Europe is famous for it's philosophy and art. Both are ways in which knowledge and ideas can be passed down and preserved.
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| School of Athens painting by Raphael. |
Although technically not an apprenticeship, the teachings of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle (as I mentioned in my previous post) were passed on orally throughout the Greek Civilization. However, the development of various writing systems allowed their philosophies to be written and made available to many others, which lead them to be understood by many others. As a result of being written down, thoughts were preserved not only for the use of those who lived during the Renaissance era, but for the many generations of people who lived after the Renaissance era. Written forms of thoughts also made it easier for one to be taught or tutored by others, since philosophies and actual facts could be referenced without having to be memorized.
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| Michelangelo's Pieta. |
Italian artists also continued their trade mainly through relatives or close family friends. Michelangelo, for example, was sent off at a young age to live with a wet nurse who was married to a stone cutter. At a very young age, Michelangelo began to develop a love for stone and as he became older he was taught by the stone cutter how to handle various types of stone. Now, years later, Michelangelo is known for his many famous sculptings such as the "Pieta," "Madonna of the Stairs" and "David."
These sculptures are now records, different than that of a written record, which help us to determine the thoughts and ideologies that Renaissance artists and people in general had about religion and philosophy through the means of emotion.
Through both written philosophy and preserved works of art, we have been able to unravel the ideas and thoughts that Ancient scholars and artists had which have greatly impacted how we, as a Western culture, view the world. How do art and writing, which are both expressive and informative forms of preservation, differ in the ways of how we understand Ancient cultures'? What are some pros and cons to each method of preserving ideas and passing along knowledge?
I think it is an interesting idea that the sculptures themselves were the best instruction manual to preserve sculpting techniques. In a way this is true. During the renaissance they did learn how to sculpt by looking at old sculptures. But I also find it important that this same Michael Angelo dug up bodies to study their veins and muscles and that he kept notes on what he learned. This would give us two sets of records on how to sculpt: the masterpiece he was trying to emulate, and the notes he used to improve his efforts. I like the idea of interplay between the two.
ReplyDeleteYa. There obviously has to be a mix of all of these mediums. The carved stone to study, the notes, the hands on practice and interactions with a mentor. I think that it is interesting to note that art has a more direct impact on a viewer, whereas writing sort of has an extra step between the medium, and our comprehension of the art of words. Art is also an older more primitive form of communication, but that is not to say it is not as sophisticated.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I think is both a pro and con of artistic expression (versus writing) is that the art is up for interpretation by the viewer. This is part of the reason why really emotional pieces of art are so universal, because they can mean different things to different people. The artist, of course, has a message and a purpose in mind, even if it is just to be creative, but then they share it with the world, and because we are all different in our perception of the world, we receive a different message. This is both good and bad, because if the desire is to send a really specific message with the art, it may or may not be received. Writing expresses thoughts more clearly and with less "wiggle-room" to find your own meaning in the words than in the art. That is the comparison I first thought of.
ReplyDeleteSorry I am late. I am in LA! it has been crazy getting here but anyway...
ReplyDeleteAs everyone knows because I always talk about it: I love art! I actually had a very Socratic like debate with Andrew, my cousin, from our class the other day about art. We discussed what exactly is art. One thing we kept bringing up is that art has to have a statement or message from the artist. Writing, speaking and other forms of art are just methods to express inner thoughts and creativity. I like what Morgan said about the different ways viewers interact with art- whether it be more direct and clear through writing or more ambitious, creative and indirect through visual art. I think both writing and visual art have varying degrees of directness or as morgan says less "wiggle room"... In the end we write, speak and do visual art to convey our inner thoughts and desires. That sounds simple but it impacts our day to day lives it has to be profound.
I enjoyed Alicia's comment above. I, too, think it is interesting that there are things you learn from learning about it, and there are things you learn from doing. I think that most things are probably a combination of the two. But I agree, that it is interesting that the most comprehensive and detailed manual of how to create a sculpture is all the sculptures that have come before. I think it is that way with a lot of things. I think that reading Shakespeare and Steinbeck and Hugo and Hemingway will improve your writing more and faster than would a writing class, but some writing professors might disagree with me on that one.
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