Natura between representation and theorization in Early Modern times
(2017) Annual congress of the Renaissance Society of America — Location: Chicago (30.March.2017)
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- Abstract
- In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the personified representation of Natura had a discreet success in literature (notably in vernacular and Neo-Latin poetry) and in the visual arts (as appears among others from a series of engravings and from the iconological treatises which summarize the main attributes of the allegorical Natura). The representations draw from various sources: classical texts of course, but also medieval ones (e.g. the Latin poetry of Alain de Lille) and archeological discoveries (many-breasted statues identified as the goddess Nature). At the same period, natural philosophers, theologians and physicians transmitted and developed a complex theoretical discourse (whose main basis was given by the tradition of Second Scholasticism) about the defining features and powers of Natura in her relation with God. In this communication, I will try, through a few case studies, to see to what extent the literary and artistic representations were (or not) connected with this theoretical background, and conversely, to what extent and in which manner the theoretical texts make use of visual and/or literary motifs (e.g. the Nature as an artist, the breast of Nature…) coming from the field of arts and literature.
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Smeesters, A. (2017). Natura between representation and theorization in Early Modern times. Annual congress of the Renaissance Society of America, Chicago. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/175408