Looking for lines: theories on the essence of art and the problem of mannerism

Uittreksel

Summary: "Looking for lines" describes the search that started in the eighteenth century by art historians, critics and esthetical philosophers after the role and use of lines in art and art history. In this search for the line the misunderstanding came to light that the current ideas held of the use and function of the line did not correspond with the approaches in the past. As for instance that the status of an art work must be measured by the qualities of its compostion by the abstract use of line and colour. The author treats the role and influences of this way of thinking on the role of esthetical judgements in the past three centuries, with special attention to mannerism.

Inhoud

The history of art: balancing between realism and stylisation -- Historiography repeats itself: arguments in favour of studying non-classical styles -- Wolfflin's classic art and his criticism of mannerism -- Jacob Burckhardt and Franz Kugler: uneasiness towards mannerist art -- The high status of Raphael's painting and of Greek art -- The eighteenth-century state of antique art -- Taste, maniera and the history of art -- The history of antique art and the question of taste -- Winckelmann on fine characters and contours -- The flowing line as the philosopher's stone -- A changing point of view -- Riegl's theory and its legacy -- Epilogue: visual order in figurative art.