This week I want to focus on the specific aesthetics that are associated with melancholia. The first place to begin will be Bubenikâs mentioned âera of melancholiaâ proposed by Giorgio Agamben as the time period beginning with Durerâs Melencholia I (1514) and ending with Freudâs Mourning and Melancholia (1917) and for Julia Schiesari is where melancholia was âinaugurated by the Renaissance, refined by the Enlightenment, flaunted by Romanticism, fetishized by the Dec[a]edents [sic], and theorized by Freud,â before its revival in postmodern critical theory.(1)
In Mitchell B. Merbackâs Perfectionâs Therapy he asserts that:
According to the theory put forward in this book, DuĚrerâs print is singularly equipped to perform a particular task: to stimulate a certain kind of receptive process in the beholder.
Overcoming the pernicious âbecloudingâ effects of saturnine gloom, restoring the mindâs equilibrium, and, with it, the health of the body, above all required moderate exercise, mental and physical. In providing such exercise, the print stands as a special and possibly unique remedy for a special malaise â Renaissance misery â and we will consider several kinds of evidence to show that DuĚrer, together with the intellectual aspirations he had for the print, conceived it as such.
(2)
According to Merback, Durerâs Melencholia I was an act for the viewer with the intention to soothe the viewer.
what are therapeutic aesthetics?
Okay but before trekking down that path, we can gather some information on the basic architecture and dĂŠcor of the time period, the post-Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
architecture in the Middle Ages
âThe rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch were used as solutions to the problem of building a very tall structure while preserving as much natural light as possible.â
âLate Gothic (15th-century) architecture reached its height in Germanyâs vaulted hall churches.â
(3)
One canât seem not to think of cathedrals and ornate churches when they think of Gothic architecture, and its equivalence with knowledge, God and power.
rib vaults, gothic arches, flying buttresses oh my!
In my recent crit it was asked did I have a particular association with light in my works, specifically in the computer game. My answer in my crit dealt more with revealing parts and layers of oneself in regards to a relationship. Iâm wondering if you just reveal bits and pieces of yourself or is it that we reveal the whole thing when we first meet someone? And if you do reveal the whole thing to everyone then how does that make any one relation more unique than the others? And even if we do try to reveal everything there is definitely still some curation happening whether conscious or not. Also, isnât there still a lot buried deep inside our own unconscious even we donât know about??
renaissance architecture/art
video regarding some important themes:
https://www.britannica.com/video/140389/overview-Renaissance-architectureÂ
Renaissance architects studied the theory and practice of their Roman predecessors. They read the treatise "On Architecture" by Roman architect Vitruvius and examined ancient ruins in Italy, France, and Spain to develop their style. Classical antiquity and Renaissance architecture used order, a system of traditional architectural elements, as the basis for design.(4)
Furthermore, it is stated in the Brittanica video:
Renaissance architects sought to achieve beauty through proportion, as Classical architects had before them. This characteristic differentiates the Renaissance style from the Gothic. Interest in proportion also led to the pictorial device of perspective, first formulated by the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi.(4)
So we can clearly see a shift back to proportion, namely human proportion vs. God, and perspective.
Matteo di Giovanni, The Dream of Saint JeromeDate, 1476, Room 204 at AIC!
1. Bubenik, The Persistence of Melancholy, 25
2. Mitchell B. Merback, Perfectionâs Therapy: An Essay on Albrecht DuĚrerâs Melencolia I, (New York, Zone Books, 2017), 28-30.
3. âGothic architecture,â Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/Gothic-architecture. (accessed April 26, 2020).
4. âLearn how Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, and Donato Bramante shaped Renaissance architecture,â Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/video/140389/overview-Renaissance-architecture. (accessed April 26, 2020).