The late Renaissance ended with disputes within art criticism. The mystical mood of the Gothic and Renaissance prompted a turn toward rational explanation of arts purposes. Less focus was given to Renaissance ideals of beauty, balance and geometry as a mantle on which to structure artistic design. In the 17th century more stress in art production was placed on secular values, lessons to the taken from a work of art.
With a focus on the social aspects of the arts Plato's cautionary concern that too much freedom in art could be culturally destructive was echoed in the theories of the time. "Reason above imagination" seems to have been the mantra of the era and many pages of scholarly theorizing took place on what art should do for society. The Dutch for instance produced a history of Dutch painting with moral reflections on the key artists in Dutch history.
As one looks at Rembrandt and Vermeer (outstanding examples of 17th century Dutch art) one sees a obvious focus on social themes in their paintings. Rembrandt often quoted the Bible to make moral points in his lush, light-saturated canvases aimed at a discerning ethically aware society. Even his late self-portraits seem to probe into his conscience as if weighing his own moral status.
In general the shift from the Renaissance into the 17th century was away from the vested authority of the church and toward the private conscience of the individual. Art was seen a product of a rational society where individual rights were gaining value. A protestant worldview stressed reason and logic in biblical studies as well as in the arts. The Reformation spirit had much to do with this shift, along with advances in scientific empirical study. It was also an age where great technical breakthroughs were made in painting chemistry with detailed recipes published on: glazing, solvents, varnishes, pigments etc. The most comprehensive of these technical writings were produced by the Dutch masters.
Bill
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
PART 6- METAESTHETIC VIEW FROM MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE
The most significant transition in Western aesthetic thought took place at the end of the medieval period and blossomed into the Renaissance (1300-1600). I cannot find a clear explanation in the history of aesthetic thought that outlines the points at which this transition occurred. I will attempt to do it in this post, namely present the key medieval ideas that were expanded upon by Renaissance thinkers.
Point 1. Beauty was one of the names of God for medieval thinkers. Beauty was considered a mirror or veil which reflected or revealed aspects of God in the Renaissance. For this reason the study of nature was elevated in the Renaissance era which is why science was not separated from religious devotion. Many of the great early scientists were clergyman in the Renaissance.
Point 2. In medieval aesthetic thought mathematics, design and harmony deepened the meaning of an object by imparting a sense of intentionality and intelligence to it.
In the Renaissance, mathematics and geometry held mystical qualities and were used by most artists of the time as the scaffolding upon which their compositions were built.
For instance, the Golden Section can be found in both Gothic Cathedrals such as Chartres as well as in Renaissance paintings. Both medieval and Renaissance eras celebrated the science of mathematics as a metaphysical language. Artists as well as early scientists were united in the love of numbered rationality. Metaesthetics and mathematics are expressions of profound harmony in the universe.
Point 3. The medieval period held fine craftsmanship in the highest esteem while in the Renaissance it was a common belief that "what was hard to do" was the proof of outstanding human achievement.
Point 4. The great medieval thinkers, Aquinas and Augustine, believed that Beauty and imagination acted as a bridge between the human and divine realms. In the Renaissance this view was also held but with the added focus on human intelligence seen as the conscious application of imagination in the making of beautiful works of art. Human intelligence was valued as the crown of nature because conscious awareness of beauty and design in art and nature elevates these things into rational cognition. Here geometry and mathematics, drawing and shading, perspective and composition--- using the elements of nature, all of these were harmonized in the mind of the artist in the creation of beautiful works of art.
Point 5. The medieval era launched the first universities in the Western world and learning was highly valued where it could be found. In the Renaissance, because of the proliferation of manuscripts and libraries, private individuals could obtain knowledge that was previously the possession of the few. The Renaissance era saw an explosion in learning and the best artists were usually highly learned. Leonardo and Michelangelo for instance were the equals of the best educated men of their time. Previously medieval artisans were masons and craftsmen with limited formal education. Knowledge was associated with the wisdom of God for Michelangelo who aspired to please God by developing all his rational potential in thought, art and life.
Point 6. Art objects, such as the stained glass window or cathedral acted as symbols for "substance dualism" in the medieval age. In the Renaissance the work of art was less a demonstration of the distinct differences of matter and spirit and far more of an "incarnation" where the spirit was given expression in the things of nature and art.
The mind of the artist was according to da Vinci, like the mind of God in that what an artist could conceive in his imagination he or she could (with proper training) make real and evident in a work of art. In essence the Renaissance artist understood art-making as having moral and metaesthetic meaning ie. creation was considered a metaphysical action.
This deep respect for artistic action effectively lifted the artist out of the lower status of a mere craftsman into that of the esteemed philosopher and theologian. The ability to make a work of Beauty was a difficult thing to do and like all things that are hard to achieve it was the living proof of a god-like power--- hence the metaesthetic character that was given to art in the Renaissance.
Point 1. Beauty was one of the names of God for medieval thinkers. Beauty was considered a mirror or veil which reflected or revealed aspects of God in the Renaissance. For this reason the study of nature was elevated in the Renaissance era which is why science was not separated from religious devotion. Many of the great early scientists were clergyman in the Renaissance.
Point 2. In medieval aesthetic thought mathematics, design and harmony deepened the meaning of an object by imparting a sense of intentionality and intelligence to it.
In the Renaissance, mathematics and geometry held mystical qualities and were used by most artists of the time as the scaffolding upon which their compositions were built.
For instance, the Golden Section can be found in both Gothic Cathedrals such as Chartres as well as in Renaissance paintings. Both medieval and Renaissance eras celebrated the science of mathematics as a metaphysical language. Artists as well as early scientists were united in the love of numbered rationality. Metaesthetics and mathematics are expressions of profound harmony in the universe.
Point 3. The medieval period held fine craftsmanship in the highest esteem while in the Renaissance it was a common belief that "what was hard to do" was the proof of outstanding human achievement.
Point 4. The great medieval thinkers, Aquinas and Augustine, believed that Beauty and imagination acted as a bridge between the human and divine realms. In the Renaissance this view was also held but with the added focus on human intelligence seen as the conscious application of imagination in the making of beautiful works of art. Human intelligence was valued as the crown of nature because conscious awareness of beauty and design in art and nature elevates these things into rational cognition. Here geometry and mathematics, drawing and shading, perspective and composition--- using the elements of nature, all of these were harmonized in the mind of the artist in the creation of beautiful works of art.
Point 5. The medieval era launched the first universities in the Western world and learning was highly valued where it could be found. In the Renaissance, because of the proliferation of manuscripts and libraries, private individuals could obtain knowledge that was previously the possession of the few. The Renaissance era saw an explosion in learning and the best artists were usually highly learned. Leonardo and Michelangelo for instance were the equals of the best educated men of their time. Previously medieval artisans were masons and craftsmen with limited formal education. Knowledge was associated with the wisdom of God for Michelangelo who aspired to please God by developing all his rational potential in thought, art and life.
Point 6. Art objects, such as the stained glass window or cathedral acted as symbols for "substance dualism" in the medieval age. In the Renaissance the work of art was less a demonstration of the distinct differences of matter and spirit and far more of an "incarnation" where the spirit was given expression in the things of nature and art.
The mind of the artist was according to da Vinci, like the mind of God in that what an artist could conceive in his imagination he or she could (with proper training) make real and evident in a work of art. In essence the Renaissance artist understood art-making as having moral and metaesthetic meaning ie. creation was considered a metaphysical action.
This deep respect for artistic action effectively lifted the artist out of the lower status of a mere craftsman into that of the esteemed philosopher and theologian. The ability to make a work of Beauty was a difficult thing to do and like all things that are hard to achieve it was the living proof of a god-like power--- hence the metaesthetic character that was given to art in the Renaissance.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
PART 5 - MEDIEVAL AESTHETICS
The Medieval ages (which I count from the 800s to the 1200s) brought a new set of concerns to the Western mind in its quest to understand aesthetics. What makes Medieval aesthetics a bit different from Greek and Roman thought has to do with the Christian view of God as above nature and whose Mind is reflected in the Beauty, Purpose and Goodness that can be found in nature. While appreciating the marvelous things in nature the problem for these Christian thinkers was to not confuse God with nature--to avoid animism or pantheism which considered that god was essentially the same as nature.
Deep Christian thinkers like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were worried that Greek and Roman aesthetic thought advocated pantheism and animism by not separating the Creator Being from the things of creation. Medieval thought championed by Augustine and Aquinas citing Judeo/Christian views of Creation defined the distinction of Spirit (God and the human spirit) and and Matter (nature and the human body) as interactive yet distinct from one another. This view came to be called "Substance Dualism" but it can also be described as a unity in the "Incarnation" where spirit resides in flesh.
Central to this Incarnation view is the doctrine of the "Logos" where God in Jesus Christ became a human being and took on flesh as fully God and man. Physical Beauty was elevated to a level that it never been in the Greek and Roman system because of the Logos concept. For subsequent Christian artists and theologians nature and matter was blessed and considered Good in that it revealed aspects of God's thought and character. In yet another way the character of Creator/Redeemer was revealed in the life of Christ in the New Testament of the Bible.
Art in the Medieval era was the same thing as craft but craft was held in high esteem as in the refined properties of jewelry, illuminated manuscripts and beautiful objects of all sorts-- made in imitation of the fine things of nature--for instance the wing of a bird or the human eye.
The world's harmony seen on the Cosmic scale was for these thinkers a sign of divine origin and number, found in nature a principle of spiritual thought with mathematics, guided by deep spiritual emotion and enlightened passion the unity of matter and spirit on the human plane.
Shining forms, shaped effulgence, clarity, light in nature and art forms were considered by Thomas Aquinas as a visible shell of an underlying Divine Reality or as symbols to be contemplated by humankind to discern the hand of an Eternal Artist-Creator. Beauty informed finely made objects if they were crafted by artisans who lovingly incarnated their art with energy and Grace.
A key art form of the era was the stained glass window. It was bright, shining, clear and splendid hence all the things Aquinas admired in nature. Glass windows allowed light to pass though planes of pure color bringing physical beauty to life while at the same time illuminating the sacred stories depicted in the windows. The complex designs of the window showed number. measured forms and pure gem-like colors which Aquinas said reflected the glowing light of God. This measured proportion is also prevalent in the Gregorian chant that echoed within the intricate interior of the Gothic cathedral yet another measured and jewel-like structure. All based on complex mathematical laws as found in nature.
What made the glass window a perfect means to contemplate eternal ideas was that the light (like spirit) though separate from the window could enter and pass though it without being the same substance as the glass. This was a graphic example of "Substance Dualism" where the light, like God can enter creation cover it with light while being distinct from the objects the light shines upon.
So Medieval art reminds us how complex their thinking about aesthetics was. You can read more about the symbolism of stained glass windows in the handout I gave each of you last night.
Deep Christian thinkers like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were worried that Greek and Roman aesthetic thought advocated pantheism and animism by not separating the Creator Being from the things of creation. Medieval thought championed by Augustine and Aquinas citing Judeo/Christian views of Creation defined the distinction of Spirit (God and the human spirit) and and Matter (nature and the human body) as interactive yet distinct from one another. This view came to be called "Substance Dualism" but it can also be described as a unity in the "Incarnation" where spirit resides in flesh.
Central to this Incarnation view is the doctrine of the "Logos" where God in Jesus Christ became a human being and took on flesh as fully God and man. Physical Beauty was elevated to a level that it never been in the Greek and Roman system because of the Logos concept. For subsequent Christian artists and theologians nature and matter was blessed and considered Good in that it revealed aspects of God's thought and character. In yet another way the character of Creator/Redeemer was revealed in the life of Christ in the New Testament of the Bible.
Art in the Medieval era was the same thing as craft but craft was held in high esteem as in the refined properties of jewelry, illuminated manuscripts and beautiful objects of all sorts-- made in imitation of the fine things of nature--for instance the wing of a bird or the human eye.
The world's harmony seen on the Cosmic scale was for these thinkers a sign of divine origin and number, found in nature a principle of spiritual thought with mathematics, guided by deep spiritual emotion and enlightened passion the unity of matter and spirit on the human plane.
Shining forms, shaped effulgence, clarity, light in nature and art forms were considered by Thomas Aquinas as a visible shell of an underlying Divine Reality or as symbols to be contemplated by humankind to discern the hand of an Eternal Artist-Creator. Beauty informed finely made objects if they were crafted by artisans who lovingly incarnated their art with energy and Grace.
A key art form of the era was the stained glass window. It was bright, shining, clear and splendid hence all the things Aquinas admired in nature. Glass windows allowed light to pass though planes of pure color bringing physical beauty to life while at the same time illuminating the sacred stories depicted in the windows. The complex designs of the window showed number. measured forms and pure gem-like colors which Aquinas said reflected the glowing light of God. This measured proportion is also prevalent in the Gregorian chant that echoed within the intricate interior of the Gothic cathedral yet another measured and jewel-like structure. All based on complex mathematical laws as found in nature.
What made the glass window a perfect means to contemplate eternal ideas was that the light (like spirit) though separate from the window could enter and pass though it without being the same substance as the glass. This was a graphic example of "Substance Dualism" where the light, like God can enter creation cover it with light while being distinct from the objects the light shines upon.
So Medieval art reminds us how complex their thinking about aesthetics was. You can read more about the symbolism of stained glass windows in the handout I gave each of you last night.
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