 |
 |
 |
Getting Our Bearings / Patrick St. Germain |
|
|
|
|
An important step in investigating a work of art is deciding the perspective from which you are observing the image. If it were possible for you to climb inside this painting, what and where would you be?
The artist has included a variety of clues to the meaning of his painting. His title calls to mind the Greek philosopher and mathematician who, with his followers, developed a scientific foundation for mathematics and believed that the concept of number underlies all proportion, order, and harmony in the universe. The Pythagoreans were astronomers, too, and they were the first to consider the earth as a globe revolving with the other planets, including the sun, around a central fire. The Dog Star, or Sirius, is one of the closest stars and its brightness can be seen from every part of the earth.
|
Patrick St. Germain (1947- ) Pythagoras at the Yellow Dog, 1977 oil on canvas Gift of the artist
Lesson Plan 3: Getting Our Bearings by Knowing Our Universe
|