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A THEORY OF jCLOUDj Toward a History of Painting Hubert Damisch Translated byJanet Lloyd STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 2002 Contents /llustratio1u • A Tlxory of/ Cloud/ was origirully published in Frcnc:11 in 1972 IX me under title n1lont Ju /nU4tt/, 0 Editions du Seuil, 1971- Sc:anford Uniw.rs1ty Press Sign and Symbol I 1 Sunford. California English cranslaoon o by the Board of Trustees of the 1001 Sign and Representati• on 2 Lcbnd Stlnford Junior Univcnny This book lw been published with the assisa.ncc of the Syntactical Space 3 French ~1inasuyofCulrurc-NatioruJ Center for the Book. 4 The Po\vers of che Continuum 12) Printed in the United States of Amelia on acid-free, archival-quality paper Our Sheet's White Care libruy of Congress Cal4lloging-in-Publicarion Om. Damisch, Hubcn. {Thlcorie du nuage, Engluh) Notes 249 A theory of cloud : toward a hlstory of painting/ Huhcn Damis.ch : truulatcd by Janet Uoyd. p. an. - (Cultural memory in the present) 0·80-47-3439-9 (doth) - 0-8047-3440.1 (paper) lllN ISBN Painting-Philosophy. Clouds in an. L Tulc. L 1. IL Series. NDJL40 .01813 1001 7S9·9-i-dC2J OrigUW Printing 20<>1 anc:L~u:s Lui 6gwc below year of this printing: 09 08 <Y7 o6 OS 04 03 02. II 10 Typac:t by T1eng Information Syncrns, Inc. in Adobe Garamond 11/13.s Jl /111tr11.tions I' LA TES (follo\ving page 1.32) 1a. Correggio, The Vision ofS aint john on Patmos tb. Mancegna, lunerre on the ceiling of the Spouses' Chamber, Ducal Palace, Mant\13 Zurbacln, The Vision of1 l1e Blessed Alanso Rodriguez 1.. • 3. Mantegna. The Ascemion ofC hnst 43. Giorco {attr.), Tl1e Ecstasy ofS aint Francis • 4b. Anon., The Ascmsion ofC l1rist (decail) 5. Masolino, Tl1e Foundation ofS anta Maria Maggiore 6a. Anon., Jacobi Dream 6b. Astronomer, copyist, and calendar maker 7a. Constable, A Study ofC louds 7b. Gao Ranhui (atcr.), Su1n1ner MiJt 8. Leger, The Wedding FIGURES Braury, a figure from Ripa's /conowgia $4 1. of Dilrer, Tl1e Ascension Cl1rist 75 l. of 3. Giotto, The Ecstasy Saint FranriJ, an analysis of the structure of che i11101uuo 93 4. A reconstruction of Brunelleschi's first experiment 122 • JIJMsmzrion.s x S· PbyJicu ac n1etaphy1irae difformria, from Sambucus, Emblmuzra 167 6a. Ruskin, The Perrpective ofC loiuls (rectilinear) 192 6b. Ruskin, The Pmpective ofC louds (curvilinear) 192 7. Klee, Fig11rt 211 Painting consists ofm aterial l1el/i.shly woven, tphmztral and of if littk worth, becarue the superficial coating i.s removed, nobody any lo11ger pays any atta1tio11 to it. -JACOPO DA PONTORZ..iO, LETTER TO BENEDEl IO VARCHI, 18 1548 FEBRUARY - Sign and Symbol • Cupolas Correggio's frescos in the cupolas of Parma: The AJrnuion ofC hrist. or r.uhcr, The Vuwn ofS aint John on Patmos (church of San Giovanni Evangelista, 1510- 24) (Plate ta) The Assumption oft he VtJ?in (Parma cathedral, 1516-30)1 The Principk Correggio's predecessors and (for a long time) many of his succes sors in the an of painting ceilings move, when offered such surf.aces, to affirm and emphasize the ceilings' architectonic rututc, o&cn in a.n illwion ist fashion- when, rhat is, they did not trc:lt cupolas, vaults. and ceilings simply as so many walls on which to arrange and paint figures and panels conceived according to the norms of a painting set on an easel. In contrast, the solution associated with Correggio amounts to a negation: of the build ing itself, and even of the fact that it is closed space. This effect is cmatcd 11 on a key part of its overarching cover, by a decor conceived in such a way as to seem to "pierce" the stone fabric and create a fake opening onto a sky that is itself painted in trompe l'oeil. (It was a solution already adopted as early as 1471-74, by Mantegna, for the ceiling of the Spouses' Chamber in M:tnN2 [Plate 1b], to which we shall be returning.) Sign anJ Sjmbol Si!JI and Symbol 3 1 insr:incc, and certainly chc carliesc so choroughJy carried through [Die vol • TltO?-fl'E L ORJL lig durchgefilhrrc Untensicht, von \vclcher dicscs Bcispiel das frilhsre crhaJ On the inner surface of the cupola, the concave f~rm o: wruch is cene und jedenfulls das friihstc so ganz durchgefilhrce isr], appeared to con skillfully exploited by this decor, a circular. o.r rathe~ hemtspher1cal.' c~m­ remporarics and foUo\vc:rs a lriumph of all painting. They forgot what parts posirion is displayed. Tt is devoid of any archi~ecton1c reference .or 1nd1ca of the human body \Vere most prominent in a view from belo,v, while the cion and appears, in ics enrirecy, co be organized solely according co ~he subject of chis and mosc later dome paintings, the glory of heaven, would rcquircmentS of aerial pccspeccive and foreshorcened figur~. In San G10- only bear \Vhat had n1ost spiritual life. They did not perceive char for such v.umi Evangelisca, the cupola rests upon a very lo-..v, almost blind drum char a subject the rcaliurion of the localiry is undignified and chat onJy ideal is ere.aced as an cncablarure and decorated 'vith a fric.z.c in the ancienr sryle. archireaonic composition can :t\vaken a feeling at all in harmony with chis ru.r The more or less slumped circle of the Apostles rcstS upon a mass of gray [Man cmpfu.nd niche mehr, d:i.s cliesen Gegensrand die R.aumwirklich ish, solid-looking clouds with a setncring of pucri (cherubs). In the center kcir cine Enrwi.itcligung isc und dass uberhaupc nur die idea.le, archltekto of the ring, rhe figure of Christ is to be seen, Boating against a background nische Composition c.in GefuhJ cf'\vecken kann, welchcs de.msc.lbcn irgcnd of golden glory. The 'vhole "machine," as Annibale Carracci \vas co call ir, \Vie gcmass ist). No\v here rhc chief figure, Chrisr, is foreshortened in a truly seems co have no visible connection ""'ith che building, \vliich appears ro frog-like manner, and th some of che Aposdes rhc knees reach quice up to \vi be cue off at the Level of lhe base of the vaulting, giving way to a celes their necks. Clouds, \\•hich Correggio creats as solid round bodies of defi tial vision. In lhe ~upola of the c:ithcdral, in concrast, the figures of the nite volume [Als R.aumvcrdcuclichung, Stilrzc und Sia., ma.lerisch auch als • Apostles, sec beC\vcen the oculi in tbc drum, arc solidJy implanted a.long the Mirccl der Abstufund und Unccrbrechung clienen die Wolken, \vclchc Cor lower ledge, in front of a balUSU'3dc bearing candlesticks and a chrong of reggio aLs consistent geballce Korpcr von bcstimmren Volumcn bchanddr], ~d~nlS \vho effect a transition to the cdc.stial level above. The trompe arc employed co define the localiry, also as means of support and as seats, 1~ ii here more assured, and there is a more marked opposition bet'\vcen and pietorially as means of gradacion and Even on the pendenrivcs IS variety chose who, for all they are reaching heavcn,vard, nevertheless keep cheir feet of the cupola arc seaced figures, very beauriful in rhemsc1ves, buc exagger fu~r plan~ed on ch~ ground, and the discanc, misry figure of fhe Virgin atedly forcsborcened; an Evangelise and a Facher of che Church on clouds, ~s1uoned 1n chc mtddle of che apse, Aoacing a'vay on a glt.-aming, fluid \vhcrc Micb.elangelo in a similar place would have given his prophets and spiral composed of an endless swirl of angels, the clecr, and clouds. (In the sibyls solid thrones [Wahrcnd noch Michd Angelo scincn Prophecen und cupola of San Giovanni Evangelista, however, chcre is one almosc hidden Sibyllen an ahnlichcr Scclle fcscc Throne gegebcn hanc]. figure-visible only &om the '""d f h h · ais' .. "At lase. Correggio, in t526- 30, paiaced the dome of the Cathedral; . . . .... o t c apse-'v o o pos1t1oned on lS chc ledge: 1t 1s Same John himsclf, kneeling ar praycr.)2 and therein gave himself up alcogether, 'vithout any limit, co his special concc:pcion of the supemarural. He makes everythjng external, and dese 0£SCRJl'TlON (BURCKH,ARDT, 'TH£ CICERONE') c.r:iccs it. In the centre, no\v very much injured, Christ precipicaccs himself to\vards the Virgin, \vho is surrounded wirh a rushing cro ..v d of angels and "Bccwc:en and 5., C · . d . . 1520 1 ....A. ,, orrcgg10 p:unce 1n San Giovanni and ptob a b l y t hc firsc ching, ·h b ·r. ' a mass of clouds. The irnpression is cercainly ovcrpo\vering; the confused 1 E . vas c c eaur1ru and severe form of the inspired vange1 • ~t in a lunene over rhe door of che left trans Afi d group of numberl~ angels, \vho are here rushing cowards each ocher 'vich the dom,. J • b fi d epr. rerwar s can1c: the greacesr passion and embracing. is 'vichout example in arc [Der Knaul ... • • · c rs c c rsc ome d d .. Ch · ,.., evocc co a great general compos1c1on: z.:ihloser Engel, ,vclchc hicr mic hochstcr Lcidenschafr cinander cncgegcn surrounded by rheA ti . . . . n111n v1ory, as Thr Vuion rSni.1it 'h d pos cssicnngon clouds, aJI introduced Stilncn um sich umschlingcn, isr ohne Beispiel in der Kunst}. \Vhethe:r chis 0 n, scare on thccdg bd Th 'J. JO inc Lombards of Lhc noble e of a • c ow.. eAposdcs are genu- is the noblest consecrarion of the events represented is another quesrion. P~ys1cal from below, compltrcly carr;:;d· our grandi.ose form ... . The vie'v lf so, then chc confusion of arms and legs, which has been de.scribed in • of \Yhich chis is che earlicsr preserved . - . - - --- ~ - -' ' s :u dJ .__ · ·cum· of "n 1a.Ltto d1 mne.' was not to be avoided: _L_ we \\ ·1U10\\'1l \\1UI ,. 1 • • glimmer of the rowenng high .1.lor. in rhe glc;am of the 'plnulon <rlctti' • r-• mllit have been something ltkc this. Further for 1t tin._c ~enc "'C· tC ~. 1·, • (cc:lotial splendours], ''·hile the d:irk chapels of the :a.re h.irdJ~· n:t\'C rccog ~· ~Tell t.M windo"'S• it~d the Apostles, ganng after the Virgin: bchlnd niS.lble: above. instead of the Rat ceiling \\hich h:id c:tlml)· closed off the them, on the parapet. arc Gcnti bUS)• with andebbra and censers. w sp:icc:, loomed a huge l>Mrcl-~ult. It too SC'Cm~ open: clouds do'vn In Aposdo. Correggio is not logic.I: no one so excited as tbC)· are could )trttm Y.ith clouds of angels and .ill the glof)· of hc:i\'en: our eyes and minds arc sand $till in his comer; their supposed grandeur h2.s something un C\"Cn l~t in immasureal>Je '>pace. real .ibout it. But .some of the Genii ue quite \\-ondcrfu.Lly beautiful; also .. lruc, these: cffecu of :in :ill-consuming decoration u c the product llWlyof the angels in the paintings of the cupola irsclf, and cspcW.lly those of a later period of B:iroque, but the determining feature of this an, the which round the four p2uon sainu of Parma, on the pcndcncives. It is ~u unconcrollcd revdling in sp:acc and light, ''-;is ~crongly felt from the 6m. .. • difficult to an2.lysc exactly rhc son of into.xia cion with which these figures fill rbc senses (Es ist cin eigcnthilmliche Art der Bcrauschung, womit dicse Prtsngr Gcmhcn den Sinn crfilJlen). (Best light for ascending the cupola, tO\v:irds noon.)•• But it w:u not onlv srvlislic analysi~ 1ha1 cn.ablcd historians such as ' ' \'<lolfflin and Riegl (and :tlrcady BurckharJt) to sec in the cupolas of P:a.rma SPAC!/LICHT: THI! DESTRUCTION the point of departure for a whole series of cupolu that they were among OP THI! Pl!asPECTIVI! CUBE the fi~t co describe as "Baroquc"- cupola.' where clouds, great banks of clouds, inwdc rhe entire composition or even overflow irs frame onto adja From the point of view of the concept of a "Baroque" or .. pictorial" cent pans of the :irchicccrure. The line of dc:sc:en1 of such compositions is or ·painterly" (~h) styfe, whose most striking fca.rure is possibly its firmly csrablishcd historic.ally. as is abundantly :incsted. ·antipathy to any form with a clear contour,"5 historically speaking the cupolas painted by Concggio could not f.W to malk, as it were, a new dc oreRATION partutt: his work. rcnwbbly prccociow and confident, constitutes one of ~ fust manifestations of an an in which rhc propositions of the pcrspcc -1 could not R5ist immcd.U.tdy going ro !ICC the gtt.at cupola that you~ often pr.Used to me and I s1ill stupe6eJ by the wght of such a great machine. avc cube and r.he orthogonal and closed tectonic space of the Qu2rtrocento \0 ;am (6Rccnth c:cnnuy) sccn1 to fill apart. so well undmcood in all its pam. so wdJ ~ all the way up from the bot .The church . . . [t he tom to the top. and with such rigour, yet always with such judgement, v.itb such tntcnor, us Baroque style's] achievement, gJCiltcst .A __ ,_. . grace • .and "i rh colouring that is rruly that of Resh (una cosi gnn nua:hina, cosi Jtttafcd a complctdy new atJINMi,.,, ,lft4,._ JirtaeJ G • • r · d. lved . &; ;w -- -·r·- 0'J ·r-· ..,wams '".J•"'IJ· 1onn bcn into.a ogni cos:a, cosi bcn vcduta di sono in su con si gnn rigott, ma 1C111prc •:;the ~ ~ ~ of r.he spni of light-the highest manifcsta· con unto giudizjo. c con anta gr.ui.t. con un eoloriro dK" ~di ~ra came]! Upon ~ --~nt ~· ~ and No longer the aim one of fixed spatul propor- my word. TiN!di, Nicolino (Nicolo ddl' Abbate), c:vm- datt I say it?-IUphad bcMJs ICU-COntainccf nurcs ..,;.L th ' tiJ.,..:n g • • bcigfu bread h ·r-· .... m ctr sa .... rdaaonsh1ps between ;uc no longer of any ac:counr:1 ligb~: ~nfa~:C;h. of r.he The painterly style thought first of the effects These lines, sent from Parma by the young Annibale Carracci to his cousin iilg down from he . . .bcncss of a dark depth, the magic of light scrcam- 1 Luigi. on April 1580, ccminlyconvcy the considerable-and rrasonn/ 10, and Ugh •nvui le height of a dome, the transition from dark to 1:..s.. • 0 prcstige that Correggio's painted frc.scocs, above all his gt'C4lt cupola,' pos "'P' • tc:t su arc the clcmcnu with which it worked. Thcapauoft he intcrio~ n'a1) Jj • th sessed in the eyes of the future masters of the Bologna school. Ewn RizphMI D--:_ _ .. a a struawa1J dosed . ' Y tan e ·~~cc and conceived is no long" of1 111] IUC'OIUll• ••• The fact is that it is tllS~ thac wins out ~ ~ of;;::~ 'l1IC cndoeing in the Baroque. go on indefinitely. to taste, which was be the major cone.cm of eclecticism, and which a writer to pzc is diawn into in6ni The g hardly counted: m all di~ons one's such as Mcngs, ccnnuies later, would still ruognize to be the clininc- tw0 ry. cad of the choir disappears in the gold and . - -- - •, ·~(!I ..,zA,i/ ' '! { .) . . . g .\,.oscino Carracci, Mengs to ~~tt \Vas ' C s'<oK.'I O S 3.[l rv . O\\'ln ''& "C m.irr- ot 011 th · . 'dra,ving) of Raphael and the truth A 8l.OCK£0 DEVEl.OP~I ENT th.it ,,,th r.i:prr.ssw11 issoc1Jtc raste e ~ As have noted, the Carraccis rook great interest in Correggio's \Ve a lor..l oi Tiu.in. · h 'f · th an of the eighteenr cencury nor, e · r. l ln ''machines." Yet che decorarion of the vault of the Farnese g:iJlcl)' (1597- But ,,·hat rastc am ff) . \\-:U lOr . . ~. 'cal ""~tt 'the flavor of some foodsru , an action 1604) consriruccs, in ics very principle, a contradiction to Corrc:ggio's con- c n.sh1on a p. . --Ll b n /Sl ~...., I. th • cr:ve by an object intended to be agrecau c co c e composition. which adopts a perspective thar passes from the bot 1in11011S rd upon e(opnc nh cvoc:ibularyof Men gs. but also of Wt>lffiin) c.har tom up,vard (dal sotto s11), as in chc cupolas of Parma. Correggio, as earJy an of""'1rron to use b · i11 t :uul.k1 be regarded as '"a kind of sryle or manncr"?9 \V/e cannot e certain as appears co have been prompted by rhe vertical relation beC\veen the 1520, ::rain this ilia the Canaccis' underscanding of style, C''cn if, for ncade spectator and the scene presented before his eyt:S to establish the vanishing 1 kind of Platonism, according to which physical beaucy point of che composition ac its zenith. Bur the Carraccis, at the beginning • · a>n!stt.~tcs the visible appearance of perfection, has af,vays fined in well of chc following ccncury (and also Pietro di Cortona, around the middle of With scnsu2licy. \Vhcre the cupolas of Parma arc concerned, 'vhac is impor thar century, in the nave of the Santa Maria in Vallicclla church) continued wn is that Annibale Carracci saw fit to distinguish bcC\vecn the arrange co apply rhc Venetian schema of the q11adro riportato. [n such a schema, ment of the paru. the perspective o~nization of the "machine," and the a painting, or a cycle of paintings, was conceived in accordance with rhe judgment. the gnce and the quality of the color, :ill of which Men gs \vas to norms of an easel painting and a horizonl21 perspective, but \vas arranged call •st)ic. or "manncr."10The comparison promprs a number of questions on the vault or ceiling in such a 'va)' that the Boor level swung through m the mechanisms of che operation and the relations between "style:'' (is ninety degrees in relarion to the \\'a.II, and any visitor who wanted to study 11 IYlcjust a mmcrof accution?) and the srrucrurc of the \vork ("a machine the collection of picrures was obliged to perform a feat of veritable opti so well understood"). cal gymnastics. (As Wolffiin perccived1 such a fear was inevirably ncccmry, given the way in 'vhich the composition was organized: "Michdangdo's MODP.L/SEIUES clcu, archicccconic arrangement has been sacrificed in order to achieve a richness beyond one's full comprehension. The principles of the design arc If the search for "sources" has a meaning (and in the present con difficult co recognise and in the face of this intangibility. the eye remains it ccruinly has, but perhaps not the most obvious one), it would at IUl pcrpecually in a state of unrest. Image overlaps image, and ir seems as if &mt appear that we have here the model, explicitly recognized, acknowl removing one will only reveal another; the comers open out into unending edged, apprcciitcd as such, of a mode of illusionist decor, both spectacular visras.")12 md 6Jlcd with dynamic movement. The historians were label this "Ba to The solution adopted by Correggio may at 6m sight seem more mquc; and it was to predominate in Rome a whole ccncury at least after "natural," or at any rate more homogeneous and coherent, and less contra sai~t. Correggio: cupolas. V2Ulu, and ceilings where a Virgin, a a fan:ily, or dictory given that it is founded in all its pans, not just the ..c omers," on a : :: whole ~o~ order can be seen ascending in ~glory" or "triumph" unifying principle. Nevenhclcss, as the result of a historical blockage (the . Rr :;n: mg wtth clouds. Key examples arc provided by the c~pola SW1 reasons for which-among other things-the present study aims ro dis :.~fran~o S~t' An~ in della Valle (The Assumption, 1615- cover), more than a century was to pass before that solution came to pre of tbe• :-'"'6 by Pietro di Conona in the Barbcrini Palace (111e Glory dominate in Rome, and from there to spread throughout the whole of ~l G Urban VIII, i633-39), the vaulted ceiling of the nave of the Europe. (In the eighteenth century, though-this kind of quam:l was ~ of Jesus), painted by Baciccia (The Trium11h or Name ol' tl1t £- ~ lv1. .. - 83 ): ra nd the ccil' f r 'J 'J nothing new-it was claimed that Correggio himself had got the idea of (71st Trillm..J. tht , . mg 0 Sant' Ignazio, by Father [Andrea) Pozzo his cupola from an C2!lier master, one ofw hose works was in Santi Apostoli. 1691-94).ll 'r" "J . Jt1UllS, in Rome.)'' We know from Ludovico Cigoli, who hdpcd to introduce this r111bol ' and . ~ StK'l Symbol "T<' of d or in Rome.' .. rhar char earlieI Florentine painter-\vho was, as 1111d 9 ,,e .hall e. a friend of Galileo's, 'vho had settled in Rome-had made the CONCEPTS joumc\· to Parma. \X'hen in 1625. follo,ving a series of dramas and rivalries chat need nor concern us here, the Theacine monks of Sanr' Andrea della . Formed as he ~v~ by eighteenth-century casce (Meng•s casce), Srend \'alle ''anced a cupola of cheir own, ic 'vas roan arrisc from Parma chat they ~aJ Judged Corr;ggio s frescoes, nor surprisingly, co be "sublime" and \vas appealed. namel} Gio\.'allni Lanfranco. Bellori relates char, \vhile on a visit moved ~o r~s by chem.18 Bur Riegl? If the larrer allotted che painccr a co Correggio's hometO\\rrl, Lanfranco had made a model of che cupola of fine role 1n his ~stem, thac was nor solely because he regarded some of his ~vorks as !he point of deparcure, if nor the model for a form of arc (che che cachedraJ.1S He 'vas later co win acclaim for this kind of painting in Baroque -or ev~n, as.Bur~ardrwas already calling it, chc "Rococo•'), (che church of Gesu Nuova, 1635-37, ere.). As for Giovanni Bac 19 ~apJes the ~o~cepc of ~htch historians \Vere then endeavoring co elaborate. Cor risr3 Gaulli, kno,vn as Baciccia, he was co be celebrated as one of the mas re~o s producct.ons seemed co Riegl to occupy a decisive posicion in a cen ters of ceiling paincing on the strength of his Tri11mpJ1 ojtl1e Na1r1e offe S11S, cral issue ~n which hinged the entire development of Wescern arc, from a fresco paincing executed on the vaulted ceiling of the Gesu. And a few Greco-Or1encaJ ant1qu1ry co rhe days Impressionism. This concerned of y~ car.lier, 'vhen \.VO~king on the pendentives of Sane' Agnese in Agone, borh the axis or speccrum thac joins che objective pole of arr {where beings be JikC\vise had noc faded co make rhe trip co Parma, co scudy Correggio·s and things are "rendered'' as rheyare first presented to the sense of couch in ccchniques.16 the immediate proximity of their surface) co the subjective pole (,vhere they are such as they are revealed co sighc, at a distance, in three-dimensional A Grid space) and, accordingly, aJso the distance that separates the caccile and the opricaJ modes of represcncacion. If the Renaissance regarded as the . So ic is char, however prestigious Correggio's cupolas may have been \YaS momenr of compromise beC\veen Bar composition, in che ancient manner, ~he from che scare, they neverrhdess occupy an enigmatic position in the and modern composition, \vith the emphasis on spacial depth, ic Cor was history of art, since over one hundred years separate them from the first reggio's \vorks chat for the fuse rime, wich no restrictions, revealed a deter Roman \vo~ks for \vhich they provided the explicit model. Leaving chat mination co conscrucc che piccure from the point of view of the s11bject- che probJcm aside for che nioment, it is some\vhac astonishing co find chat at subject defined in Kantian terms-where space a given, conscirutive was chc rum of che lase cenrury, ar the rime of the Vienna Sezession {and also fearure of awareness. rhac of Cfunne, Seurac, .and the German Impressionists), Aloi·s Riegl, the How shouJd this be understood, from a systematic rather than his a ~osr famo~s representative of rhe Vienna school and the first of the theo torical point of view, if it is that Riegl 20 was the first to cry to analyze crue nsrs of an, an the sense in hich ch w e present text understands the term, c. . 21 works of on che basis of their formal conditions of possibiliry, and co art saw nc co agree w1ch Burckhard · · · . t in recognizing chis provincial artist as the replace iconographical enquiry, concerned solely wich the images' con an most modem ofa ll tl1e "ainte f ch I-': . r rs 0 e uwan Renrussance.17 It is important tent, that is \Yirh what they signified, by a srudy of their formative prin h co ow che works of C · find ch . &et ercncc and ilJ . orreggt~ e1r place, as both a point of ref- ciples and the consricutive features of the appearance of things as painting an uscrac1on as the Linch · · ch . . . even coday h h Jik, . pm in a eoreacaJ oppos1c1on that presents them to the eye? Ricgl was interested in the rdations becween chc , w et er we e or fun . . JC a fram k d . nor, coons as a grid for a reading and figures and the background from which they scand out, bccwcen shapes cwor aroun which ev . . mwt be anicuJ d (B . . ery mrerpretaaon proposed for these works and the place where they arc disposed, outlines, relief. shadows cast, colors. ate . up co th d UC It IS chiaroscuro, foreshortening, atmospheric perspective, and so on. As we and subsricurc his 'd . e rea er ro pass through chat screen ccivcd rexr.) own gr1 , hts own texr:, for the original grid and che re- shall see, those principles, now ucaced syscematically by Ricgl. were some dar of che very aspects and rubrics chat ~en~ selected in his i~ order co discuss Correggio's caste and his concnbunon to the an of pa.anting. ,,,,d S1g11 n11d Sy111bol S1g11 SJ·111bol 11 10 \X'hai mu~t do here tttum to the subject of the ta.rte rh:tc the conunuit)' of the Aar surf.tee or the order of the figures on ic. The \\'C is di~rupc letdcnlici.tns ascribed to Cortcgg10. 1n order to pinpoint the concept be n1cans of such an arc \viii be cssenrially quite the opposice of the li11~nr, hind ii and to d ,ringuish the ideological field ,,;thin \vhich. since Ric:gl, p1r1or111/ means that characccriz.c: an an thal takes as 1cs object (or referent) 1 rhe chcon· of n has operated If taste the prerogative of Correggio, space: nself, and as irs subject (nor to be confused 'vi ch any "fable" or "stOI)'" 3 \\'3S docs th.at ·mean th.it R:iph.acl and Titian lacked ic in the areas of art in 'vhich chat the image illuscraces or, in its o'vn panicular \Y:ly, recounts) the reprc: ~·cxcclled-dra,v1ng (o:pmsio11, gr.indeur) for Raphad, color (tn11/1) for sencation of singular forms as chc:y appear and reve:U themselves \Vithin a Titian? G1\'cn th.lt -ae.tdcmic doctrine hdd that no artist of the past had free ::and unlimited depth, considered as a luminous and aerial substance. a-er nuJUgcd to pro''C his C'Xccllence in every part of art 3l once, Cor When \'Q'olfRin Jater listed the disrinccive fe:acurcs of the .. linear" and reggio bound to delight the cdeaic spirits 'vho praised him for having the "pictorial" styles (rhac is to say the opposed pairs of limiccd/limidcss. \\'a.s poocssed all the ~rious cxccllc:ncies to the full, and also ha'ing added to Aar prescntacion/prescncarion in depth, open forms/closed forms, plural grandeur and truth M:a ccn:ain elegance, which genccall)' bears the name of iry/unicy, etc.), he was simply rcadopcing the thtorftical system defined by wtc, and which signifies the proper and <lctcrminacc character of things, Riegl a few years carlier,27 and doing so for purposes that the history of excluding all the Indifferent pans, such as the insipid and wclcss."22 Bue academic arr w:as soon to reduce to those of a strictly descriptive classifica ~e impon.ant poin~ here is L~at M~ngs.saw 6c ro declare char harmony, the tion. The an of Correggio certainly seems to provide a good illustration of ante~ed~tc: s~le - at which this painter excelled-corresponded to his the "pictorial" style, if it is true, as Mengs had already suggested. that th.is ~tcrnunauon ~o. delight the sight and the souls of spectators." Accord painter rejected the straight and simple lines by which external shape is de ang t~ Mengs, ·"'"nt p/rASUrr to tl>t ~ \\'aS the operation (the "mmner or fined md always tried ro interrupt his outlines by chiaroscuro. at the 53me style ) that ~~cd down to Wtc, and Correggio W2.5 the first to achieve that time remaining unrivaled in the an of aerial pcrspccrivc. thanks to having =s~aicxplorun_g pan of his an and using his talent solely "'for the noticed that never presents several objects all with the same degree C'YCI)' nature all.• · o·n ofb chcuo hcan, """l l«Ortlin• to his own ·-·,.,.; • :z.s si•n ce, _I.'... of force c·for whatever is in the forefront of the picture is assumed not to o ~.-..ons. ;u1cr paintang . mos a~tractivc by means of the C)'CS. • 24 be veiled by the illuminated corpuscles that circulate in the airi whereas the . Wbatau ns scnumental connotation ("Co • d background, which is set funhcr aw:ay, must be regarded as being covered dd1Catc 'b' l rrcggao posscssc very ary, tender and affectionate hcan •) h iaU • scns1 • a 2s by scvcral byers of those corpuscles·).u If. as Ricgl was to argue. Cor vnual and subjective quaRlitiy- •t·h .at ~1e.n ~ Dl'f'ccivcd = . Co.• t ~ ~tth y reggio was the painter closest to the modems and was also the first of the rallied well enough . h rr r-· m rrcggto s an us auigncd to thls wit h~& .5 asscmons 26 and the position that the laner "Baroque· artists, it was because •rhe contoun of bis predecessors, which mi r-ntcr at c inception of modern th . th L- l were too meagre and too aamped, could not accommodate his celestial analysis, was interested nl . . an-an an at. m e IU( there is more thar needs ~ ~d ~s cr;;;llons or optical impressions. But spiric.·2' However. we should beware: •sy inaeasing the masses of light 10 .Won bctwccn the rwo pol ~- • or e reason why. for Ricgl, the oppo- and of shade, like a river overflowing its banks, he swept his spectaton out • ) CS. uac: tactile (objccti: C) d th . . into the vast sea of all that is graceful, and from there, seduced by die song ralccs on the value of th d an e (subJCC· bVc • V1Sual 1 along an axis th.at is no longerc od ry an . allows him classify works of of its sirens, many were led into a land of errors."'° to art gardcd cterm1ncd by hist d . as an explanatory principle. is tha . 0~ an succession, re• off ormal analysis. Anand __ . r it serves to mtroducc a protocol Index ....... ...:_11 . CVOh:urothcapprcb · fL--'! . 15 ---.. .... y 111'1J>Cncuable. solid cnti . . cns1on o uowcs considered the figures from the baclcground . ncs ~ resort outlines that isolate The scicati6c spiric clc1Nnd1 tlw dac comp&m17.,.,...a1Cd • k to ~.to diminuc ~ch should be amlpcd in cuch a wq a caablc le c oae rdief and fo= they stand out, and will en· 10 10 111-=c distancing. and aU cxpttssftoc fcanua crung •.a ll ~rs of overlapping or aingle faaarc and use ii 11 a lrq at chc wlwlc. -Louie H"JdmdcY,A1!11•lM~ 1111111MJ21t• '821 p tbar migbr interrupt the objective

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