Diotima's Children by Beiser Frederick C.;

Author:Beiser, Frederick C.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA - OSO
Published: 2009-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

4. A Neo-Classical Aesthetic

The heart of Winckelmann’s neo-classical aesthetic appears in his famous lines in the Gedancken: “The universal distinguishing feature of Greek masterpieces is a noble simplicity (eine edle Einfalt) and a serene greatness (eine stille Grösse)” (43). The figures in Greek sculptures always show, Winckelmann explained, “a great and composed soul” (eine grosse und gesetzte Seele). No matter what their afflictions or predicaments, they reveal self-restraint and composure, the power of the soul to rise above misfortune. Never are these figures depicted in wild, extreme, or impetuous states or postures, which would be for the Greeks a fallacy, what they called Parenthyrsis, i.e., exaggerated and inappropriate pathos.

Winckelmann’s statement was a reaction against Baroque taste, whose aesthetic was the diametrical opposite of his own. The Baroque aesthetic prized the expression of passion, and it put a premium upon emotional intensity. To Winckelmann, of course, this was just the fallacy of Parenthyrsis. The hero of this Baroque aesthetic was Winckelmann’s nemesis, Bernini, whom he bluntly called “der Kunstverderber”. In the Gedancken Winckelmann declared war against Bernini and all his epigones. They wanted to portray the human figure in extreme and uncommon positions, because these seem to reveal fire in the soul (44). Their favorite technique was therefore Contrapost, whose purpose was intensity of effect through sharp contrasts. But, for Winckelmann, this completely violated the spirit behind Greek art, which was not to reveal passion but the power of the soul to rise above and control it.

The paradigm of Winckelmann’s new aesthetic was the Laocöon, which he saw as a veritable “rule of Polyclitus, a perfect rule of art” (30). This sculpture, which was unearthed in Rome in 1506, was a Roman copy of a work attributed to the Rhodian sculptors Hagesander, Polydorus, and Athanodorus, who completed it in the second half of the first century AD. The sculpture shows the priest Laocöon and his sons as they are strangled by two serpents. Winckelmann fixed upon this sculpture not simply because it was generally regarded as a masterpiece of Greek art, but because it was the perfect test case to prove his aesthetic against the Baroque. For generations, Baroque artists had regarded this sculpture as the perfect expression of grief and suffering,39 the extreme kind of emotions that Winckelmann wanted to banish from art. By taking this favorite of the Baroque tradition, Winckelmann made a very strategic decision indeed: he believed that he could both disarm the strongest evidence against his theory and show its power to explain all the appearances.

Prima facie the sculpture does seem to be evidence against Winckelmann’s aesthetic of serenity and restraint. Since he is struggling against the serpents, who are crushing him, Laocöon does not seem serene; indeed, he appears to be in agony as death approaches. Here, it would seem, is real pathos. But Winckelmann demands that we take a closer look. Laocöon is not screaming; his face is not distorted; he seems to suffer in silence. Even when close to death, Laocöon’s face reveals composure, dignity, and control.

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