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Leonardos Paradox: Word and Image in the Making of Renaissance Culture

(Hardback)


Publishing Details

Full Title:

Leonardos Paradox: Word and Image in the Making of Renaissance Culture

Contributors:

By (Author) Joost Keizer

ISBN:

9781789140699

Publisher:

Reaktion Books

Imprint:

Reaktion Books

Publication Date:

10th June 2019

Country:

United Kingdom

Classifications

Readership:

General

Fiction/Non-fiction:

Non Fiction

Main Subject:
Dewey:

709.2

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Hardback

Number of Pages:

232

Dimensions:

Width 156mm, Height 240mm

Description

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the preeminent figures of the Italian Renaissance. He was also one of the most paradoxical. He spent an incredible amount of time writing notebooks, perhaps even more time than he ever held a brush, yet at the same time Leonardo was Renaissance culture's most fanatical critic of the word. When Leonardo criticized writing he criticized it as an expert on words; when he was painting, writing remained in the back of his brilliant mind. In this book, Joost Keizer argues that the comparison between word and image fueled Leonardo's thought. The paradoxes at the heart of Leonardo's ideas and practice also defined some of Renaissance culture's central assumptions about culture and nature: that there is a look to script, that painting offered a path out of culture and back to nature, that the meaning of images emerged in comparison with words, and that the difference between image-making and writing also amounted to a difference in the experience of time.

Reviews

As a critical approach that also addresses Leonardos way of thinking, Joost Keizers Leonardos Paradox: Word and Image in the Making of Renaissance Culture, examines the interplay of word and image in Leonardos work. He sees paradoxes as central: for example, a painting can lead to a better understanding of nature, or the meaning of an image can depend on its association with certain words. Though not necessarily part of Leonardos vocabulary for inventive processes, paradoxes are part of his work. * The Art Newspaper *
Keizer focuses on what might be said to be the central problem of Leonardo studies, the relationship between his writings and his art. Keizers topics are frequently surprising: Leonardos rebuses and pictograms, his interest in fossils, his avoidance of signatures, the style of his writing. Even the choice of objects is striking: four of the fifteen drawings Keizer discusses in his first two chapters do not appear among Bambachs 1,319 illustrations . . . Keizer writes beautifully * Burlington Magazine *
What is so appealing about Keizers book is the variety of topics he explores with insight and a fresh perspective. The author informs us, for example, that Leonardo once wrote that writing is a kind of drawing, because it matters to the writer what the letters look like. For Leonardo writing originated from image making . . . The fables or tales that one finds in Leonardos notebooks are never mere fiction. They tell us ever so much. They are, we might say, allegories. It is not surprising that Keizer dedicates more than a few illuminating pages of his book explicitly to Leonardos allegories. There is much more in Keizers thoughtful and probing book, which deserves wide currency. * Renaissance Quarterly *
[an] elegant, accessible and deeply informed book. * The Sixteenth Century Journal *
Keizers rewarding book is, in essence, an extended investigation of and meditation on the interrelation of words and images in Leonardos notebooks and paintings. Keizer discusses how words, the tools of the art historian, ultimately fail to convey what the images can, and how seemingly explanatory texts can constrain reading of images (Leonardos included). Basing his discussion on the thousands of pages of writings with their attendant drawings in Leonardos various notebooks, Keizer emphasizes the artists concern with the "relationship between image and text" not only as an attempt to record accurately what he is depicting (nature in all of its manifestations), but also as something more an implied motion in the visual forms that expands the limited moment of time stopped in the image but that has a history and a future. Keizers unfolding of time in Leonardos work is perhaps the most important part of his discussion, not just for Leonardo, but for the development of Renaissance painting after Leonardo. This is a book to be studied for its revealing insights. Highly recommended. * Choice *
Keizer brings descriptive and analytical incisiveness to Leonardo da Vinci, as expressed (often contradictorily) in that artists output of painting and writing . . . Keizers study, told with craft and attention to Leonardos paintings, drawings, letters, and (now) codices, deduces from written and visual evidence how Leonardo worked through pairings of language and pictures, invention and scientific observation, objectivity and subjectivity, nature and human-made; the instant and the enduring . . . The authors language is natural and accessible so the book fits in well with Reaktions ever-accelerating list of modest-sized volumes that showcase new thought on focused topics. Even the range of endnotes enclose a garden of delight confirming the authors own sense of wonder, and inspiring curiosity in the reader. * ARLIS/NA Reviews *
Keizers visual investigation of Leonardos writings which illustrates that the artist enjoyed using multiple hands, and continuously scratched out, rewrote, and annotated his thoughts is strong evidence for his case that the artists dislike of the unalterable and invariable nature of printed text manifested itself in his notebooks . . . Keizers richly illustrated work does very well to lay bare an artists attempt to straddle the spheres of originality and artificiality in a world that praised invention and novelty, as modelled on past cultures. * Renaissance and Reformation *
What is usefully articulated by Keizer, and innovatively expressed throughout this detailed study, however, is how Leonardos paradoxical recoiling against the affectedness of human craft and cultural forms actually propelled the ingenuity of his artwork. * Religion and the Arts *
This is an intelligent and thought-provoking study of Leonardos thoughts. Informed by his deep immersion in Leonardo's notebooks, and in the intellectual debates of the late 15th centuryearly 16th century, the author presents an original, highly personal, and often convincing interpretation of Leonardos idiosyncratic views on the relationships between word and image, and between Nature and Culture. The text is always learned but never pedantic, and written in an engaging style. If you want insight into what made Leonardo tick, his interests, points of reference, stated views, and thought processes, I would recommend this handsome volume. * Jonathan K. Nelson, Syracuse University, Florence. *
Joost Keizers concise and eminently readable book offers a fresh take on Leonardos intellectual engagement with the world by evaluating his practice as writer and painter. How do word and image relate This seemingly simple question opens up perspectives on Renaissance thought and culture and challenges readers to reconsider their own assumptions about visual and written records of the world around us. * Joachim Homann, Maida and George Abrams Curator of Drawings, Harvard Art Museums *

Author Bio

Joost Keizer is Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of Groningen. His previous books include The Realism of Piero della Francesca (2017), The Transformation of Vernacular Expression in Early Modern Arts (co-edited with Todd Richardson, 2011), and a book for young adults, This Is Leonardo da Vinci, with the illustrator Christina Christoforou (2016).

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