Medieval aesthetics
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Medieval aesthetics refers to the general
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
of
beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
during the
Medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. Although
Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
did not exist as a field of study during the Middle Ages, influential thinkers active during the period did discuss the nature of beauty and thus an understanding of medieval aesthetics can be obtained from their writings. Medieval aesthetics is characterized by its synthesis of Classical and
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
conceptions of beauty. The thought of
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
and
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, framed by that of the
Neoplatonist Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...
Plotinus Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos'';  – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neop ...
, placed an emphasis on concepts such as harmony, light, and symbolism. By contrast, readings of the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
inspired an interrogation of the relationship between nature and the divine. The writings of
St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
and
Pseudo-Dionysius Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' o ...
integrated Plato and Plotinus with early Church Doctrine, while
St Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
incorporated
Aristotelian philosophy Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the socia ...
into his discussion of beauty in nature. The theological concerns of these writers meant that their aesthetic theories were relatively neglected post- Enlightenment, but their influence had been extensive, especially during the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
. In recent times, the works of Spanish director
Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...
have been inspired by medieval theories of beauty.


Historiography

Aesthetics as a distinct philosophical branch did not exist during the Middle Ages. Medieval aesthetics as a subject comprises studies of key medieval thinkers by modern writers such as
Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
and Edgar de Bruyne. That medieval philosophies of beauty are implicit rather than explicit is in part due to the fact that the broader philosophical mentality of the period was highly traditional and that 'innovation came without fanfare'. For Eco, his historical approach is evident in his belief that aesthetics must be viewed as 'the ways in which a given epoch solved for itself aesthetic problems as they presented themselves at the time to the sensibilities and culture of its people'.


Origins

Medieval aesthetics largely derive from the writings of Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus, when viewed through the lens of medieval
Biblical exegesis Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...
.


The Bible

Aesthetic consideration of the material world comes mainly from the Old Testament. According to Tatarkiewicz, the importation of the Greek concept of '' kalos'' into Christian thought during the translation of the Hebrew into the Greek meant that the passage in ''
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
'', 'And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very beautiful,' emphasised the aesthetic qualities of creation. This sentiment was similarly translated into the ''
Book of Wisdom The Book of Wisdom, or the Wisdom of Solomon, is a Jewish work written in Greek and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid-first century BCE, the central theme of the work is "wisdom" itself, appearing under two p ...
'' which advances the mathematical nature of aesthetics and aligns the work of both God and humanity through their common manipulation of these mathematical qualities in order to create beauty.


Plato

In the ''
Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...
'' the notion of the beautiful soul is introduced as more valuable than material beauty. Beauty is therefore aligned with the
Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
and this definition makes it compatible with Christian spirituality. Plato's theory of the forms underlies much of the writings of St Augustine and Pseudo-Dionysius. The theory refers to the way in which material objects are merely the reflection or attempt at representation of a perfect, abstract reality. Within Plato's framework, these pure forms of reality are determined by a
demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term ''demiurge''. Al ...
, but the Christian interpretation of Plato by Augustine and Dionysius holds that the forms mirror the perfection of God's own mind. This notion underlies the more significant notion of ''
mimesis Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...
'', whereby art and material beauty are considered the mere reflection of the beauty of that realm.


Aristotle

Aristotle followed Plato's approach in the ''
Hippias Major ''Hippias Major'' (or ''What is Beauty?'' or ''Greater Hippias'' ( el, Ἱππίας μείζων, ''Hippías meízōn''), to distinguish it from the '' Hippias Minor'', which has the same chief character), is one of the dialogues of Plato, altho ...
'' and the ''
Gorgias Gorgias (; grc-gre, Γοργίας; 483–375 BC) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxogr ...
'', positing the inferiority of smell, taste and touch by connecting aesthetic experience with the higher sensations of sight and sound. In ''
Poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...
'' he established some grounds for the medieval argument that the beautiful can be equated with the good as 'he believed a tragedy could cleanse negative emotions such as fear and pity'.


Plotinus

Plotinus is notable for his writings about beauty, which form a substantial part of what has come to be known as Neoplatonism. Plotinus particularly influenced medieval aesthetics by expanding the notion of beauty so that it was not exclusively conceived in terms of symmetry.


Key thinkers


St Augustine

The aesthetics of St Augustine are less theological than that of subsequent thinkers due in part to his earlier life as a pagan. His conversion to Christianity allowed Augustine to implant Christianity with Classical ideals, whilst innovating Platonic and
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
nian ideas with Christian belief. Augustine's notion of beauty's objective existence is one of his most fundamental ideas. He writes that beauty is objective and that this objectivity is external to humans, who can contemplate beauty without having created it. Augustine wrote that something 'pleases because it is beautiful'. He highlighted that beauty is, in and of itself, an indispensable aspect of creation; it is inherently harmonious and its existence aligns with humanity's deepest, but 'proper' desires because ''measure'', ''form'' and ''order'' make something good. In his work, ''On Music,'' Augustine asserts that beauty is the unity of disparate parts, such as lines, colours and sounds. Augustine also expanded the Roman notion of number in rhythm to beauty more generally by regarding rhythm as the sole source of beauty. According to Augustine, every experience of beauty originates in and is determined by rhythm. Even though he placed heavy emphasis on the beauty of number and therefore equality or balance, he also realised the purpose of contrast or the inequality of parts. For example, he attributed the beauty of the world to the contrast between things and therefore he believed the correct and natural placement of things results in beauty.


Pseudo-Dionysius

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' or ...
developed the Classical notion that the beautiful is aligned with the good by writing that beauty is the manifestation of goodness. He justified this assumption through his idea that God is the Cause of everything, meaning that beauty and the beautiful are the same because they have the same cause. He asserted that all things have beauty because everything originates in the Cause and that this means nothing can lose its beauty. For Pseudo-Dionysius there exists an Absolute Beauty from which all material beauty is derived through 'emanation'. This results in the earthly encounter with beauty that is divine, even though it may appear imperfect. Such a conception, according to
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Ananda Kentish Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி, ''Ānanda Kentiś Muthū Kumāraswāmī''; si, ආනන්ද කුමාරස්වාමි ''Ānanda Kumārasvāmī''; 22 August 1877 − 9 Septem ...
, is important because medieval aesthetics were thereafter 'fundamentally based on isbrief treatment of the Beautiful' in ''On the Divine Names''. This treatment also involved the important step of using 'Beauty' as a
divine name The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ' ...
. According to Brendan Thomas Sammon, this approach influenced how St Thomas Aquinas came to treat beauty.


St Thomas Aquinas

St Thomas Aquinas gave two individualised definitions of beauty in the ''
Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholasticism, scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all ...
.'' The first asserts that the beautiful is experienced through visual pleasure, while the second states that the beautiful is a pleasurable perception. These amount to a single definition of beauty that accounts for both subjective and objective experiences of beauty where the emphasis on sight and perception creates a holistic groundwork for understanding beauty. His most historically important idea regarding aesthetics was that the beautiful is pleasurable, while not all pleasures are beautiful. Unlike his predecessor Pseudo-Dionysius, who started his aesthetics from the assumption of an absolute and divine beauty, Aquinas took material beauty subject to empiricism as his starting point. In departing from the Platonic transcendent, Aquinas moved towards Aristotelianism which enabled the exploration of the beautiful and the good as independent of each other. This move thus enabled Aquinas to develop an implicit criteria for beauty: actuality, proportion, radiance and wholeness.


Proportion

Due to the enduring legacy of the
Pythagoreans Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...
and
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...
' ''De Musica'', musical principles of proportion were applied to the arts more generally, but with prominence in music and architecture. This gave rise to the re-appropriation of the Pythagorean notion '' musica mundana'' whereby the beauty of the world was viewed as a harmonious interaction of contrasts, namely that between macrocosm and microcosm. Proportion was considered an aspect of reality because it was 'not a product of the human mind, nor an invention of the musician'. The work of bishop and philosopher,
Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste, ', ', or ') or the gallicised Robert Grosstête ( ; la, Robertus Grossetesta or '). Also known as Robert of Lincoln ( la, Robertus Lincolniensis, ', &c.) or Rupert of Lincoln ( la, Rubertus Lincolniensis, &c.). ( ; la, Rob ...
, embodied these assumptions as it used mathematics to explore harmony as a condition of beauty, such as in his belief that the numbers 1,2,3 and 4 were the source of musical principles. According to Umberto Eco, Medieval conceptions of beauty were based on the earlier Classical attempt to link mathematics with beauty: ' his conception of beauty'smany variations are reducible to the one fundamental principle of unity in variety.' These aesthetics also had a moral dimension borrowed from Pythagoras, for whom, for instance, certain musical proportions were believed to lead to sins. Musical principles were often enacted into architecture so that buildings would be built according to an 'order reminiscent of a musical melody'. For this reason, architects were frequently called 'composers' who created beautiful buildings according to a 'divine arrangement' whereby correct proportions of latitude, longitude and altitude harmonised.
Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
s exemplify construction according to these principles, and theology also informed the sense of proportion so that 'from an aerial viewpoint
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
were in the shape of a cross,' which created a sense of 'balance when viewed from within the cathedral'. As pointed out by both
Charles Rufus Morey Charles Rufus Morey (20 November 1877 – 28 August 1955) was an American art historian, professor, and chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University from 1924 to 1945. He had expertise in medieval art and founded the I ...
and Charles S. Baldwin, cathedrals embody the elision of theology and aesthetics.


Light

A systematic aesthetics of light began to appear in the thirteenth century. Light was believed to endow physical objects with nobility and beauty because it 'constitut dthe essence of colour and at the same asthe external condition of its visibility,' according to Edgar De Bruyne. The medieval concern with
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
was constant throughout aesthetics because it extended the Neoplatonist notion that light was
emanation Emanation may refer to: * Emanation (chemistry), a dated name for the chemical element radon * Emanation From Below, a concept in Slavic religion * Emanation in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a belief found in Neoplatonism *Emanation of the state, a l ...
by placing it within an Aristotelian cosmology and asserting that it was the emanation of God. This idea is to be found particularly in the work of Pseudo-Dionysius where the sun symbolises the eternity of light and therefore the constancy of beauty.
Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste, ', ', or ') or the gallicised Robert Grosstête ( ; la, Robertus Grossetesta or '). Also known as Robert of Lincoln ( la, Robertus Lincolniensis, ', &c.) or Rupert of Lincoln ( la, Rubertus Lincolniensis, &c.). ( ; la, Rob ...
's ''On Light'' is an example of the movement during the Middle Ages of trying to understand light in terms of beauty. One of the thirteenth century
scholastics Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
, Grosseteste helped to develop a 'metaphysics of light', whereby it was believed that the world was formed by the presence of light, with the straight rays of the sun impressing orderliness on its surface. Light was considered to be intrinsically connected to heat, which was reflected in the belief that male beauty comprised a 'fresh and rosy, halfway between pale and flushed' complexion, which was influenced by the soul's warming of the blood because the soul had properties of light. De Bruyne also points to the contemporary focus on rare stones and metals as evincing the aesthetics of light, because the Latin etymologies of the French for bronze, gold and silver reflect a belief that they were made of illuminated air and that this was the source of the beauty.


Symbolism

J. Huizinga points to the importance of
symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
ism during the Middle Ages as a way of comprehending the purpose of existence and therefore, it is key to understanding the medieval paradigm. Aesthetics were underlaid by theological and philosophical principles because the base assumption of the era was that God created everything in His likeness, meaning that aspects of His being could be perceived through a symbolic view of the world. For this reason, art did not explicitly depict the transcendentals of truth and beauty because symbolism was instead considered the closest way to apprehending 'traces' of the transcendentals in creation.
Representational art Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else.Mitchell, W. 1995, "Representation", in F Lentricchia & T McLaughlin (eds), ''Critical Terms for Literary Study'', 2nd edn, University of Chicago Press, Chica ...
was imbued with symbolism because this was a solution to balancing the notion that truth was grounded in natural observation against the attempt to depict the spiritual world, which was considered inherently different to reality and thus required idealisation without distorting truth. As outlined by Tatartkiewicz, architecture was heavily founded upon notions of symbolism based on numbers with 'five doors symboli
ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
the five wise virgins, and twelve columns the twelve apostles. Pulpits were supported by eleven columns, symbolising the eleven apostles who were present at the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and the ciborium on ten columns symbolises the apostles who were not present at the
Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
'. Churches evinced considerable symbolism, which is particularly noticeable in
Eastern churches Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
where the writing of Pseudo-Dionysius enjoyed considerable attention, with his notion of emanation allowing churches to be viewed as extension of God. Edessa Cathedral, for instance, was built so that light entered it through three windows with three facades in order to symbolise the
Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
, whilst the roof represented the sky.


References


Further reading

* (Vol 1ː Ancient Aesthetics; Vol. 2ː Medieval Aesthetics; Vol. 3ː Modern Aesthetics). * * * * {{Aesthetics Medieval philosophy History of aesthetics