ART AND BEAUTY IN THE MIDDLE AGES by Umberto Eco; Hugh BredinReview by: Patricia L. KleebergerArt Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 8, No. 1(Spring 1989), pp. 38-39Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27948021 .

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38 Art Documentation, Spring, 1989

I TRANSLATED WORKS GERMAN ESSAYS ON ART HISTORY / Edited by Gert Schiff.?(The German Library, vol. 79).?New York: Con tinuum, 1988.?Ixxii, 283 p.: ill.?ISBN 0-8264-0308-5 (cl); 0-8264-0309-3 (pa); LC 87-18430: $24.50 (cl); $10.95 (pa).

'The history of art/' Panofsky once wrote, "is a compara tively recent addition to the family of academic disciplines. And it so happens that its native tongue is German." While art history has long since learned English, surprisingly few of the founding fathers have appeared in translation. The lack of adequate translations is surely the primary reason that the early years of art history remain, for most of us, cloaked in obscurity.

All this may be changing. The past five years have seen scholarly translations of major works by Jacob Burckhardt, Max Dvor?k, and Alois Riegl, among others, and the current revival of interest in the foundations of the discipline will surely occasion similar efforts. Yet the number of writings by important Austrian, German, and Swiss art historians await ing translation remains imposing. Suffice to mention just three authors: Erwin Panofsky, whose influence upon art his torical methods in postwar America has been second to none, but whose early theoretical writings are still unavail able in English; Julius von Schlosser, whose classic hand book on the literature of art (1924) still awaits translation; and Aby Warburg, whose brilliant writings remain as little known as the Warburg Institute is renowned.

The present volume should aid the cause. Professor Gert Schiff of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts has pro vided extended, continuous selections from 16 key figures. Included in this excellent new anthology, and presented in roughly chronological order are: Winckelmann, Wilhelm Heinse, Goethe, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, Friedrich Schlegel, Carl Friedrich von Rumohr, Eduard Kolloff, Jacob Burckhardt, Heinrich W?lfflin, Theodor Hetzer, Franz Wick hoff, Alois Riegl, Max Dvor?k, Julius von Schlosser, Aby War burg, and Erwin Panofsky. While five selections are reprinted from previously published translations, most have been newly translated for this volume; the majority of authors found here have never appeared in English before. If the volume offered nothing but a translation of Warburg's famous lecture on the Schifanoia frescoes ("Italian Art and International Astrology," Rome, 1912) it would be well worth purchasing. But Schiff gives us that and much more.

The main translator, Peter Wortsmann, has provided re

markably faithful and fluent renderings of "some of the most difficult texts in all art history" (p. Ixv). There are, it must be said, occasional mistranslations. For example, Wortsmann has Schlosser say, improbably enough, that "the art of build ing precludes [sic] a knowledge of carpentry" (p. 213). A check of the original German confirms that Schlosser actu ally says that the art of building presupposes ("setzt. . . voraus") that knowledge. Similarly, a couple of Wickhoff's labyrinthine sentences defied the translator's ability to con strue. But such slips are rare. Schiff himself provided the fine translation from Burckhardt and collaborated with Worts

mann on another.

Schiff offers an excellent, extended (63-page) introduction that seeks "to place texts and authors in their respective his torical contexts" and "to show how each text epitomizes its author's basic views" (p. xii). A few of Schiff's arguments seem strained. Is Burckhardt's effusive student essay, "On Murillo," really characteristic of the sober Basel historian who later maintained such an icy distance from his turbulent col league Nietzsche? As Schiff himself notes, Burckhardt even tually repudiated the essay as "trash"! A slight bias in favor of romanticism may also be detected in the choice of the young Goethe's essay on Strasbourg Cathedral. The poet's famous pages on the Dresden version of Ruisdael's Jewish Cemetery are perhaps more representative of the mature poet and Kunstfreund.

As the last example suggests, the title of this anthology, which promises "German essays on art history," is some

what misleading. At least half the volume is in fact devoted to German art criticism prior to the institutionalization of art history as an academic discipline. Several essayists, includ ing Heinse, Goethe, Wackenroder, and Schlegel, were not art historians in the conventional sense. Since Schiff tells us that he faced strict space limitations, one wonders whether these men might have been excluded in favor of several art histo rians whose omission he expressly laments. Moreover, the selections from Goethe and Wackenroder are simply re printed from readily accessible English anthologies, as is the selection from Winckelmann who, however, could scarcely be omitted.

But upon reflection it seems likely that Schiff had little choice in this matter. His anthology appears as volume 79 of an impressive series, Continuum's "German Library in 100 Volumes." Evidently the series profile did not allow for two companion volumes, one devoted to art criticism, the other to art history. Understandably, Schiff has therefore attempted to compress the best of both traditions between two covers. He must have been encouraged in that decision by the fact that the focus of the series is decidedly upon "Dichter und Denker"?poets, novelists, philosophers, and critics?not

upon professors and scholars. For all its virtues, German art history is not especially notable for its literary landmarks. Remove Goethe, Heinse, and Wackenroder from this volume and its literary appeal will have been significantly reduced, while also departing from the publisher's agenda.

Paradoxically, inclusion within a prestigious series may thus be the source of this volume's few inadequacies. The fact that this is the only volume in the series to deal with the visual arts may also explain why Schiff was permitted only 39 black-and-white illustrations, all of poor quality. Schiff has clearly made every effort to choose texts requiring few il lustrations, and several of his selections represent outstand ing rhetorical descriptions of individual paintings. Nonethe less we are inevitably confronted with many references to unillustrated works of art, and the editorial decision not to add significantly to the authors' own notes prevents Schiff from directing readers to reproductions available elsewhere.

In an anthology of translations largely directed at college students, the reader has a right to expect recommendations for further reading, and preferably a bibliography indicating

what other writings by the authors are available in English. Schiff does include a cursory roster of authors at the back of the book, and gives the titles of some of their major works. But he might have made explicit his practice of citing in English titles that have been translated, and in German those that have not; also, full bibliographical citations for the trans lations would have been helpful. The final word should emphatically be positive. Professor

Schiff has provided an anthology of pivotal texts which will, as he hopes, "introduce the reader to some of those writers who initiated and shaped the study of art in the German speaking countries." Such a book is long overdue.

Max Marmor Columbia University

ART AND BEAUTY IN THE MIDDLE AGES / Umberto Eco, translated by Hugh Bredin.?New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988, c. 1986.?131 p.?ISBN 0-300-04207 -8 (pa); LC 86-50339: $7.95 (pa).

In the same spirit of his 1983 novel, The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco endeavors to summarize and explain the syn thesis of theology, science, poetry, and mysticism of the Mid dle Ages by utilizing the field of medieval aesthetics. This book (a paperback version of Yale's 1986 edition) is a reissue of Eco's work originally published in 1959 as "Sviluppo dell'estetica medievale," a chapter in Momenti e problemi di storia dell'estetica, voi. 1: Dall'antichit? classica al barocco (Milan, 1959). Eco's book is much more readable than Edgar De Bruyne's The Esthetics of the Middle Ages (New York, 1969) which summarizes De Bruyne's vast and still eminent three volume survey of 1946.

An updated preface gives the reader Eco's raison d'?tre for

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Art Documentation, Spring, 1989 39

the original work and a somewhat apologetic explanation for what he feels may be perceived as shortcomings in the text including his coverage limited to philosophers writing in Latin, his "personal interpretation. . . of a series of texts that in the previous decades had been discovered or rediscovered by other scholars/' and the lack of stylistic rewriting or the inclusion of new bibliographical data. Despite his explana tion, one wonders why he did not (or why his publisher did not encourage him to) revise his text, taking into account new bibliographical data, or at least rewrite his conclusion. Even though he states his basic opinions have not changed, after citing so many instances of possible changes, it is cu rious that this edition appeared in so unchanged a form. Despite these stated shortcomings which have some validity, the book is an accurate, albeit brief, introduction to the vast field of medieval aesthetics.

Eco's introduction states concisely his aim for the work:

The words 'medieval Latin' refer us in the first instance to Scholastic philosophy, along with the whole cultural context of that philosophy. But they refer us also to the culture of the common man, and my constant concern is to establish how the theories current at the time were related to its actual sensibility and its actual artistic products. . . I try to decide, in short, whether aesthetic theory provided effective answers to those questions which arose from the enjoyment, and the production, of whatever it was that beauty signified for medieval man; and whether, and how, theory was a stimulus and orientation for artistic experience and practice.

This is an ambitious amount of medieval civilization to explain in 131 pages, yet Eco's work succeeds to a very large extent. There are ten chapters plus a conclusion; each chap ter (except the second) is divided into three to five parts,

which organizes the massive and diverse amount of informa tion into a somewhat more comprehensible form. Eco's first two chapters, "Medieval Aesthetic Sensibility" and "Tran scendental Beauty," provide the reader with a good back ground on what beauty meant to medieval man, and how closely entwined this idea was with everyday life. Chapters three and four, "Aesthetics of Proportion" and "Aesthetics of Light," deal more specifically with these driving elements of medieval aesthetics. Here, Eco mentions the first of enumer able medieval theorists on aesthetics. It is important to note that even the quotations of these philosophers are translated and not left in their original Latin, a must for any undergradu ate use. Eco also notes that these aesthetic sensibilities were not limited to art, but applied also to music and literature. In these two chapters appear the first of many specific refer ences to art of the middle ages?i.e., architecture, painting, and sculpture?which make this book so valuable for the art historian. Without these references, the book would be so theoretical that its use would be limited to graduate research in medieval aesthetics. The important distinction between proportion as a quantitative aesthetic factor and light as qualitative is made at this point.

The remaining chapters delve more deeply into specific manifestations of these two aesthetic factors, and the effects they had on artistic production in the medieval world. Each chapter can be taken as a very complete essay on a specific aspect of medieval aesthetics, yet when taken altogether, create a valid argument and statement?a testament to the excellent writing abilities of the author. Chapter five, "Symbol and Allegory," explains why medieval art looked the way it did, citing the medieval idea of God being manifested in things or objects, and providing excellent examples which explain the medieval use of images in their pictorial art. In the next chapter, "Aesthetic Perception," Eco turns to artists' perceptions of what they actually were creating, which is discussed again in a later chapter. Chapters seven and eight, "Aesthetics of the Organism" and "Development and Decline of the Aesthetics of the Organism," discuss both the high point, and the reasons that these theories declined. Thomas Aquinas' aesthetics and ideas of beauty are delineated and the very medieval idea of beauty equating with the useful and the good is put forth. Chapter nine, "Theories of Art," is

one of the most important for the art historian, yet here Eco states that medievals had no theory of art. This is hard to believe after the previous chapters discuss aesthetic theories in which Eco equates art of the middle ages as "a knowledge of the rules for making things/' He even continues in the next chapter to cite examples of the special status some artists enjoyed during this period.

Eco goes on to cite a few conceptions of fine art from medieval documents, Libri Carolini, Coloribus et Art/bus Ro manorum, etc. These treatises dealt with art as a field of its own, as can be seen in Eco's reference to the Libri Carolini, ". . .art is neither sacred nor heathen, but neutral. There is

nothing to adore or venerate in images, for they are simply products of the artist's genius." In the final chapter, "Inspira tion and the Status of Art," Eco concludes that eventually a "new consciousness of the dignity of art. . .entered into me dieval culture," and cites the respect that some artist/monks enjoyed during this period.

In his conclusion, Eco sees medieval aesthetics as the con necting force between the Classical Period and the Renais sance, and yet sees some of its theories as so general, ". . .that they could refer to everything or to nothing." His example of the Gothic cathedral as expressing the ultimate ideal of everything in its proper place brings to mind Pan ofsky's Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism (New York, 1957), which is an established, successful synthesis of medi eval philosophy and art. Yet, Eco's work leans more heavily on the aesthetics of the period than on the art itself.

An obvious omission in Art and Beauty is the lack of any illustrations. For any level reader, either an undergraduate or graduate student of aesthetics or art history, some illustra tions would have helped clarified Eco's text. A bibliography does appear, extensively annotated by section: Textual Sources, General Works, Symbol and Allegory, Theories and Rules of Art, to name only a few. The bibliography seems very complete, and Hugh Bredin, the translator, has added English translations and more recent editions when avail able; newer works have also been included, although none past 1980. The index is a name index which is appropriate to the original purpose of the work, but the addition of a general index would have been helpful for the less scholarly reader.

The book is bound well, with the paper edition being sewn. Because of the stature of Umberto Eco and the in

creasingly popular period which this book is concerned with, it is a must for any collection which deals with the medieval era in general. Its appeal would be to undergraduates as well as to graduates in art history. For as complex as this book is, it is written lucidly and engagingly and gets its points across in a concise and interesting manner.

Patricia L. Kleeberger Towson State University

I I AMERICAN ART: 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES LONG ISLAND LANDSCAPE PAINTING, 1820-1920 / Ronald G. Pisano.?Boston: Little, Brown (a New York Graphic So ciety Book), 1988, c. 1985.?176 p.: ill.?ISBN 0-8212-1692-9 (pa); LC 85-2881: $24.95 (pa).

THE CATSKILLS: PAINTERS, WRITERS, AND TOURISTS IN THE MOUNTAINS, 1820-1895 / Kenneth Myers?Yonkers: The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, distr. by Univer sity Press of New England, 1987?105 p.: ill?ISBN 0-943651 -05-0 (pa); LC 87-32371: $24.95.

FREDERIC EDWIN CHURCH AND THE NATIONAL LAND SCAPE / Franklin Kelly.?(New Directions in American Art).? Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.?179 p.: ill.:?ISBN 0-97474- 592 -6 (cl); 0-87474- 563-2 (pa); LC 88-4605: $45.00 (cl); $24.95 (pa).

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