At 03:13 PM 12/21/00 EST, you wrote:
>In a message dated 12/21/00 11:24:46 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>I'm in awe of the medieval era, largely because of so much craftsmanship on a
>level of refinement that couldn't be matched today. Looking at, say, a piece
>of Irish metalwork, I get a strong feeling that the maker must have believed
>that God was watching him every minute. That nothing less would have forced
>or enabled him to work with such skill and care. It's supposed to be an
>improvement that today far fewer people walk around feeling that God is
>checking up on them every minute. The corollary is that craftsmanship has
>gone down the tubes. We can no longer do a decent job of making cars,
>airplanes, computers, or anything.
>
>pat
>
I don't doubt than many medievals sensed God looking down on them at every
moment, some in dread, and some with a delight like that of a beloved
child; but I think too that one should recognize that in a society shaped
with a lot less movement from place to place that status in such a society
was based a lot more on personal expression within a more uniform range of
exceptance, which thus necessitated an excellence of craftsmanship in fewer
artistic styles and fewer technologies, and thus gave rise to the
remarkably advanced artistic expression of the period. This aided by the
uniformity given by Christianity would act as a magnifying lense for human
endeavor; whereas today with a pluralistic dimenion in almost every
conceivable endeavor there is actually alot less folk specializing in a lot
more fields of endeavor, with the resultant that there is a lot less real
expertise. I think this is why, for example, one does not find theologians
today that could match the literary and intellectual output of such men as
Thomas Aquinas or Albertus Magnus, not to mention Bonaventure of
Bagnoregio. But such a relativistic comparison as I make here is no doubt
not the whole story either, just perhaps a facet.
Sincerely in Christ,
Br. Alexis Bugnolo
|