Art and the History of Science
By Rachel Hatlestad
My web project for the course History of Science is Art and the History of Science. I have chosen this topic because I am an art history major and I would like to look at the relationship between the evolution of art through the ages and the evolution of science through the ages. I am interested in art specifically in the historical, social, economic, political and religious context in which it is developed and it will be fascinating to add the scientific context to the sturdy of art. The history of science is interesting because I love to see how science has changed the world through the centuries and to see the many misconceptions we have about science. While art and science seem to be very different disciplines, there must be connections between the two to explore. Several connections are clear giving history of science and art have several concepts important to both. Perhaps most importantly, art and science have been studied by observing and recording nature. Other connections relate to perspective. It is also true that with the scientific use of perspective artists were able to compose visual art more realistically.
My three episodes are the Greek sculpture in ancient time, architecture of medieval gothic arcitecture and Durer and perspective drawing for the early modern time period. Greek sculpture was beautifully crafted and meticulously constructed. The Greek artist became increasingly interested in the science and the beauty of the human form. Although most of their sculptures were idealized, they went to great lengths to study the human body. During the medieval times, gothic architecture was full of scientific details. I belive many of the constructions were based on the realms of the heaven. Science might have made many contributions to the medieval culture had on architecture during the middle ages. Durer and perspective drawing created a new standard for drawing and painting during the Renaissance through modern times. Durer’s work in geometry and mathematic greatly influenced and developed the principles of art. It was clear that the Greeks, like Aristotle, were observing nature and bodies. Artists were observing then construction. A Primary source for Greek Sculpture would be http://hsci.ou.edu/galleries//01Ancient/Aristotle/1476/ because of the observation. Primary source for Gothic architecture is http://hsci.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbgrp=-999&exbid=52&exbpg=37. This source is useful because it show the different heavenly relams. A imary source of the perspective drawing and Durer is http://hsci.ou.edu/galleries//16thCentury/Durer/1535/. Durer clearly illustrates his conclusions on perspective in this primary source. A secondary source for Greek sculpture would be Stewart, AF. Greek Sculpture: An Exploration, Yale University Press, 1990. which provides great detail on Greek sculpture. David A. King (1984), "Architecture and Astronomy: The Ventilators of Medieval Cairo and Their Secrets", Journal of the American Oriental Society 104(1): 97-133 is used as a secondary source for gothic architecture during medieval times episode. A secondary source for Durer and his perspective drawing is Waetzoldt, Wilhelm, “Durer and His times,” Kessinger Publishing, 2006. This source is excellent because it is dedicated directly to Durer and his accomplishments. I want to learn more about different scientific discoveries in different ages and how they applied to human art. This topic may be interesting to other people because the art and science are two are often thought to be very different yet intriguing subjects. |