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1. BegriffEine auch nur annähernde Erklärung des Begriffes G. differenziert sich allein schon durch seine Etymologie: Den Wortstamm bildet ital. grotta/grotte, wovon sich gegen Ende des 15. Jh.s grottesche (1495 erstmals nachweisbar) ableitete (zur Bedeutungsentwicklung s. u. 2.). Als Lehnwort erfolgte im 16. Jh. die Übertragung in alle wichtigen europ. Sprachen (franz. crotesque, grotesque; engl. grotesque; span. grutesco; niederl. Grottisen; dt. Krotteschisch) [4]; [5]. Generell lässt sich in allen Sprachen eine bis heute andauernde definitorische Unsc…

1. Rhetorische BegriffstraditionDer Begriff D. (griech. prépon; lat. aptum, decorum, convenientia; ital. decoro, convenienza, convenevolezza; franz. bienséance, convenance) entstammt der Rhetorik und bezeichnet das Schickliche und Angemessene einer Rede und im Verhalten. Die Anwendungsbereiche erstrecken sich auf die Sprache und ihre Stiltheorie, in ethisch-moralischer Hinsicht auf das Verhalten im öffentlichen und privaten Leben nach Geschlecht, Alter und Stand sowie in ästhetischer Hinsicht auf Architektur und bildende Kunst. Die Leh…

A. Der Charakterbegriff in Hinsicht auf die KunstDas griechische Verb charéssein, abgeleitet vom Substantiv charaktḗr, bedeutet ›einritzen‹, ›eingravieren‹, vor allem in Bezug auf Zeichen, Zahlen oder auch bildhafte Zeichen. Betont wird das Eingeprägt-Sein, und so hat auch charaktḗr den Wert einer Prägung als Formgebung [12111]. Der Begriff des Charakters kondensiert das Individuelle in seiner Differenz zum Allgemeinen. In der Frühen Neuzeit wurde »Charakter« zu einem Begriff der Erfassung sozialen und moralischen Verhaltens im hierarchischen Gesellschaftsgefüge. In a…

1. Concept Illusionism relies on an intentional effect of deceiving the senses in a work of art. The illusion is usually based on tricking the sense of vision by means of precise naturalistic imitation and perspective techniques. The aim is to elicit momentary confusion between art and reality in the viewer. The illusion is not intended to be lasting, but to elicit an ensuing revelation that the seen effect is a work of art [5]; [6]. Artists also use illusionism to demonstrate that they are capable of surpassing nature by conjuring an appearance of reality.An ancient artist anecdote on …

1. ConceptIn Italian art, disegno (“design”; French  dessin) from the early Renaissance already meant more than just “drawing”. Artistic expertise in practice and theory combined in the concept of disegno to found a concept of artistic creativity. Disegno refers on the one hand to the drawing, from the first strokes of the pen in the draft stage to the pictorial final drawing - in other words, the process of demonstrating one's ability and invention by preparing a piece of work. On the other hand the term also denotes the imagi…

1. Ancient conceptIn sculpture and painting, contrapposto denotes an attitude motif of the human figure consisting of a particular ponderation. Ponderation is the distribution and attitude of the limbs and the body weight either stationary or in motion. It may be static and balanced about a vertical core of the attitude depicted (e.g. standing straight), or it may be displaced radically away from the center of gravity (e.g. in dynamic motion that displaces the upper body). Contrapposto is thus a motif of attitude in the standing figure, connoting as it were motion in stillness.In …

1. ConceptMultiple views (French  multiplicité des points de vue, Italian  molte vedute, German  Vielansichtigkeit) is a category of evaluation in the field of sculpture. As a criterion of aspect (Latin aspectus, “view”), the analysis of multiple views serves to establish principles of composition in freestanding statues and sculptures against walls (e.g. niche statues, reliefs, tombs) by distinguishing between frontal view and multiple views in the main and side aspects. In art theory, multiple views were considered under …

1. Definition and terminological historyWith free sculpture or “sculpture in the round,” the relief is one of the two main genres of sculpture (Sculpture [subtractive]). Reliefs are bodies or formal structures in a composition (e.g. figures, landscapes, ornaments) – in any of the materials used in subtractive or additive sculpture (Sculpture [modeling]) – that project out of a flat, concave, or round surface. In subtractive sculpture (e.g. in stone or wood), it is the material that determines the he…

1. Concept and periodizationThe epoch term “Rococo” (French rococo; German  Rokoko), as customarily used in art history, covers the period between around 1715/1730 and 1770/1780, dominated by a European cultural and stylistic phenomenon that spread from France and manifested itself mostly in art, crafts, and architecture, though to some extent also in literature (Galant literature; Anacreontics; Pastoral poetry; Idyll). It is much more difficult, however, to apply the term or define the phenomenon in the…

1. The word Even an approximate definition of the term grotesque is already distinguished by its etymology: the root word is Italian grotta/ grotte, from which the word grottesche was derived toward the end of the 15th century (first appearance 1495; on the word’s semantic development, see 2. below). In the 16th century, it entered all the major European languages as a loanword (French crotesque and grotesque, Eng. grotesque, Span. grutesco, Dutch Gottisen, Ger. Groteske and Krotteschisch) [4]; [5]. In all languages, generally speaking, the word’s definition is to this da…

1. ConceptThe plastic (from the Greek  plassein/ plattein, “to form,” and  plastikos, “malleable”; Latin  plasticus) art of sculpture by modeling (Sculpture, techniques of) involves making works from malleable (clay, wax, papier maché, stucco, plaster of Paris) or castable materials (metals and other malleable materials that can be made by processes of casting and pouring, e.g. concrete or porcelain). Sculpture by modeling, which builds up material, contrasts with subtractive sculpture, which removes it (e.g.…

1. Concept and roleThe term “portrait” (French  portrait; German Porträt; Italian  ritratto; Spanish  retrato) is derived from the Latin protrahere (to draw forth; to produce). German also still uses the synonymous Bildnis, but Konterfei has become archaic (from the Latin  contra facere, “set in opposition/contrast,” and French  contrefaire, “imitate”; see Contrafaction). The  Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (c. 1230) already contains the terms  portrait and contrefais al vif, but Villard uses them to assert fidelity to nature [7. 59–61].During the early moder…

1. Thematic foci and key articlesIt was only in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that the collective singular “art” coalesced into an umbrella term for all artistic creations that appeared in the field of “art history” in the emergent scientific and scholarly system. Such a complex, refined concept of art did not exist in the early modern period. Classical terms like the Greek  téchne and the Latin  ars were understood in a more general sense as artistic ability or technical skill, that is, the capacity to make things in dealings with working techniques …

1. Concept The term iconography derives from the Greek ei kṓn (“image”) and  gráphein (“to write”, “to describe”) and denotes the study of the content of images. However, this sense was acquired in the discipline of art history only in the 19th century. In general, iconography is concerned with all objects, forms, and designs in representations insofar as they comprise a system of signs that can express social, historical, religious, or aesthetic conditions or ideas. Insofar as iconography helps to explain w…

The Latin term idea has perevaded the history of philosophical thought since Plato [2]; [4] (see Idealism). In early modern aesthetics (Art theory), the concept of the idea in the sense of self-reflection on artistic creativity was discussed to secure the intellectual status of the fine arts – and thus of the artist as well. In this context,  idea (German  Idee, French  idée) referred to all genres of art; in the creative process that led to a work of art, it denoted the idea of the beautiful formed in the mind, which manifests itself as an inspira…

1. ConceptThe aesthetic criteria of the unfinished derive from Italian Renaissance art theory. The key conceptual pair is the Italian perfezione/imperfezione, which was only revised into  finito/ non-finito (“finished”/“unfinished”) in modern usage [4]. The concept of the unfinished always corresponds with that of completion or perfection, aesthetically reflected in the relationship between art and nature. The degree of unfinishedness is measured according to the definition of the complete. During the 16th century, the semant…

1. Materials and techniquesStucco (Italian  stucco, French  stuc, German  Stuck) is a malleable design material that offers almost unlimited applications, often associated with architecture on building exteriors and interiors, but also frequently with free-standing molded additive sculptures of objects or figures (Sculpture, techniques of 3.3.; Sculpture [modeling]) and in ornaments for room decoration (stucco ceilings; see Ceiling painting). Stucco was already widely used in classical antiquity (Latin  tectorium, albarium opus), according to Vitruvius ( De architec…

1. Introduction The history of early modern art theory from the 15th to the mid-19th century offers no semblance of a linear tradition in the discipline. Primary and secondary currents are encountered. It has long been recognized that the general history of early modern art, with its heterogeneity of genre and divergent development across Europe, is no longer reducible to a teleological history of style, but there are clearer international traditions of thought in the field of art theory. Art theo…

The caricature is an art form of amusement and pictorial wit. The word caricatura (from Italian caricare, ‘to exaggerate,’ ‘to overload’) originally referred to an exaggerated imitation of nature in the portrait. In caricature, the artist demonstrates quickness of design, graphic skill, and pictorial wit. As a situational work of art, a caricature is primarily a domain of drawing. Until the 18th century, caricatures circulated in private or semi-public circles, and were not used in graphic reproduction. Early …

1. ConceptThe artists known as Nazarenes acquired their name in early 19th-century Rome in reference to their appearance  alla nazarena, which was associated with Jesus of Nazareth, especially because of their long hair parted in the middle. Johann Friedrich Overbeck – in this respect the model for the Nazarene circle – adopted this hairstyle from the winter of 1812/13 at the latest. The nickname was not derisive, but derived from a usage dating back to the 17th century denoting a superficial resemblance to depic…