One or Many? On the Unity and Diversity of Music, Art, and Poetry in the Early Modern World
A CRRS Early Modern Working Group
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS 2019-20
“Pourquoi y a-t-il plusieurs arts, et non pas un seul?” This question, posed by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy in The Muses (1994), can be traced back to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. In The Painting of the Ancients in Three Books (1638), Franciscus Junius assembles a wide range of ancient commentary on the idea: “‘All art,’ sayth Tullie ‘that doe belong to humanitie, have a common band, and are ally’d one to another, as by a kind of parentage.’ Tertullian speaketh to the same effect, when he sayth; ‘there is no Art, but shee is the mother of another Art, or at least of a nigh kindred.’” (Book I, Chapter IV). Our working group “One or Many? On the Unity and Diversity of Music, Art, and Poetry in the Early Modern Period” explores the hierarchical division of the arts, as well as integrative themes that highlight commonalities and interactions between the arts, using approaches from art history, musicology, and literary theory with reference to a wide range of genres and media including music, the pictorial and plastic arts, architecture, and poetry. We will examine themes such as the ongoing debate between the liberal and mechanical arts; mimesis and the displacement/reproduction of reality; sensory hierarchy and the comparative arts.
Meetings are organized by Dr. Angela Glover (a.glover@mail.utoronto.ca) and Samantha Chang (samantha.chang@mail.utoronto.ca). Please email the organizers if interested.
The group will meet once a month from September to February on Fridays at the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies to present related research, and discuss primary and secondary sources. Participants will have the opportunity to present their work to the public in a one-day symposium scheduled for March 2020.
