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1. Concept and problemA work is considered plagiarism if it derives wholly or in part from the work of another author while deliberately concealing its source, permitting the definition of a “pretence of intellectual originality” [2. 1152]. Plagiarism is thus distinct from cryptomnesia (the unintended reproduction of something the author has forgotten having read) and the forms of parody and montage, in which disclosure of the source(s) is intended and crucial to reception. Whereas artistic forgery entails passing off one’s own w…

1. Philosophy 1.1. Concept and overviewThe term eclecticism (from Gk. eklégein, “select”) goes back to Diogenes Laertius's (3rd century CE) description of the ancient philosopher Potamon of Alexandria, who was not a member of any of the well-known schools of philosophers but rather in each case selected from them all that which seemed right to him.Since the Renaissance the term eclecticism has been used correspondingly in characterization of a method which, in accordance with Paul's dictum, “test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5,21…

1. Erotic literatureIn seeking a definition of literary erotica, the theme of love is of little use, because it is one of the most commonplace in the literature of all epochs. Nor are the usual terms “erotic,” “pornographic,” or “obscene” literature any more helpful, for they make distinctions not so much on the basis of the thematic or stylistic criteria they pretend to assert as on the basis of value judgment. It would be more useful to focus on the property intended to distinguish these texts f…

1. Definition and historyMimesis (“[imitative] representation”) is a crucial, but polyvalent concept in literary theory, art theory, and other fields, the meaning of which has changed much through the course of history and remains controversial to this day. An extremely fluid spectrum of connotations was already in place in Greek antiquity. Mimesis (Greek mímēsis) is derived from  mímos (“mime”), and in the fifth-century BCE it meant portraying something in such a way as to resemble something else. Plato first gave it an aesthetic, although distinctly double-edged meaning [5. 1…

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. IntroductionMannerism in art, literature, and music is generally defined as the characteristic of a self-consciously elaborate or artificial style, and in art history in particular as an epoch located between the Renaissance and the Baroque. The term was coined in art studies in the late 18th century as a derivative of  “manner” (see below, 2.1.). In this context, it refers to a period between around 1520/30 and 1590/1600, a phase supposedly displaying symptoms of decadence in art and architec…

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. History 0-1.1. ConceptThe Greek word epochḗ (“suspension, pause”) in everyday speech in Antiquity meant a lull in a speech or a movement, in astronomy the conjunction of two celestial bodies, and in philosophy the suspension of judgment (Skepticism). In the early modern period, the latter two senses were at first dominant. The term only gradually took on a historical sense. As it did so, even until the 18th century, it did not denote a particular span of time, but the event that heralded one. Even …

1. Etymology and definitionThe word physiognomy (German Physiognomik, Middle English  fisnomy) is derived from Greek  physiognomonikḗ téchne; it means the art of perceiving the total nature of a person’s body from outward signs (literally “perception according to nature”). While physiognomics is more concerned with the narrower field of corporeal signs, physiognomy as it developed in the late Middle Ages and early modern period should be understood as a comprehensive theory of the correlation of all natural things. That said, there is no generally accepted usage even today.P…

1. Literature 1.1. DefinitionEver since the term first arose, in Greek antiquity (Greek:  parōdίa, “parallel/side song”; French  parodie; German  Parodie), its meaning in the various European literatures has diverged, both in regard to the particular relationship of the parody to the original (affirmative, playful, critical) and in comparison with related writing strategies (travesty; burlesque; mock-epic; pastiche;  Kontrafaktur [contrafaction], etc.). Until the early modern period, the word tended to be used in the context of a non-polemical concept of  imitatio and …

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…

1. TerminologyThe connotations of the term classicism differ among the European nations. In Germany, Klassizismus refers to the epoch in European art from around 1760 to around 1830, an era known in France, Italy, and Britain as neoclassicism, because in those countries it was preceded by national constructs of the European classics and classicism. In literature, the term classicism was first used in the 19th century to denote the comparability of a literary period with Antiquity (Italin  classicismo, 1818; German Klassizismus, 1820; French classicisme, 1823; English classi…

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…

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. LiteratureConcetto (Italian; from Latin  conceptus, “gathering,” “thought/purpose”) is a term that was adopted into many western European languages (Spanish  concepto/ conceto, English conceit). Ernst Robert Curtius defines it as an “acute”  (“scharfsinnig”) or “pedantic” (“spitzfindig”) expression and “semantic play” (“Sinnspiel”) [2. 298, 301], and Hugo Friedrich as “as abnormal a payoff as possible, a striking semantic or conceptual play, eloquent, telling, stinging, and recherché” (“eine möglichst abnorme Pointe, ein frappierend…

1. FunctionThe monarchical or princely court everywhere in Europe in the early modern period was at once a center of political power and a focus of social life for the noble elite (Nobility). Courtly culture and its vision of the ideal life as lived by the courtier exerted a defining influence (Cortegiano; see below, 5.1.) primarily on the culture of the nobility, but also on metropolitan urban elites, and sometimes, as in France in the 17th and early 18th centuries, on the culture of provincial towns. The language and conventions of behavior at court became exemplary.During the High M…

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…

1. Terminological historyA general understanding of naturalism as the representation of nature in art was closely associated in the early modern period with theories of the imitation of nature (Latin  imitatio naturae; cf. Mimesis). Yet the fact that nature was studied is not evidence in itself of naturalism (cf. Nature study [art]). Study in nature (as opposed to working in the studio) was a possible positive connotation of naturalism, but the term could equally be negative in tone, indicating a breach of the norms of imitatio, which aimed at a representation of nature that wa…

1. Concept and definition Enlightenment in English is first attested from 1865 as a translation of the German  Aufklärung, which was first recorded in 1691. With their European cognates  lumières (French), illuminismo (Italian), and  ilustración (Spanish), they denote the most influential European educational and cultural movement of the 18th century, as well as its overriding goals: to subject all authorities, traditions, and hierarchies to the critical measure of a newly defined reason, and to abolish them if they ran counter…

1. Introduction An art exhibition is a presentation of art objects in a context, the location and duration of which may vary. It is subject to organizational conditions, a particular purpose or occasion. Unlike an art collection or museum, presentation is temporary, and the works in an art exhibition are not associated with the location [6]. Boundaries between the art exhibition and the museum of art were fluid in the early modern period [4], but limited duration was the characteristic of the exhibition. Older and contemporary works of art might be exhibited toge…

Figura serpentinata describes an ideal artistic figure: a stylized rotated body compared to a coiled snake, either at rest or in motion, ideally conceived as viewable from multiple perspectives [4]. Throughout the early modern era, theory of art (Art theory) treated this ideal figure, with its crucially close ties with mannerism, as one of the central ways to conceive of poise and motion. It was originally formulated by the art theorist Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo (1584) [2. 22–24], who compared the figura serpentinata to a flame and ascribed its invention to Michelange…

1. DefinitionOf the five senses, the one associated with the mouth (taste; Latin  gustus or  sapor, Italian and Spanish  gusto, French  goût, German  Geschmack) became by the 17th century, at the latest, a universal term for the ability to perceive beauty, to prize it, to assess it, and in some cases to (re)produce it. In this sense, it also stood for the ability to do or embody what is appropriate (Latin  aptum; Decorum) and worthy in any situation.Gerrit Walther2. Tastemakers, functions, placesThe concepts and guiding ideals of taste were supplied by classical rhetoric, …

1. Rhetorical terminological traditionThe term decorum (Greek  prépon; Latin  aptum, decorum, convenientia; Italian  decoro, convenienza, convenevolezza; French  bienséance, convenance) originates in rhetoric, and denotes that which is seemly and appropriate for speech and conduct. Its range of application encompasses language and its stylistic theory, ethical and moral considerations of conduct in public and private life according to gender, age, and class, and aesthetic aspects of architecture and the fine art…

1. Terminology The response of the Catholic Church (usually called the “Old Church” in the Reformation period) to the Reformation began gradually. Historians have coined various terms for it. Today there is still no term that covers both the efforts at reform within the Church during the 16th century and the attempt to win back the Church’s lost socio-political terrain. The competing terms include  Catholic Reformation,   Counter-Reformation, Catholic confessionalization, and recatholization.The reaction of the Old Church (and the states and territories that …

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…