Home Arts Aneignung im Bild – nicht Objekt. Visualisierungen antiker Gemmen in der frühneuzeitlichen Druckgraphik
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Aneignung im Bild – nicht Objekt. Visualisierungen antiker Gemmen in der frühneuzeitlichen Druckgraphik

  • Jörn Lang
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Andere Ästhetik meets Andere Ästhetik
This chapter is in the book Andere Ästhetik meets Andere Ästhetik

Abstract

Until the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, all archaeological artefacts - including pictorially decorated precious stones, so-called gems - relied heavily on printed works for dissemination. This chapter focuses on the question of visual strategies of gem-presentation in early modern prints from the 16th to the 18th century. The arguments will be developed in two directions: firstly, with regard to the relationship between the object itself, the figurative motifs, and their graphic reproduction and secondly, with regard to the compositional aspects of the prints themselves. Of the three central aspects of ancient gems - multi-coloured variation, form, and plasticity of their pictorial representations - the print works concentrated entirely on the motifs. Here a certain standardisation in the sense of simple line drawings can be observed. Formal reduction resulted not least from reasons of representability of the tiny miniature views. Simultaneous enlargement meant that motifs on the engravings could emerge with particular clarity. The presentation of ancient gems was thus even more strongly associated with an aesthetic of line art than all other objects of the ancient world.

Abstract

Until the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, all archaeological artefacts - including pictorially decorated precious stones, so-called gems - relied heavily on printed works for dissemination. This chapter focuses on the question of visual strategies of gem-presentation in early modern prints from the 16th to the 18th century. The arguments will be developed in two directions: firstly, with regard to the relationship between the object itself, the figurative motifs, and their graphic reproduction and secondly, with regard to the compositional aspects of the prints themselves. Of the three central aspects of ancient gems - multi-coloured variation, form, and plasticity of their pictorial representations - the print works concentrated entirely on the motifs. Here a certain standardisation in the sense of simple line drawings can be observed. Formal reduction resulted not least from reasons of representability of the tiny miniature views. Simultaneous enlargement meant that motifs on the engravings could emerge with particular clarity. The presentation of ancient gems was thus even more strongly associated with an aesthetic of line art than all other objects of the ancient world.

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