USD $166.00
Inspiration: Bacchus and the Cultural History of a Creation Myth
Series: - Philosophy of History and Culture, Volume: 22
Author:
The purpose of this book is to reveal the antique pedigree of a now commonplace term, "Inspiration," an essential creation-myth now propelling notions of "self-expression" in modern art-making. Knowledge of the ancient sources of such supposedly "modernist" fixations will make a significant contribution to historical-cultural thinking, particularly by showing in detail the facts of an unrecognized evolutionary continuity. In order to personify "Inspiration," this study initially focuses upon Michelangelo's Bacchus of 1496, so revealing now-forgotten meanings once typically to be attached in a generic way to any "Bacchus." Then it demonstrates how these "Dionysiac" concepts arose in ancient Greece. Later developments--particularly from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance--are traced here for the first time. Due to further modifications by Friedrich Nietzsche, Dionysiac "expressionism" eventually became a staple of modern art theory and practice.
John F. Moffitt, Ph.D. (1966) in Art History, University of Madrid, is Professor Emeritus of Art at New Mexico State University. He has published extensively about the historic settings of major art works; among a dozen books, his latest is Caravaggio in Context (McFarland, 2004).
Dedication & Epigraphs
List of Illustrations
Introduction: A Personification of “Inspiration”
PART I. “INSPIRATION”: ANCIENT DIONYSUS TO THE HUMANISTS’ BACCHUS
1. The Modern Condition of “Inspiration”
2. Michelangelo’s Bacchus as a Historical Metaphor
3. The Classical Sources of “Inspiration”
4. Post-Classical and Christian “Inspiration”
5. The Neoplatonic Bacchus of the Renaissance
6. The Emblematic Bacchus and “Inspired” Art-Making
PART II. “INSPIRATION” FOR THE NEO-DIONYSIAC MODERNISTS
7. Post-Renaissance “Inspiration,” from the Enlightenment to the Romantics
8. A Dionysus Reborn for the Symbolist Era
9. Dionysiac Ecstasy and Modernist Art-Worship
10. Surrealist Dionysian Myth and Gestural Performance Art
11. The Inspired Shaman-Artist: The Case of Joseph Beuys
12. Something Like a Post-Modernist Finale
Illustrations
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Introduction: A Personification of “Inspiration”
PART I. “INSPIRATION”: ANCIENT DIONYSUS TO THE HUMANISTS’ BACCHUS
1. The Modern Condition of “Inspiration”
2. Michelangelo’s Bacchus as a Historical Metaphor
3. The Classical Sources of “Inspiration”
4. Post-Classical and Christian “Inspiration”
5. The Neoplatonic Bacchus of the Renaissance
6. The Emblematic Bacchus and “Inspired” Art-Making
PART II. “INSPIRATION” FOR THE NEO-DIONYSIAC MODERNISTS
7. Post-Renaissance “Inspiration,” from the Enlightenment to the Romantics
8. A Dionysus Reborn for the Symbolist Era
9. Dionysiac Ecstasy and Modernist Art-Worship
10. Surrealist Dionysian Myth and Gestural Performance Art
11. The Inspired Shaman-Artist: The Case of Joseph Beuys
12. Something Like a Post-Modernist Finale
Illustrations
Bibliography
Index
All those readers interested in aesthetics, and in the intrinsic meanings and origins of modern culture, especially its literary theory and art history. This study also makes an essential contribution to our understanding of classical, medieval and Renaissance culture.