Arts and Literature of the Twelve Colonies

This article discusses an aspect of the Re-imagined Series version of the Twelve Colonies. For information on the Original Series version, see The Twelve Colonies (TOS).

The Twelve Colonies, like most civilizations, have a rich historical record of arts and literature as well as other works. Their democratic republic gives its citizens many freedoms of expression in addition to freedom of the press. Colonials have paintings, abstract designs and a variety of musical traditions.

Additionally, many functional items produced on the Colonies adhere to an aesthetic, even at a cost to efficiency.

Part of the series on The Twelve Colonies of Kobol (Re-imagined Series)

Arts & Literature Ecosystem Government History Language Law Race & Ethnicity Sexuality Religion

Literature

Prose

Dark Day

Edward Prima is the author of the novel Dark Day.

Adama, who had Dark Day in his personal library on Galactica, gives it to Laura Roslin as a gift (Water). She says that she considers it to be "one of those classics I've never gotten around to reading." Given the context of their conversation, notably Roslin's reference to A Murder on Picon, it is likely a mystery.

Roslin returns the book, to Adama's consternation, after the prognosis of her illness sharply worsens (Flight of the Phoenix).

A Murder on Picon

A Murder on Picon is a mystery novel, apparently taking place on Picon.

Laura Roslin brought the book with her on the trip to Galactica prior to its decommissioning ceremonies (Miniseries, "Water").

Blood Runs at Midnight

A mystery novel given to William Adama by President Roslin as a gift (A Day in the Life).

Poetry

Kataris

Kataris was a Caprican poet. Lt. Joe Palladino owns a bound edition of Kataris' poems and threatens Col. Saul Tigh with lines from one:

From the darkness you must fall
Failed and weak, to darkness all.

Kataris is quite well-known amongst Colonials. Kara Thrace recognizes the quotation, recalls from which piece it comes, and knows the poem's quality relative to his other works. D'anna Biers identifies Palladino's copy of one of Kataris' books on sight in a recording she is editing (Final Cut).

Periodicals

• Aerelon Gazette
• Caprica Times
• Caprican Life
• Nymph
• Picon Star Tribune

Visual Arts

Representationalist

Monclair

A Monclair original

Monclair was a Colonial painter. One of his original paintings, a stylized depiction of the Cylon War, adorns William Adama's quarters on Galactica. He is apparently of considerable renown, given Gaius Baltar's impressed reaction to the piece (Bastille Day).

According to the book, Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion, the painting hanging in Adama's quarters was actually made by additional art director Ken Rabehl.

Abstract

Kara Thrace

Abstract paintings by Kara Thrace.

Between tours of duty, Kara Thrace was an enthusiastic painter. Karl Agathon is surprised to discover this side of her when they visit her apartment in Delphi (Valley of Darkness). Curiously, a specific design that Thrace has doodled as a child would be found over two years later inside an ancient temple] of the Thirteenth Tribe, without Thrace or Helo understanding why she would be aware of the design (Rapture).

Tattoos

Kara Thrace & Samuel Anders

Starbuck and Anders wedding band

• Instead of wearing wedding rings, Samuel Anders and Kara Thrace created tattoos on their arms that, when they embrace, form a unified circle with wings. The symbol for the colony of Caprica is also in view.
  • Michael Trucco adds that it is their wedding band, but that this is never fully explained in the show.
  • The matching tattoos are not real tattoos, but are applied by the makeup department.

Other

Felix Gaeta displays a tattoo of a rather large tiger during his interview with D'anna Biers (Final Cut). Gaeta indicated he was quite inebriated with ambrosia to minimize the pain of the tattoo.

Socinus has a tattoo of an Aries design on his right arm (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I).

An unnamed pilot has many tattoos on both upper arms, depicting a tiger and a dragon, among other things.

• 
  Gaeta's tiger tattoo.
• 
  Socinus's tattoo.
• The unnamed tattooed pilot.
  The unnamed tattooed pilot.

Sculpture

In addition to the Arrow of Apollo, the Delphi Museum of the Colonies contains a large collection of ancient pottery. Located in numerous display cases in the exhibit halls spanning the museum's levels, this large collection of vases, jars, pots and stone fragments form a rough outline of the Colonials' artistic history. Many of the artifacts and art pieces are quite elaborate and appear to be in the detailed Corinthian Style.

Music

Kara Thrace's Father

Thrace's father was a pianist. His daughter kept recordings of some of his piano arrangements in her Delphi apartment (Valley of Darkness).

Colonial Anthem

The Colonial anthem is heard as a short fanfare over the Viper flyby during Galactica's decommissioning ceremony. Its second, and longer, appearance is as background music for the rousing closing speech of D'anna Biers's documentary on the Colonial military (Final Cut).

Aesthetics

Colonial aesthetics lead to an avoidance of right angles.

Octagons

Colonial printouts, photographs, videos and data discs are rarely rectangular; the corners are trimmed at 45 degree angles, creating snub rectangles, i.e octagons. The reasoning for this is likely based on their aversion to right angles, as rectangles are, particularly for paper, more efficient.

Hexagons

In the Re-imagined Series, hexagons feature significantly as dog tags, playing cards, glass bottles and many other objects. This likely reflects both the dislike of right angles and the simplicity of polygons over curved shapes.

Pentagons

While not a part of Colonial society per se, pentagons play a large part in the architecture of the lone Thirteenth Colony structure encountered by the Colonials thus far, the Temple of Five. Much like the Colonials, it appears at least the ancient members of the Thirteenth Tribe were also wary of right angles.

Architecture

Federal Period

Some Federal Period architecture in Caprica City

This style was mix of older and newer trends, utilizing traditional stone facades along with glass and steel. This architecture was found throughout Caprica City, Delphi, and other unnamed Cities of Caprica prior to the Cylon attack.

Ancient Kobol

Bird's eye view of the City of the Gods and its architecture

The stone ruins of the Opera House

In "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I", Roslin looks at schematics for the City of the Gods on Kobol. Its buildings, such as the Temple, Forum, and the Opera House, were made of stone and range in shape and size, and resemble classical Greco-Roman architecture.

Later, the ruins of the Opera House are seen when Gaius Baltar and others crash-land nearby. The building was made of stone and utilized decorative columns and pillars. While there, Baltar has a vision which may have represented the original appearance of the Opera House before it fell into disrepair.

Polygonal Architecture

Many places and objects within Galactica reflect early aesthetic choices that eschew right-angular forms. Many corridors, including ship bulkhead doors, are hexagonal. CIC elements, particularly the Command & Control Center table, the tactical station table, and even the alignment of the displays of the DRADIS console, form a hexagonal appearance.

This aesthetic appears to have waned during the construction of more advanced battlestars such as Pegasus, which uses far fewer hexagonal shapes.

Re-imagined Series definition: in military parlance, directive to continue the attack; otherwise used to refer to journalists ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}