Cultural History Now Mirik Rubin Analysis

Cultural history has taken a turn from a boring old traditional history that examined the intellectual and artistic history, to a new exciting cultural history that is more relevant than ever. In What is Cultural History Now written by Miri Rubin, we look at the cultural turn in history that is best examined from an anthropological view and how the symbols and meanings in history can show us a more broad slow moving context of what was really happening at this time. With input from other historians such as Michel Foucault, who introduced cultural historians into a more embodied history that look at the people, their rituals and how they worked. The focus on ritual shows historians a lot about the culture they are studying, their religion and rule, work and, kinship. Cultural history changes depending on the context that it is observing, and is hard to compare between cultures.
David O'Brien's article Propaganda and the Republic of the Arts in Antoine-Jean Gros's Napoléon Visiting the Battlefield of …show more content…
He first talks about the intense grand armee monument that he wants built and how it must be made from the greatest and strongest of materials. Napoleon then lists off some of the paintings he wants commissioned which have the same themes of either a victory, or the Emperor himself doing something great. The paintings add up to 126,000 francs, which shows the how important this art propaganda was to Napoleon. The paintings shown by all revolutionary artists, demonstrate the greatness of Napoleon and help forge the Napoleonic myth. In all of the painting with more than just Napoleon, Napoleon is the most significant and relevant character. Other than the painting of Napoleon sharing snuff with a loyal soldier which shows his respect to all the military and how that soldier could be anyone if they work hard, are brave and, loyal to