National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. [30] National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA, Brief Guide, in . [31] Petrus Christus (fl. 1444-c. 1470), St. Eloy (Eligius) in His Shop, 1449, oil on panel, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. [32] Smith (1976), I. x. b. 18. [33] The Life of St. Eligius, 588-660, paragraph 5. The Life of Eligius, bishop and confessor, was written by Dado, bishop of Rouen (his friend and contemporary). Eligius lived from 588 to 660. The full text is in . [34] Quentin Massys, Ill-Matched Lovers, c. 1520/1525, oil on panel, 0’432 x 0’630 m. National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. [35] Marinus Van Reymerswaele, The Misers, 1531. Oil on wood. Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, . [36] â€Å"Bruges et surtout Anvers ont donc cree les premiers marches publics consacres a l’art en Occident†, Cassagness (2001), p. 264. How to cite Economic Activity as Reflected in Painting:, Papers

Subliminal Ads Essays - Advertising, Marketing, Subliminal Stimuli

Subliminal Ads A collective term for public announcements designed to promote the sale of specific commodities or services while being integrated below the threshold of perception or awareness. To sell products, merchants consciously use subliminal advertising as a basis for general consumerism. This seems like an unnecessary task, but when taken into consideration all the people, who have expressed their disbelief in its effectiveness, it is obvious to see how vital and necessary such a task commands. Through this, corporations must take on new strategies and methods of persuasion and justification. The importance is that advertisers rely on a trust relationship with consumers in order to successfully subliminally sell products. In other words, those who don't believe in subliminal advertising, are its likely victims. The effect of subliminal advertising on the individual and the culture has been influenced and promoted by many different elements. Let it be magazines, newspapers or radio; but the most prominent in this field is television. Television advertising influences the choices we make, perhaps more so than anyone cares to believe. It may not be so obvious, but even teachers face competition with advertising. Television stations, for example, have some four billion dollars a year from industry to spend on programming for the same students that teacher`s face. Nicholas Johnson, a former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner from 1966 to 1973 writes that television is diametrically opposed to almost everything a teacher tries to do: TV tells them that the only thing necessary to give them all the joys in life and the values that are important is the acquisition of yet another product. TV is telling them to sit still and don't think. TV is telling them that they are to be treated as a mass. He writes that it is extremely important to understand this force in our society if a teacher is to deal with it. He writes the most important thing to know is that advertising is a business. Johnson continues: It is the business of selling. But what it is in the business of selling is you and your students. You are the product being sold. Who are you being sold to? You're being sold to an advertiser. It is the advertiser who is the consumer in this equation. The advertiser is buying you. The advertiser is buying you from the broadcaster. And why the advertiser is buying you is because he wants you to look at his message; his billboard, his magazine ad, and in this instance, his TV commercial. But in any study of advertising and advertising effects it is difficult to agree on what are clearly examples of advertising and what are clearly not. This is more difficult to do than it seems. Television is an excellent example of why this is so difficult in their attempt to influence purchasing decisions. He writes that the sole purpose of the television programs between the commercials is to act as an attention getting device. The scripts are written to build tension before the commercial to hold the viewer's attention during the commercial. He writes that once they have that attention, ... what is the advertiser trying to sell you? Products? No. He's trying to sell you a religion. What is it? It's the philosophy known as materialism. If you watch television closely, you'll see that there's no real difference between the programs and the commercials. Indeed, if you turn on a television set you often can't tell what it is that you've just turned on. Is it a commercial or a program? Suppose you tune into a Hawaiian beach scene. All right, there's a big hotel in the background and palm trees and there's this brand new car on the beach and this couple strolling across the beach. Now you don't know whether that's going to turn out to be a scene of one of these cops-and-robbers programs or whether it's a commercial. It is even more important to note, however, that you don't know what it's going to be a commercial for. That's because every commercial is a commercial for all products. Most of us are aware of the huge amount of sophisticated research generated by the advertising industry to refine its persuasion techniques. We even feel comfortable admidst our advertisement-plagued society. Although subliminal advertising may be effective, the most difficult factor is relaying the message to possible consumers. Such advertising techniques include flash messaging, buzz words, celebrity endorsements, emotion targeting, fear and the oh-so common bandwagon method. Flash messaging is a common technique where a viewer is influenced by