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Meaning and Appearance – A Merleau‐Pontian account of Leonardo’s studies from life
Author(s) -
Dunton Catherine
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
art history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8365
pISSN - 0141-6790
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8365.00160
Subject(s) - object (grammar) , meaning (existential) , relation (database) , consciousness , aesthetics , set (abstract data type) , epistemology , art , philosophy , computer science , linguistics , database , programming language
Art has two masters, claimed Leonardo, man and nature. This interplay between human reason and sensible object becomes particularly intense in studies made directly from life. Here, the artist must bring his intelligence to bear on the investigation of the object whilst at the same time remaining faithful to its physical appearance. Using the theories of Merleau‐Ponty as a conceptual framework, this paper examines the process of drawing from a real object in relation to the theories of active and passive vision found in Leonardo’s optics. In this way, the artistic meaning of the drawing, i.e., that which carries the work beyond the status of mere illustration, can be seen to arise from a tension between the inner consciousness and the external world – a tension set up and symbolically overcome by the act of drawing itself.