bMS 649/50(20)- Religion and Culture 1963, 3

Third Lecture (??? Lectures) Religion and the Visual Arts [statements about the slides towards the end of the lecture as examples] [1. The Protestant suspicion against the Visual arts. The situation of the late middle ages: eye and ear. The emphasis on the "word" against the sacrament. The anxiety behind ???. (Some references to the arts of the word and the sound.)] 2. The poblem of symbols: Discursive and re- presentaive symbols. The first ones signs. The latter ap- pearing in language, poetry, history, religion. [3. The general character of representative symbols, and the difference between artistic and religious sym- bols. [p. 4a and b]:] ???

I. The relation of artistic and religious symbols 1.) The points of identity: a. The painting beyond. (Figurative, but not metaphors) b. The power of the symbols because of their participation c. The revelatory character of levels of reality d. The opening up character of levels of the seoul. e. The birth and death of symbols in a social group. 2.) The difference: a. The difference of levels of reality; the ultimate or religious level. The preliminary aestetic level. The ulti- mate includes the totality of levels, the preliminary: one besides others (cognitive, moral, social) b. The same in man; ultimate and prelimi-

ry concerns. The latter related to the whole person, the former one concern besides others. Not "to be or not to be." [??? and metaphor] 5. The relation of the two kinds of symbols. a. The double symbolism: Religious symbols artisti- cally expressed, the so called religious art. (Bach, Christ pictures, hymns, church buildings) b. The ambiguity of religious art in this sense. The aesthetic form or the religious content and meaning as the intention. (The listeners of Bach-concerts, the visitors of Chartres). The conflict between the preliminary and the ultimate concern. The predominance of artistically valueless pictures (alos hymns) in actual piety. The non liturgical character of great works of Renaissance art.

II. The religious interpretation of an artistic style, wether in religious or in secular art 1. The decisive importance of form. (Comp. the ar- tistic form in a novel in contrast to a scien- tific inquiry; and the quality in contrast to the ???) 2. The openness to all subject matter. (The non- sense of the fight against the ugly in art) 3. The style: Within the "???" of form creative possibilities. The particular "pencil = stilus." (Hand- writing within the form – Periods, groups, persons, periods of persons. 4. The revealing character of the style. It shows the implicite ultimate concern and is religious basic encounter with reality whatever the content. (a Parisien street café, a chair, a tree)

5. There are ??? many styles in all times and cultures, but only 3 stylistic elements which always return in different mixtures: The receiving of encoun- tered reality: The naturalistic element. – The transforming of encountered reality into essential reality beyond existence: The idealistic element. – The expressing of ultimate reality in both with the in the en- countered and as well as the transformed reality: The expressionistic element. All of them always present. 6. Each of them predominant in certain styles and giving a special interpretation of its religious mea- ning. – A few general remarks and then concrete examples: a] The religious meaning of the naturalistic element: Humility towards the ordinarily given. Finding in it ultimate meaning. – b] The religious meaning

of the idealistic style: Driving towards the essence of things, anticipating their bringing into existence of their essence. – c] The expressionistic element (all art is expressive!) The religious meaning: a "break through," both the naturalistic and the idealistic forms, transcending both, the naturally given and the ideally anticipated. 7. The relation of the styles to the two concepts of re- ligion. The narrower concept corresponds with what is usually called "religious art": Symbolizing traditional religious symbols artistically. Religious art and the principles of consecration and honesty. – The affinity of the expressive element to the religious art. But as in the preceding lectures, the emphasis lies on the expression of our relation to ultimate reality in non-religious art. Interpreting styles is the search for such expression, for the "dimension of depth" or of ultimate concern in the works of art.

In world – historical perspective: The predomi- nance of the expressionistic style everywhere. (This is natu- ral because of the expressive power of the arts.). The two other rarely predominant, and usually the precedence of the idealistic before the naturalistic predominance. After this a return to the expressionistic. This has happened twice in the West: In Greece and in the Romanic-Germanic cultures. In Greece from the archaic over the classic-idealistic to the naturalistic and back to the archaic. The same in the medie- val and modern periods. Romanese-Gothic-Renaissance expres- sionism, Renaissance idealism, modern naturalism, return to expressionism since 1900. Out of this immense and diversified material a few examples with some the attempt to analyse the religious meaning; after this a final discussion of our artistic si- tuation, starting 1900.

III. Examples of an analysis of styles under the predominance of one of the stylistic elements. A: The Greek curve 1. Archaic goddess (6. century) The ritual function of most art, therefore not only ex- pressionistic style, but also religious subject matter. The "hieratic," immovable attitude, the impossibility of going around, looking not at something, untouchable, closed in themselves and behind the gowns. (the archaic smile, perhaps, closedness in themselves.) 2. Demeter in Eleusis. (5. century). Divine majesty, but seen from the side and related to another being. Less numinous, mare human in terms of es- sential humanity.

3. Old Market Woman (2nd century) Observation of a particular in its movements and daily life activities. But even so great artistic form: Pre- dominance of the naturalistic element. 4. Christ Holy Wisdom, Mosaic, 9th century The return to archa the archaic elemen expressio- nistic element, first imitatively, then under the original mo- tives, Christianity coming from Christianity, the cata- combs, the Ravenna mosaics etc. – The archaic character vi- sible, but a new archaic style: The translucency of the spirit through the matter, the principle of Byzantine culture and religion. Able to produce the greatest religious art in the West.

B. Selected examples from about 1000year (900 – 1900) of Western art. 1. Detail of a crucifixion (12th century) Romanese – often strongly expressionistic (more than this example), distorted bodies, full of mystical Spirituality. The art in the service of the hierarchical vision of the world, secular and religious. (nothing secular completely secular) 2. St. Anne (Chartres 12th Cent) Comparison with the archaic goddess: changed by the expression of the soul in agape. This Gothic selfinterpreta- tion of man refers even to nature, but not independent of man. A cosmic – sacramental feeling.

3. Giotto, St. Fancis chooses poverty (14. cent.) High point and transition, uniting the three from Gothic to early Renaissance, uniting the three elements of every style in a perfect way: Presence of the transcendence, opening up the empirical description and showing the essen- tial in the way of the idealistic style. (The greatest some- times beyond the period) 4. Masaccio, the expulsion (15th century) Powerful human figures. Tragic humanity. Inspite of the angel nothing of the mystical mood of Giotto. Man, the center (Re- naissance portraits). The individual important. Idealistic element. 5. Perngino, sides of a crucifixion (15th cent.) Noble humanity inspite of the Cross (the same of Christ him- self (idealistic – essent anticipating vision)

6. Rembrandt, Aristotle with the Bust of Homer (17. cent) A similar phenomenon as in Giotto: Strong naturalistic (portraits with "history"), essentialisation and antinaturalistic expression. General background: Barock. 7. Caravaggio: Conversion of Paul, (17th cent.) Dynamic naturalism, in the dynamism of Barock and Western society (Compare Giotto's Francis-scenes) 8. Goya, Saturn (eating his children) 18-19 century. The underground of the terrible in life. (choice of sub- jects, adequate to the style) Critical naturalism. 9. Wattean, Embarkation (18. century) Erotic naturalism. Mystic The artistic trans elevation of sex into eros as creative power.

10. ??? ???, The Forest of ??? (19th century) Romantic naturalism. Nature participating and vise versa (opposition to technical extrangement from nature) 11. Winslow Homer, Huntsmen and Dogs, (19 century) Scientific naturalism. Direction towards photographic observation. Interest in the particularity of the particular. The greatness of the American school. 12. Claude Monet, ??? (19th century) Optical naturalism. (also subjective). Dissolution into light and colours. Nature: mysticism, but not emotionally founded. Even persons disappearing in the cosmic continuum.