Description
Book SynopsisAlthough studies of specific time concepts, expressed in Renaissance philosophy and literature, have not been lacking, few art-historians have endeavored to meet the challenge in the visual arts. This book presents a multifaceted picture of the dynamic concepts of time and temporality in medieval and Renaissance art, adopted in speculative, ecclesiastical, socio-political, propagandist, moralistic, and poetic contexts. It has been assumed that time was conceived in a different way by those living in the Renaissance as compared to their medieval predecessors. Changing perceptions of time, an increasingly secular approach, the sense of self-determination rooted in the practical use and control of time, and the perception of time as a threat to human existence and achievements are demonstrated through artistic media. Chapters dealing with time in classical and medieval philosophy and art are followed by studies that focus on innovative aspects of Renaissance iconography.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ........ ix Acknowledgments ........ xix Color Plates Introduction ........ 1 PART ONE: SOURCES AND PROTOTYPES OF THE RENAISSANCE ICONOGRAPHY OF TIME 1. Concepts of Time in Classical Philosophy ........ 5 2. Classical Personifications of Time ........ 13 3. Early Christian and Medieval Concepts of Time ........ 39 4. Time and Temporality in Medieval Art ........ 53 5. The Romanesque Zodiac: Its Symbolic Function on the Church Facade ........ 87 PART TWO: CHANGING CONCEPTS OF TIME IN THE RENAISSANCE Introduction: Changing Concepts of Time in the Renaissance ........ 115 6. The Renaissance Personification of Time in Illustrations to Petrarch’s Trionfo del Tempo ........ 117 7. Time, Virtuousness and Wisdom in Giorgione’s Castelfranco Fresco ........ 173 8. Kairos/Occasio—Vicissitudes of Propitious Time from Antiquity to the Renaissance ........199 9. Veritas filia temporis: Time in Cinquecento Propaganda ........ 245 Epilogue ........ 305 Appendix I: Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts of Petrarch’s Trionfi Located in European and American Collections ........ 313 Appendix II: Illustrated Incunabula and Books Containing Petrarch’s Trionfi, 1478–1610 ........ 336 Select Bibliography ........ 339 Index ........ 353
