Visual Representations of the Numinous: a Philosophical, Art Historical and Theological Inquiry 1780-1880
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Visual Representations of the Numinous: a philosophical, art historical and theological inquiry 1780-1880 David M.Greenwood B.Sc (Eng), M.Sc, B.Th (Oxon), C.Eng, FIET. Aberystwyth University School of Art 2015 VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE NUMINOUS CONTENTS Abstract iii Preface iv Introduction vi SECTION ONE Setting the Context - Philosophical Background Chapter One - The English and German Romantic Paradigm - An examination of Aesthetics from Baumgarten and Blake to Kant and Hegel – Beauty, the Sublime and the Transcendental 1 Chapter Two - A New Paradigm is opened by Schelling 36 Chapter Three - A Qualitative Analysis of the Cultural Influences at play between German speaking and British people during the Romantic period which in turn have Influenced the Artists under Consideration 58 Chapter Four - The Characteristics of the Religious Experience and Possible Trigger Factors 89 SECTION TWO Transcendence in the Iconography of Samuel Palmer and Caspar David Friedrich Introduction to the Section 111 Chapter Five - The Iconography of Samuel Palmer 116 Chapter Six - The Iconography of Caspar David Friedrich 156 SECTION THREE Practical Theology Chapter Seven - A Work of Art as a Sacrament 206 Chapter Eight: Art as an Aid to Religious Contemplation 226 Conclusions 273 Glossary Bibliography 280 ii ABSTRACT This thesis embraces the disciplines of philosophy, art history and practical theology. It is concerned with the ways in which artists have endeavoured to express the numinous or point towards the Transcendent through landscape painting. The Transcendent is described as that recognition in mankind of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining a scientific knowledge of an order of existence transcending the reach of the senses, and of which we can have no sensible experience. This thesis will demonstrate that landscape drawing and painting can be a means of showing the viewer glimpses of that transcendent domain. Whilst paintings of theophanies and of biblical scenes have long been created by artists to produce works that are suitable for altarpieces, it will be my contention that depictions of landscape can be also be used as aids to devotion. The period chosen for the study is 1780-1880 but for contextualisation I will at times discuss matters that lie outside these boundaries. This period covers the reawakening of the discipline of aesthetics, and the development of Idealism in Germany propounded by Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schelling, one of the consequences of which led to recognition of landscape painting as fine art. I argue that some artists express their view of God through their images, producing hieroglyphs, divine images which can induce mystical experiences in the mind of the viewer and could be used as aids to devotion with some even being regarded as sacred. A discussion of religious experience and trigger factors is included, embracing the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Rudolf Otto. The works of a number of artists have been considered but special emphasis is given to Samuel Palmer and Caspar David Friedrich. iii PREFACE I trained initially as an engineer at London University (1963) and Manchester University (1973) but always at the back of my mind was an interest in music and, in particular, church music. After establishing my career in engineering, I became organist at a village church in 1966 and at the same time began reading theology, studying initially H. A. Williams, Hans Küng and Don Cupitt. Later I tended to concentrate on the de-mythologizing and existential writers – Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976), Karl Rahner (1904-1984) and Paul Tillich (1886- 1965). This interest in theology and church music eventually became more formalised with my becoming a Licensed Reader in the Church of England and studying for a University of Oxford accredited degree in theology which I attained in 1998. Following a move to Wales, I became involved with the Theology and Religious Studies Department of the University of Wales Lampeter (as it was then known), undertaking some lecturing in Science and Religion and becoming the Administrator of the Alister Hardy Trust (AHT) and the Religious Experience Research Centre. Work with the AHT has led to an increasing interest in religious experience. My wife’s interest in art and her gaining qualifications in fine art and art history at Aberystwyth University led to my widening interest in that discipline and eventually to the writing of this thesis. It is on a subject which embraces theology, art history and aesthetics in an endeavour to analyse transcendence in paintings and drawings – in other words, an examination of the way in which artists endeavoured to portray the numinous. The particular period in history chosen for the core of this study is approximately 1780 to 1880 – a period during the Enlightenment when there were many developments in theology with the much published work of William Paley (1743-1805) as well as the novel approach adopted by Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834). In philosophy there was the establishment in Germany of Idealism, and in art history with the development of landscape painting and its achievement of a position comparable with history painting and portraiture which had until this time been regarded as higher forms of art. Acknowledgements In writing this thesis I am particularly indebted to my supervisors at Aberystwyth University – Professor John Harvey and Dr Colin Cruise whose help and encouragement have kept me motivated throughout the long gestation period of a part time PhD. In addition I must mention iv the help and support received from two fellow members of the AHT, a charitable organisation which, as mentioned above, exists to support research into religious experience. Marianne Rankin who, as well as writing on the subject of religious experience, is a specialist on the works of Caspar David Friedrich, has been very helpful in recommending appropriate books on Friedrich which are available in English. In addition, she has helped with the occasional need for the translation of German phrases. Secondly, the Revd Canon Professor Leslie Francis has been a strong supporter of my work from the outset and has helped with advice on those areas of endeavour which coincide with one of his special interests – that of practical theology. Acknowledgements are owing to many writers particularly the late Robert Rosenblum, and Professor Emeritus William Vaughan as well as Cordula Grewe whose specialist writing on the Nazarenes (a grouping of German painters) has been particularly helpful. In addition I would mention especially Werner Hofmann and Joseph Koener whose extensive works on Friedrich have been influential as well as Rachel Campbell-Johnson and William Vaughan who have written very helpfully on Samuel Palmer. Finally I must single out for special mention those who have written specifically on theology and art – Professor Rowan Williams, Rt Revd John Drury and The Revd Canon Professor George Pattison – whose works have proved an inspiration in enabling me to complete this work. There are, of course, many other writers whose works have been helpful and influential and these have, I hope, been accorded full acknowledgement in the end-notes and bibliography. Lastly I must thank my wife Juliet who has not only encouraged me throughout but exhibited great patience when I have had to retire to my study to do more work on ‘that PhD’. v INTRODUCTION This thesis will be concerned with the way in which the visible world (especially landscape) has been used by artists at a particular time to suggest an invisible, transcendent eternal world.1 The research will be a multidisciplinary investigation crossing the boundaries between art history, philosophy and especially aesthetics, and theology. Although similar studies have been conducted in the past they have generally been undertaken by art historians. The distinctiveness of this examination will be that it has been conducted from the perspective of one who is primarily a theologian with a science background. This study will endeavour to establish that elusive quality or technique that enables us to understand why a particular work of art can be said to point us towards the transcendent. Historical Background While this thesis will, in the main, be concerned with a short specific period in history from 1780 -1880, mankind’s need to worship some higher power and to try to focus that need by the use of some visual artifice is innate and has seemed to have existed from pre-historical times.2 As there is really very little evidence relating to pre-history, this comment is speculative but it is supported by Ellen Dissanayake who has made a particular study of the evolution of art. I emphasise this because it sets a context within which my particular study will be seen as an investigation of part of a development that may have begun before the establishment of any known civilisations. As Dissanayake writes: Intrinsic to the life of all higher animals are two complementary needs – for making order out of experience and for disorder, novelty or the unexpected ... In human beings in particular we find highly developed ... (a) proclivity, to experience something that is outside order and the ordinary-which we can call extraordinary.3 The need to make order out of experience can be met in many ways, for example, through a study of science or of philosophy, but until the establishment of those disciplines, drawing or vi copying the existing physical world or nature was an early way of satisfying this requirement. In addition, it was through the expression of visual art that the earliest human beings began to articulate their dreams or visions, which were perhaps achieved or enhanced by ingesting particular semi-poisonous herbs. These dreams or visions would suggest some form of spirituality outside or beyond the known physical world. The earliest evidence for Dissanayake’s statement that mankind has an innate need to acknowledge the existence of a spiritual world beyond the dimensions of the known physical world, can be found in the cave paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic period.