Otfried,
It's so nice to have you back online. Please, do find time for us. We miss
your insights and bibliographies.
Clint
Dr. Clinton Atchley
Department of English
Box 7652
Henderson State University
Arkadelphia, AR 71999
Phone: 870.230.5276
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.hsu.edu/faculty/atchlec
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Otfried Lieberknecht [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 7:44 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Theologians and Art
>
>
>Dear Ghazwan,
>
>While it is probably difficult to speak of 'medieval
>aesthetics' in the
>strict sense, there nevertheless were theological and philosophical
>concepts of beauty (and of deformitas as well), order and
>perception which
>had great impact on medieval thought and have also informed --
>although
>this influence may be more difficult to trace -- the development of
>medieval art: as regards these concepts, your list should
>certainly include
>the usual supects already named by others, such as
>Pseudo-Dionysius and
>Augustine, Boethius and Eriugena, Hugh and Richard of St
>Victor, Aquinas
>and Bonaventura. I would include theories of
>vision/imagination, meditation
>and contemplation (and of the role of the five senses in re-presenting
>topics such as the passion of Christ), especially in
>Bonaventura, for their
>great impact on Franciscan and other devotional/spritual art
>of the later
>middle ages.
>
>As regards artistic genre and technique, I would say that one
>of the most
>important 'theological' contributions was the Psychomachia of
>Prudentius,
>as this work (and also its tradition of illustrated manuscripts) was
>seminal for the entire tradition of representing personifications of
>virtues and vices.
>
>In matters of iconography and content, the whole tradition of biblical
>commentaries and glosses, sided by liturgical compendia (Honorius,
>Guilelmus Durandus), by historiographic (Historia scholastica) and
>hagiographic writings or florilegia, by world chronicles and
>encyclopedias
>(Isidore, Hrabanus, Bartholomaeus Anglicus, Vincent of Beauvais), by
>bestiaries (Physiologus, Pseudo-Hugh of St Victor's _De
>bestiis_, Albertus
>Magnus' writings on animals), herbaries and lapidaries (Marbod
>of Rennes,
>Albertus), has certainly influenced most works of arts, and
>not only works
>of the obviously 'learned' species. I would add apocryphal or
>pseudepigrahic writings such as the Evangelium Nicodemi or the
>Visio Sancti
>Pauli for their influence on representations of the other
>world and (in the
>case of apocryphal evangelia) of certain episodes of biblical history.
>
>Perhaps one might say that it would be easier to dress a list of
>theologians (or theologically trained authors) who have *not*
>influenced
>the history medieval art...
>
>So if we don't want to cast the net too wide, we should maybe focus on
>theologians who have effectuated significant *changes* (a word
>I prefer to
>the more teleological term 'progress') in the development of
>medieval art,
>as in the case of Prudentius mentioned above. If, that is, we
>can really
>put the finger on such changes in art and can pin a writer's
>name on them.
>Suggestions, anybody?
>
> Otfried (trying for a moment to think of other things than selling
>Harry Potter...)
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>Dr. Otfried Lieberknecht, Editor & Product Manager
>office: [log in to unmask], http://www.amazon.de/fachbuch
> tel (++49 +811) 882-540, fax 882-380
>home: [log in to unmask], http://www.lieberknecht.de
> Munich tel (++49 +89) 76775703, Berlin tel (++49 +30) 8516675
> cellular: +1706771396
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
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