Sophisticated ideas become more approachable and entertaining for a wider audience when ‘high’ and popular cultures are blended; this is why the Facebook page ‘Classical Art Memes’ has obtained over 5.2 million followers.
As the name implies, it cleverly points out that some challenges may have been true for a while by using classic works of art as models for contemporary humor.
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The list of admirers of this genre is impressive and lengthy. It also includes Matt Dinan, a professor of great books at St. Thomas University.
Dinan declares, “I watch classical art memes religiously.”
Dinan concurs that these images are not just practical jokes.
“One of the things I think is so ingenious about classical art memes is that they take these images that are heavily contextual — like, you knew from the context that this is Adam and Eve, or this is Virgin Mary and Jesus — they take all the context away, and that in itself is funny,” Dinan says.
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That “we’re taking something… very specific in another culture, and taking something that is specific in [our] culture and putting it on top of it” allows everybody to participate in the fun without having to be an art history expert is something Dinan finds particularly appealing.
“Even if they don’t understand the references, I imagine people still find them humorous. People generally believe that anything is humorous if it has this kind of humor and appears like classical art of any kind, from any age.”
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“In addition, there’s the feeling that this work was created by and for enthusiasts of liberal arts. They’re jests. Gaining a liberal education that allows you to understand these jokes is now simpler than it was in the past.”
Dinan thinks that these memes do, in fact, shed new light on earlier works of art.
“I’d see this … as … participating in an ongoing democratization of the artistic world.”
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