&3 P3 
Co /o • / 

The P h i l o s o p h i c a l I m p l i c a t i o n s 

of-

The P o e t i o I m p u l s e 

i n 

W e s t e r n C i v i l i z a t i o n 

by 
E I L E E N LEE GIDNEY 

A THESIS SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF 

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF 

MASTER OF ARTS 

I N THE DEPARTMENT 

OF 

PHILOSOPHY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF B R I T I S H COLUMBIA 

A P R I L , 194-8 



P r e c i s : ^ o r L i b r a r y ) 

T i t l e : "The P h i l o s o p h i c a l I m p l i c a t i o n s of the P o e t i c 

Impulse i n Western C i v i l i z a t i o n " . 

Author: Lee Gidney. 

Theme : The main theme of my t h e s i s i s that S p e n g l e r i a n 

a n a l y s i s of western c i v i l i z a t i o n as d e c l i n i n g i s c o r -
r e c t , i n that s p e c i f i c a l l y western c u l t u r e and c i v i l i -
z a t i o n i s g i v i n g way ,more and more, to a world c u l t u r e -
p a t t e r n ; but my t h e s i s d i s a g r e e s with h i s v e r s i o n of the 
decadence of a l l art-forms today as p a r t of a d e c l i n i n g 
c u l t u r e , p o s t u l a t i n g r a t h e r t h a t , s p e c i f i c a l l y i n the 
a r t s of A r c h i t e c t u r e and f i l m , there i s enormous a c t i v i t y 
of a c r e a t i v e nature. My t h e s i s a l s o q u a r r e l s with Speng-
l e r ' s a n a l y s i s of tne r e l a t i o n s e x i s t i n g between the ec-
onomic-forms of s o c i e t y and the a r t - o b j e c t s produced by 
that s o c i e t y . He s t a t e that the economic forms are" the 
product of the s o u l of the c u l t u r e . I contend that the 
a r t - p r o d u c t s of the c u l t u r e m i r r o r the m o t i v a t i n g d r i v e s 
of the economic f o r c e s of the s o c i a l group while i n a 
s t a t e .of c o n s i d e r a b l e i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h them. 

1 have t r i e d to present my t h e s i s , w i t h both p o s i t i o n s 
c l e a r l y s t a t e d , quoting Spengler at some l e n g t h on the one 
hand, and Lewis Mumford at an equal l e n g t h on the other, 
and w i t h a s u p p o r t i n g c i t a t i o n from Kuth .benedict's book, 
"Patterns of C u l t u r e " on s o c i a l p a t t e r n s of a more p r i m i -
t i v e n a t u r e . 

Arrangement : My t h e s i s i s d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r chapters, the 

f i r s t s e r v i n g as an i n t r o d u c t i o n to the p o i n t - o f - v i e w and 
thematic m a t e r i a l of the whole work; the second and t h i r d 
c o v e r i n g the recorded h i s t o r y of the m o t i v a t i n g d r i v e s of 
western h i s t o r i c a l periods,drawing from t h i s m a t e r i a l to 
support my c o n t e n t i o n of the b a s i c r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t i n g 
between the mthods of p r o d u c t i o n i n a s o c i a l group and 
the a r t - o b j e c t s produced by that group. In the f i n a l chap-
t e r , 1 have attempted to sum up the i n f e r e n c e s from the 
h i s t o r i c a l chapters and to p r e s e n t my t h e s i s and i t s main 
p o s i t i o n i n some d e t a i l . 



The P h i l o s o p h i c a l Imi9licati one 

of 
The Peetie Impulse  

i n 

Western Civilizatien» 



Table of Contents. 

Chapter One : I n t r o d u c t o r y O u t l i n e page 1. 

Chapter Two : The P r e - p e r i o d of Western C u l t u r e . . p . 7. 

Chapter Three:Western C u l t u r e and C i v i l i z a t i o n , 

T w e l f t h Century to the Present p.42. 

Chapter -*bur :The Concept Of A r t i n R e l a t i o n 

to the Economic Basis: of L i v i n g 

Examined, and the P o s s i b i l i t y 

For Free C r e a t i v e Development 

under the two Economic Forms Current 

Current Today Assessed p.87. 

E p i l o g u e : from Edmund Burke ....p.104 

Appendix A : B i b l i o g r a p h y p . i - i 

Appendix B : Chart showing Major Epochs i n 

Western A r t , from 

Sheldon Cheyney .....p. i . 



Chapter One : I n t r e d u c t a r y . 



- 1 -

In t h i s i n t r e d u c t o r y chapter I wish t o d e f i n e , f i r s t , t h e 

terms and the l i m i t s of my i n v e s t i g a t i o n , and then t© show the 

p o i n t of view from which I am approaching the whole s u b j e c t of 

the p o e t i c impulse as i t has expressed i t s e l f i n the works ©f 

man's hands, and i n the movement of man's mind, i n ©ur western 

c i v i l i z a t i on. 

By p o e t i c impulse, I mean the tendency toward c r e a t i n g 

or making, which i s an e s s e n t i a l i n g r e d i e n t i n the makeup of 

every persen, v a r y i n g i n i t s degree of development from t h a t 

of the genius who c r e a t e s g r e a t a r t to t h a t of the o t h e r - a r t i s t 

who re-makes the work ©f a r t by r e a l i z i n g i t . I t v a r i e s frem 

the degree of p o e t i c or c r e a t i v e a b i l i t y r e q u i r e d to synthe-

s i z e the elements ©f s c i e n t i f i c or a r t i s t i c knowledge and 

emerge w i t h a new s c i e n t i f i c theory or a new o b j e c t ©f a r t 

to that l e s s e r »ut s t i l l v i t a l degree of a b i l i t y t© make,and 

d e s i r e to make well,which i s observable i n any s k i l l e d workman,, 

I d© not accept i n my meaning of western c i v i l i z a t i e n 

the minute S p e n g l e r i a n d i s t i n c t i o n of c i v i l i z a t i o n from c u l -

t u r e , »ut use r a t h e r a d u a l i t y , combining the twe. For Spengler 

c u l t u r e i s the g r e a t e t i o l o g i c a l d r i v e producing the a r t , r e l -

igion,mathematics, s c i e n c e , and p h i l o s o p h y ©f any p e r i e d , the 

e x p r e s s i o n of the s o u l ©f the p e r i o d , whereas, f o r him, c i v i l -

i z a t i o n i s the r e s i d u a l product of t h i s a c t i v i t y , and e x i s t s 

only i n a p e r i a d of c u l t u r a l s t e r i l i t y and decadence. For the 

purposes of t h i s t h e s i s I mean c i v i l i z a t i o n as a combination 

of these two aspects : as »oth the s u r g i n g c u l t u r a l impulse 

d i s c e r n i b l e i n d i f f e r e n t stages of development, and the sta»le 



-2-

products of these p e r i o d s as they remain to us • 

By the p h i l o s o p h i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of these p o e t i c ©r c r e -

a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s I mean t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e i n man*s complete 

l i v i n g . I wish t o i n t e g r a t e them w i t h the knowledge a v a i l a b l e 

to us from a s c i e n t i f i c a n a l y s i s of s o c i e t y i n terms of an ec-

onomic,political, r e l i g i o u s , l i n g u i s t i c , and i n g e n e r a l , an 

a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l study ©f c u l t u r e . In t h i s c o n n e c t i o n should »e 

noted the semantic d i f f i c u l t i e s i n h e r e n t i n a d i s c u s s i o n of 

a s s t r a c t i o n s such as these human v a l u e s . 

I want to show t h i s impulse to c r e a t i o n not only i n the 

v a r i o u s media of a r t - e x p r e s s i o n c u r r e n t i n each p e r i o d , out 

a l s o i n r e l a t i o n to the whole p h i l o s o p h i c a l ethos of the 

stage of c u l t u r a l development. 

Here I w i l l »e , to some extent f o l l o w i n g S p e n g l e r ^ 

view of a c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n as an e x c l u s i v e whole; so t h a t , 

though Greek and Roman, e a r l y C h r i s t i a n and Byzantine art-forms 

are c o n s i d e r e d , t h i s i s done l a r g e l y w i t h a view to showing 

t h e i r i n f l u e n c e on the l a t e r emerging and t y p i c a l l y western 

c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n . From these comparative sources I i n t e n d a l s o 

to draw i n f e r e n c e s u p p o r t i n g my t h e s i s of a newly emerging and 

t y p i c a l l y world c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n . 

I understand western c i v i l i z a t i o n as Beginning w i t h the 

myths,»allads, and f o l k - a r t s and c r a f t s of the n o r t h e r n »ar-

toarians of Europe, mixing w i t h the f i x e d l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e 

of the L a t i n language, and w i t h the h i g h l y developed system 

of Roman law, and changing g r a d u a l l y u n t i l i t 'appearB indeed* 

i n the Gothic c a t h e d r a l s and the more i n d i v i d u a l i z e d a r t of 



-3-

of the l a t e r middle ages, and then f l o w e r s most r i c h l y i n the 

p e r i o d of Baroque, p e t e r i n g out i n the more s o p h i s t i c a t e d 

d e c o r a t i v e statement ©f the f o l l o w i n g c e n t u r i e B . 

Spengler quotes Goethe 1 s "Winckelmann" where he says ©f 

V e l l e i u s P a t e r c u l u s : 
"With h i s standpoint i t was not g i v e n him t© see a l l 
a r t as a l i v i n g t h i n g t h a t must have an inconspicuous 
"beginning, a slow growth, a torilliant moment of f u l -
f i l m e n t , and a g r a d u a l d e c l i n e l i k e every other org-
a n i c toeing, though i t i s presented i n a set ©f i n d i v -
d u a l s " * 1 . 

Spengler then goes ©n to use t h i s q u o t a t i o n to develop 

h i s own theory of culture-development w i t h p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n 

to t h a t of the west : 
•This sentence c o n t a i n s the e n t i r e mophology of a r t -
h i s t o r y . S t y l e s do net f o l l o w one another l i k e waves 
or p u l s e "beats. I t i s not the p e r s o n a l i t y or w i l l or 
b r a i n of the a r t i s t t h a t makes the s t y l e , tout the 
s t y l e t h a t makes the type of the a r t i s t . . . I t i s , a s 
nature i s , a n ever new e x p r e s s i o n of waking man, h i e 
a l t e r - e g o and mirror-image i n the world around. And 
t h e r e f o r e i n the g e n e r a l p i c t u r e of a c u l t u r e there 
can toe tout ©ne s t y l e , the s t y l e of the c u l t u r e . . . . . 
Gothic and Bareque are simply the youth and age of 
one and the same v e s s e l of forms, the s t y l e of the 
west as r i p e n i n g and. ripened...The task b e f o r e a r t -
h i s t o r y i s t© w r i t e the comparative b i o g r a p h i e s ©f 
the g r e a t s t y l e s , a l l of which, as organisms ©f the 
same genus, possess s t r u c t u r a l l y cognate l i f e h i s t o r -
i e s . " 2. 

Prom t h i s p r e l i m i n a r y statement Spengler proceeds w i t h 

the stages of c u l t u r e - i e v e l o p m e n t i n the west, c h a r a c t e r i z i n g 

them i n t h i s way : 
" ( F i r s t ) the timid,dependent,naked e x p r e s s i o n of a 
newly awakened s o u l s t i l l seeking the r e l a t i o n between 
i t s e l f and the world,presented as a l i e n and u n f r i e n d -
l y ; examples toeing e a r l y C h r i s t i a n catacomb p a i n t i n g s ; 
(second; the February of the a r t s , a presentiment ef 
coming wealth of f©rms l i e s over the landscape...; 
( t h i r d ) then f o l l o w s the joyous mounting int© the h i g h 
G o t h i c . Being i s understood-A sacred form-language has 

1*2,' " been completely mastered and r a d i a t e s i t B g l o r y ; ( f o u r t h ) 
S p e n g l e r * " D e c l i n e of the West",pps. 2 0 5 - 6 , v o l . 1 . 



- 4 -

then f e r v e n t " y o u t h comes to an end, and con-
t r a d i c t i o n s a r i s e : the Renaissance i n d i c a t e s 
a moment of r e s i s t a n c e ( i n i t s r e t u r n to Greek 
i n f l u e n c e ) ; ( f i f t h ) the manhood of the s t y l e -
h i s t o r y : the c u l t u r e i s changing i n t o the i n -
t e l l e c t u a l i t y of the g r e a t c i t i e s t h a t w i l l 
now dominate the c o u n t r y s i d e ; the s t y l e i s 
"becoming i n t e l l e c t u a l i z e d also...The a r t i s t 
appears and p l a n s what f o r m e r l y grew out of 
the s o i l , as at the beginning of Baroque w i t h 
Michelangelo; ( s i x t h ) then comes the gleaming 
autumn of the s t y l e : once more the s o u l de-
p i c t s i t s h a p p i n e s s , t h i s time conscious of 
s e l f - c o m p l e t i o n ; ( s e v e n t h ) then the s t y l e 
fades out: the form-language of the Dresden 
Zwinger,honey-combed w i t h i n t e l l e c t , f r a g i l e , 
i s f o l l o w e d by the s e n i l e c l a s s i c i s m of the 
Empire modes. The end i s a sunset r e f l e c t e d 
i n forms r e v i v e d f o r a moment »y pedant and 
e c l e c t i c : semi-earnestness and d o u b t f u l gen-
uineness dominate the world of a r t . We today 
are i n t h i s c o n d i t i o n - p l a y i n g a t e d i o u s gome 
w i t h dead forms, to keep up the i l l u s i o n of 
a l i v i n g a r t . " 3. 

While a c c e p t i n g the genuine i n s i g h t shown by Spengler 

i n h i s culture-comparisons, i t i s s t i l l p o s s i b l e to q u a r r e l 

w i t h h i s t h e s i s . I cannot accept the m y s t i c a l b a s i s of h i s 

thought and language, not h i s analogy of c u l t u r a l w i t h animal 

organisms. I do f i n d the e r u d i t e comparisons of culture-patterns 

very i l l u m i n a t i n g and suggestive of the more b a s i c a l l y e f f e c t i v e 

f a c t o r s which he n e g l e c t s . But on the b a s i s of these more f i -

n a l l y a n a l y t i c a l f a c t o r s I cannot accept h i s t h e s i s of the 

present d e c l i n e of a r t . 

I t h i n k a good case can be presented d e s c r i b i n g the 

present as a p e r i o d of m e g a l o p o l i t a n decadence, but I t h i n k 

such a case would be l a r g e l y one s u r v e y i n g the s u p e r s t r u c t u r e 

of c u l t u r e , r a t h e r than i t B more fundamental c u l t u r a l v a l u e s . 

The a n a l y s i s of Marx and Engels shows the dependence of these 

3.Spengler, o p . c i t . , pps. 206-7, v o l . 1 . 



-5-

v a l u e s on the b a s i c economic aspect of s o c i e t y . I do not t h i n k 

that the acceptance of s u r f a c e v a l u e s w i l l h o l d i n the face of 

t h i s c l e a r l y r a t i o n a l , non-mystical l i g h t . 

I wish to c h a l l e n g e Spengler's a n a l y s i s however, more on 

h i s own ground, as being f a l l a c i o u s h i s t o r i c a l l y . I am w i l l i n g 

to accept h i s s u r p r i s i n g l y acute i n t u i t i v e grasp of the slow be-

g i n n i n g , g r a d u a l development, and slow d e c l i n e of a l l separate 

c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n s , i n c l u d i n g that of the west, b u t l l see:''.--*: a t 

the same time through the course of. h i s t o r y a slow growth i n 

the r e s i d u a l a c c r e t i o n s of c i v i l i z a t i o n r e s u l t i n g from these . 

I t seems to me;,too, that , w i t h the r i s e of i n d u s t r i a l i z e d 

l i v i n g , the v e r y changes i n method have produced -a p h i l o s o p h i -

c a l change, and t h a t i n s t e a d of being at the d e c l i n i n g end of 

western c u l t u r e , we are a t the present going through the e a r l y 

mythic stages of a new world c u l t u r e , w i t h i t s a r t s t y p i c a l l y 

e x p r e s s i v e of folk-ways shown i n the cinema and the r a d i o , and 

w i t h the p e r i o d of beginnings, g r a d u a l l y being r e p l a c e d by more 

conscious i n d i v i d u a l e x p r e s s i o n w i t h i n a l l the art-forms of 

t h i s world c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n . 

The products of the t y p i c a l mass-production me t h od of t h i s 

new w o r l d - s o c i e t y can be so d i s t r i b u t e d to make p o s s i b l e f o r the 

f i r s t time i n the world's h i s t o r y a good l i f e f o r every member 

of the community, thus c r e a t i n g an enormous market f o r the a r t -

products a l s o . The interdependence of trade and communications 

b r i n g a l l the p a r t s of that world s o c i e t y so c l o s e together, 

that along w i t h the t h r e a t of a war so d i s a s t r o u s as to a n n h i l -

ate a l l human c u l t u r e , we can see the hope of a p e a c e f u l 



- 6 -

arid c o o p e r a t i v e world c r o s s f e r t i l i z e d i n i t s a r t - f o r m s "by im-

p u l s e s and knowledge from every p a r t of i t s l a r g e s o c i e t y , 

I wish to end my survey, i n i t s l a s t c h a p t e r , w i t h an ex-

amination of the p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r the f u l l development of t h i s 

world c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n , whose most unusual a r t - f o r m ( t y p i c a l of 

the m e t h o d o l o g i c a l changes i n ecoBomic p r o d u c t i o n ) w i l l l i e the 

e n r i c h e d l i f e of man. I would l i k e to attempt an assessment 

of the p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r t h i s f u l l development of the p o e t i c 

impulse i n man under the twer i d e o l o g i e s of world importance to-

day : t h a t of C a p i t a l i s m , and t h a t of S o c i a l i s m ; or more accur-

a t e l y , s o c i a l p a t t e r n s of a c o m p e t i t i v e type, and those of a 

c o o p e r a t i v e type, to see to what extent these provide a m a t r i x 

i n which the f u l l e s t p h i l o s o p h i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of man's 

c r e a t i v e impulse may tee r e a l i z e d . 



Chapter Twe : The P r e - P e r i o d Of Western C u l t u r e . 



The e a r l y p r e - p e r i o d ©f western c u l t u r e begins w i t h the 

a r r i v a l of the Greeks from the n o r t h e r n p a r t s of Europe, t h e i r 

s e t t l i n g .along the Aegean Sea, and t h e i r a b s o r p t i o n of an 

a l r e a d y e x i s t e n t Cretan c u l t u r e . -

Cretan,or M i n o a n , c i v i l i z a t i o n , as i t i s u s u a l l y c a l l e d , 

l a s t e d from 3400 B.C. to 1200 B.C. There are three general, 

d i v i s i o n s f o r t h i s long p e r i o d , based on a r c h a e o l o g i c a l f i n d i n g s : 

the e a l y Minoan ( 3400-2100 B.C.) which began w i t h the f i n d i n g 

of copper and ended w i t h the i n t r o d u c t i o n of bronze; the mid-

d l e Minoan p e r i o d (2100-1600 B.C.) which was a p e r i o d ©f enor-

mous a r t i s t i c p r o d u c t i o n witnessed to by the d i s c o v e r i e s among 

the r u i n s of Knossos - d e l i c a t e Kamares ware i n p o t t e r y , mod-

ern seeming a r c h i t e c t u r e , a p i c t u r e - w r i t i n g of one hundred con-

v e n t i o n a l i z e d s i g n s l e f t i n records of government and b u s i n e s s 

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ; the l a t e Minoan(l600-1200B.C.) which saw the 

h i g h e s t p o i n t of advance and saw a l s o i t s i n c i p i e n t stages of 

d e c l i n e , brought on p a r t l y i t i s thought by the unwarlike na-

t u r e of the people who were no match f o r the i n v a d i n g Greeks. 

However, b e f o r e i t s d e c l i n e , the i n f l u e n c e of Cretan c i v -

i l i z a t i o n had spread n o r t h i n t o Greece as f a r as Macedonia. The 

c i t i e s of Myceae and T i r y n s were s t i l l producing,as l a t e as 900 

B . C . , a r t - o b j e c t s of Cretan i n s p i r a t i o n , and were f o r a l o n g time 

the centre of a g r a d u a l l y d e c l i n i n g Minoan-Mycenean c u l t u r e . 

The e a r l i e s t Greeks came down i n t o what i s now Greece as 

b a r b a r i a n conquerors, i n what i s accepted by many a u t h o r i t i e s as 

three d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e waves of a r r i v a l , f i r s t the Ionians, then 

t h e Aehaeans.and l a s t of a l l the D o r i a n s . The Ionians,though 



-9-

conquerors of Crete seem to have adopted i t s c i v i l i z a t i o n , j u s t 

as the l a t e r conqueror of Greece, Rape, adopted t h a t of the 

Greeks. But the Ienians were i n t u r n d i s t u r b e d by the next wave 

of i n v a s i o n by the Achaeans, who are known, from H i t t i t e t a b l e s 

found at Boghaz-Keui, t o have had a l a r g e and c l o s e l y organized 

empire i n the f o u r t e e n t h century B.C. The l a s t a r r i v i n g wave, 

that of the Dorians, p r a c t i c a l l y wiped out the remnants of Myeen-

ean c i v i l i z a t i o n , weakened^ as i t a l r e a d y e s s e n t i a l l y was by the 

wars between the Ionians and Achaeans. 

By 900 B.C. the e a r l y Greeks had a c q u i r e d the alphabet 

from the P h o e n i c i a n s w i t h whom they traded, and had reduced to 

w r i t i n g t h e i r own spoken language. Homer,(d.c.800B.C) wrote the 

"Odyssey" and the " I l i a d " i n t h i s language, t e l l i n g the legends 

remaining from the e a r l y Mycenean p e r i o d , which was a l r e a d y 

m i s t y f o r him. The s e i g e of Troy i s the s t o r y - c o r e of Homer's 

books, and Troy i s known to have been destroyed i n 1200 B.C. The 

e p i c p o e t r y contained i n these books was w r i t t e n f o r . a s t i l l 

f i g h t i n g a r i s t o c r a c y of Kings, c o u n c i l l o r s , and fighting-men, 

as l a t e r , i n an e q u i v a l e n t p e r i o d of development England pro-

duced "Beowulf", Prance the "Chanson de Roland", and Germany 

the "Nietoelungenlied". 

With Hesiod's p o e t r y (d.c.750-700 B.C.) a l r e a d y a change 

has taken p l a c e . H i s work, comprising the "Works and Days" and a 

"Theogony" t e l l s - r a t h e r of the o r d i n a r y l i f e of t o i l and r e l i g -

ious d e v o t i o n , of the peasant farmers of an a g r i c u l t u r a l s o c i e t y . 

In these e a r l y s t o r i e s of Greek mythology can be p e r c e i v e d the 

e s s e n t i a l a t t i t u d e toward l i f e of the Greek c i t i z e n of t h i s c o l l -



-10-

e c t i o n of c i t y - s t a t e s , and of Greek c u l t u r e i n g e n e r a l . Even 

thus e a r l y , they were a l r e a d y a c c e p t i n g t h e i r gods as s i m i l a r 

t o men, not a l i e n beings, only s t r o n g e r and f a i r e r and b r a v e r 

than men, embodying thus i n the honour they p a i d them what has 

come to be accepted as the t y p i c a l a t t i t u d e of t h e i r c i v i l i z a 

ti. on. 

The t r i b a l community whese b a t t l e s were recorded i n Ho-

mer's w r i t i n g s was f o l l o w e d by three f u r t h e r stages i n the dev-

elopment of the e i t y - s t a t e : a p e r i o d of ascendancy by the noblest 

or o l i g a r c h y .wherin the kings were d e p r i v e d of t h e i r power; an-

other p e r i o d of s t r u g g l e between c i t i z e n s and nobles d u r i n g 

which t y r a n t s rose as champions of the c i t i z e n s ' r i g h t s ; and a 

f i n a l stage marked by the emergence of a democratic government 

i n c l u d i n g a l l c i t i z e n s . Sparta and Athens are the two most fam-

ous examples of t h i s process of development, and c e r t a i n c u r i o u s 

comparisons can be made between the a r t - p r o d u c t s of the two i n 

terms of the d i f f e r e n c e s known to have e x i s t e d i n t h e i r s o c i a l 

o r g a n i z a t i o n s . The word "Spartan* remaining to us today proper-

l y d e s c r i b e s the atmosphere of r i g o r o u s d i s c i p l i n e , which made 

t h e i r s almost an armed-camp or p o l i c e - s t a t e i n form and atmos-

phere, and l e f t them non-productive i n an a r t i s t i c or p h i l o -

sophic sense. 

By 500 B.C. the Athenian c i t y - s t a t e had been r e - o r g a n i z e d 

by the s u c c e s s i v e reforms of Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenes, i n t o 

one i n which every c i t i z e n had a stake, t a k i n g an a c t i v e i n t e r -

est i n a l l aspects of p u b l i c l i f e , p o l i t i c s , r e l i g i o n , i n d u s t r y 

and commerce, s c i e n c e and a r t . These shared i n t e r e s t s gave them 



-11-

an i n t e n s e l o c a l p a t r i o t i s m , shown i n Aeschylus* p l a y "The Per-

s i a n s " where the greeks e x u l t over the d e f e a t of the huge Per-

s i a n f l e e t at Salamis, 480 B.C. , which was made p o s s i b l e by the 

e n t h u s i a s t i c support g i v e n by the members of the c i t y - s t a t e s . 

P i v e of these c i t y - s t a t e s were members of the D e l i a n Con-

f e d e r a c y along w i t h some i s l a n d s and Athens i t s e l f . Por these 

member s t a t e s , A t t i c a , B e o t i a , Thessaly, A r g o l i s , and Achaia, 

the g e n e r a l charge of f o r e i g n or e x t e r n a l a f f a i r s was borne by 

Athens, which a l s o gave a f r e s h impetus to every branch of t h e i r 

community l i v i n g ; the freedom and p e r s o n a l stake i n the p o l i s or 

c i t y - s t a t e generated a g r e a t Athenian f l o w e r i n g i n poetry,educ-

a t i o n , d r a m a , h i s t o r i c a l l i t e r a t u r e , o r a t o r y , the p l a s t i c a r t s , 

s c i e n c e and p h i l o s o p h y . 

Succeeding the e p i c genius of Homer and the homely s t o r -

i e s of E e s i o d came a new l y r i c poetry, r e c i t e d i n the homes of 

the now a f f l u e n t c i t i e s to the accompaniment of the s e v e n r s t r i n g 

ed l y r e , and t a k i n g on many d i f f e r e n t forms as i t was used f o r 

d i f f e r e n t purposes : the elegy or lament, the p e r s o n a l l y r i c of 

Sappho of Lesbos, the c h o r a l l y r i c of the Dorians, the d r i n k i n g 

songs made famous by Anacreon of Teos.... 

"When.I d r i n k wine 
A god doth s t r a i g h t b e g i n 

To warm my s o u l w i t h i n . . . " and P i n d a r ' s odes of 

v i c t o r y c e l e b r a t i n g the Olympic games and other c o n t e s t s . 

Greek education expressed a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a t t i t u d e i n 

aiming at the p r o d u c t i o n of i n t e l l i g e n t human beings r a t h e r 

than at g i v i n g mere v o c a t i o n a l p r e p a r a t i o n f o r e a r n i n g a l i v i n g . 



-12-

T h i s i s evidenced by the c a r e f u l guidance and p l a n n i n g f o r the 

education of the c i t i z e n s i n P l a t o ' s d e s c r i p t i o n of h i s i d e a l 

"Republic". 

The s i x t h century B.C. a l s o saw the beginnings of Greek 

drama, w i t h the peasants' songs and p r o c e s s i o n s of l e a d e r and 

chorus, i n honour of the god of v e g e t a t i o n and l i f e , D i o n y s i u s . 

These f e s t i v a l s were i n t r o d u c e d i n t o Athens under Cleisthenes,and 

there were given a more formal sequence, g r a d u a l l y d e v e l o p i n g in-

to the t r a g i c drama of Aeschylus, the f i r s t of the g r e a t t r a g i c 

poets, who- i n t r o d u c e d a second a c t o r i n a d d i t i o n to the l e a d e r 

and the chorus. The Greek b e l i e f i n law and order and the i d e a 

of j u s t i c e permeates h i s p l a y s . With Sophocles (d.406 B.C.) the 

i n t r o d u c t i o n of a t h i r d a c t o r to support the burden of the p l a y 

takes p l a c e , and he, though s t i l l b e l i e v i n g i n d i v i n e order, be-

g i n s to r e j e c t the i d e a of i n e x o r a b l e f a t e . H i s "Oedipus Rex" 

(or "Tyrannus") i s u s u a l l y accepted as the most p e r f e c t of Greek 

t r a g e d i e s . E u r i p i d e s used a l e s s e p i c s t y l e than Aeschylus or 

Sophocles, and t r e a t e d h i s c h a r a c t e r s as human beings i n the 

c h a o t i c t a n g l e s of human emotions, though s t i l l u s i n g mytholog-

i c a l t a l e s as p l o t or substance. "Medea", "Iphegenia", ate s t i l l 

played today, and s t i l l meaningful as s t o r i e s of human emotion, 

and E u r i p i d e s ' i n f l u e n c e through the d e r i v a t i v e Roman d r a m a t i s t , 

Seneca, reached the E l i z a b e t h a n t h e a t r e . 

Comedy developed from the l e s s formal and l e s s i n h i b i t e d 

aspect of the D i o n y s i a n f e s t i v a l s . Aristophanes(d.ca.385 B.C.) 

shows h i s comic v e i n and s c e p t i c a l s p i r i t i n h i s s a t i r i c p l a y s , 

"Clouds", "Frogs","Birds","Wasps", and i n h i s treatment of the 



-13-

wars between the d i f f e r e n t Greek c i t y - s t a t e s i n such p l a y s as 

"The Acharnians" and " L y s i s t r a t a " . 

The h i s t o r i c a l w r i t i n g s of Herodotus (d.424-5 B.C.) are 

r a t h e r the r e c o r d of what happened to i n t e r e s t orP b r i g h t man than 

the s c i e n t i f i c a n a l y s i s of c u r r e n t h i s t o r y w r i t t e n by the l a t e r 

Thucjdides (d.ca.400 B.C.) i n h i s book "The Peloponnesian War". 

His account was continued to 362 B.C. by Zenophon i n h i s " H e l l e n -

i c a " . Zenophon (d.355 B.C.) a l s o wrote the " A n a b a s i s " , t e l l i n g 

the s t o r y of the march of. the 10,000 Greeks who went i n 400 B.c 

w i t h Cyrus the Younger to h e l p him take the P e r s i a n throne from 

h i s b r o t h e r ; and a l s o the"Memorabilia", i n which are contained 

h i s r e f l e c t i o n s and h i s memories of S o c r a t e s . 

The i n c l u s i o n of the whole body of c i t i z e n s i n govern-

ment made n e c e s s a r y an a r t of a d d r e s s i n g and persuading them 

on important i s s u e s , as e x h i b i t e d by such famous o r a t o r s as Per-

i c l e s , Themistocles, Demosthenes. Demosthenes(d.322 B.C.) was ah 

e s p e c i a l l y powerful emotional speaker from whose speeches a g a i n s t 

P h i l i p of Maeedon -the-word ' p h i l i p p i c ' has-come down to us* 

The c i v i c nature of Greek a r t i s admirably demonstrated 

by t h e i r a r c h i t e c t u r e and s c u l p t u r e which reach t h e i r h i g h e s t 

e x p r e s s i o n i n the temples, which were the c i v i c as w e l l as r e l -

i g i o u s core of the c i t y l i f e . By a process of c r e a t i v e t r i a l and 

e r r o r they a r r i v e d at such i d e a l l y harmonious p r o p o r t i o n s that 

western a r c h i t e c t u r e i s s t i l l copying them today i n s t e a d of a t -

^tempting t h e i r brave l a b o u r and producing our own e q u i v a l e n t l y 

b e a u t i f u l and harmonious e x p r e s s i o n . 



-14-

The core of the s t r u c t u r e of the Greek temple was the 

c e l l a , a small f o u r - w a l l e d room f o r the statue of the l o c a l 

god, (Artemis f o r Ephesus, Athena f o r Athens) and entered from 

the pronaos or v e s t i b u l e . •'. The l a r g e r temples had columns to 

support the low-pitched gable roof, and the c e l l a became an i n -

ner room hidden by t h e i r t r u n k s . Some of the temples had c o l -

umns only a c r o s s the f r o n t (the p r o s t y l e ) , some a c r o s s the f r o n t 

and back(the a m p h i p r o s t y l e ) , and some on a l l f o u r s i d e s (the 

p e r i s t y l a r ) . 

I t was the e n t a b l a t u r e of the temple however which gave 

the g r e a t e s t chance f o r v a r i e t y i n the manner of treatment. T h i s 

was the temple facade composed of the a r c h i t r a v e or heavy c r o s s -

beams, the d e c o r a t i v e band c a l l e d the f r i e z e , and the moulded 

c o r n i c e s . The gable ends of the roof formed a t r i a n g l e which was 

c a l l e d the pediment, and which was used by the g r e a t a r t i s t s 

of s c u l p t u r e f o r enriched d e c o r a t i o n . 

There are t h r e e u s u a l l y accepted d i v i s i o n s or s t y l e s of 

c l a s s i f y i n g these temples, the D o r i c , I o n i c , and C o r i n t h i a n , from 

t h e i r p l a c e s of o r i g i n . In the e a r l y D o r i c which i s the s i m p l e s t 

the columns are p l a i n heavy s h a f t s r i s i n g from the temple base 

d i r e c t l y , and surmounted by a c a p i t a l of a rounded band and a 

square b l o c k c a l l e d the abacus; the o r i g i n a l wooden roof cone r 
s t r u c t i o n was perpetuated i n stone; that i s , stone r a f t e r ends 

c a l l e d t r i g l y p h s were added, and these arid the spaces between 

c a l l e d the metopes were c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d in''• treatment, the 

whole e f f e c t b e i n g r e s t r a i n e d and severe. "By the c l o s e of the 



5th century B.C. the more g r a c e f u l I o n i c was D e c e r n i n g the pre-

v a i l i n g s t y l e . I o n i c columns are u s u a l l y t a l l e r , f l u t e d , and 

s l e n d e r e r , and the c a p i t a l s more e l a b o r a t e . The c a p i t a l was com-

posed of a p i l l o w b l o c k carved i n a double v o l u t e , a p a r t i c u -

l a r l y g r a c e f u l form. The e n t a b l a t u r e above iB o f t e n broken by 

h o r i z o n t a l l i n e s ; the f r i e z e becomes a f l a t s u r f a c e devoted to 

the low r e l i e f s of the s c u l p t o r . The Cor i n t h i a n i s an e l a b o r a t -

i o n of the I o n i c . The columns are s t i l l t a l l e r , and more f l u t e d 

the m o d i f i e d I o n i c c a p i t a l i s more o r n a t e l y decorated. The p r i n -

c i p l e of e n t a s i s was used i n a l l of these forms to curve s u b t l y 

the v e r t i c a l l i n e s of the columns and the l o n g s t r a i g h t l i n e s 

of the bases of the temples, wherever the eye might imagine a 

sag. 

The s t i f f l y a r c h a i c s c u l p t u r a l d e c o r a t i o n s were very 

g r a d u a l l y b e g i n n i n g to change. By the 5th century B.C. there ap-

peared the f i r s t of the g r e a t s c u l p t o r s , Myron of Athens, the 

c r e a t o r of the bronze " D i s c o b o l u s " ; among h i s s u c c e s s o r s were 

P o l y c l e t u s of Argos (the bronze "Doryphorus* or s p e a r b e a r e r ) , 

a n d P h i d i a s , the g r e a t e s t of them a l l . They are represented to-

day c h i e f l y by poor contemporary c o p i e s of t h e i r best work, but 

s t i l l a v a i l a b l e are some important fragments. Among these i s 

the work of P h i d i a s on the pediments of the Parthenon ( r e p r e s e n t 

i n g on the east end the b i r t h of the goddess Athena, a n d on the 

west end the s t r u g g l e of Athena w i t h Poseidon f o r the p o s s e s s i o n 

of A t t i c a ) and h i s enormous f r i e z e around the c e l l a , 522. f e e t 

long, showing the Panathenaic f e s t i v a l and. i n c l u d i n g over 300 

f i g u r e s , some of which were d o u b t l e s s executed under h i s super-

v i s i o n . 



-16-

A f t e r P h i d i a s , P r a x i t e l e s i s the accepted model of Greek 

e x c e l l e n c e i n s c u l p t u r e . H i s *Hermesw unearthed at Olympia i n 

1877 i s m u t i l a t e d hut the head, trunk, and t h i g h s are i n t a c t and 

show h i s m a s t e r l y a b i l i t y . 

Greek p a i n t i n g has s u f f e r e d even more than Greek s c u l p -

ture from the passage of time, and i s known today c h i e f l y through 

the vase p a i n t i n g s , which were presumably done r a t h e r by c r a f t s -

men than the great a r t i s t s of the medium such as Polygnotus, 

A p o l l o n i u s of Athens, Zeuxis, and P a r r h e s i u s . 

The P e r i c l e a n age brought enormous developments i n tech-

n i c a l a b i l i t y and v i r t u o s i t y of e x p r e s s i o n i n a l l branches of 

a r t i s t i c - c i v i l a c t i v i t y . The b u i l d i n g of the Parthenon, a p e r i s -

t y l a r D o r i c temple 101 f t . by 228 f t . b u i l t by I c t i n i u s and G a l -

l i c r a t e s , the adornment of the whole A c r o p o l i s w i t h the s c u l p t u r e 

of such a r t i s t s as P h i d i a s , the drama of Sophocles and E u r i p i d e s , 

the h i s t o r i c a l analyses of Thucydides, a l l express the g r e a t per-

i o d of Athenian economic and p o l i t i c a l development. 

In P h i l o s o p h y the Greeks began by a n a l y s i n g r e a l i t y and 

the nature of r e a l i t y without recourse to r e v e l a t i o n as explan-

a t i o n , t h e i r f i r s t major q u e s t i o n being about the substance of 

the world, i n which they p o s i t e d d i f f e r e n t t h e o r i e s : Thales 

s t a t i n g the prime substance to be water; H e r a c l e i t O B s t r e s s i n g 

the f l u x - l i k e nature of r e a l i t y ; while t h e i r second major ques-

t i o n was that of order, or c a u s a l i t y , f i r s t s t a t e d by Anaximan-

d e r . Of t h i s i d e a R u s s e l l says : 
"There i s a k i n d of n e c e s s i t y or n a t u r a l law which per-

p e t u a l l y r e d r e s s e s the balance; where there has been f i r e 
f o r example, there are ashes, which are e a r t h . T h i s con-



-17-

c e p t i o n of j u s t i c e - of not overstepping e t e r n a l l y 
f i x e d bounds - was one of the most profound of 
Greek b e l i e f s . The gods were s u b j e c t to j u s t i c e j u s t , 
as much as men were, but t h i s supreme power was not 
i t s e l f p e r s o n a l , and was not a supreme god." 4. 

The r i c h f l o w e r i n g of the P e r i c l e a n p e r i o d saw, i n P h i l -

osophy, the q u e s t i o n i n g s p i r i t of Socrates, whose d i s c i p l e was 

P l a t o . But the Athenians e a g e r l y r e c e i v e d a l s o teachers from 

outside t h e i r c i t y ; indeed i n P l a t o ' s d i a l o g u e , "Protagoras*, 

Socrates w i t t i l y s a t i r i z e s the eagerness of the young d i s c i p l e s 

l i s t e n i n g so a r d e n t l y to the v i s i t i n g Sophist teacher. ' P e r i -

c l e s i n v i t e d as a v i s i t o r to Athens the p h i l o s o p h e r Anaxagoras 

from whom Socrates, i n the P l a t o n i c d i a l o g u e s , says that he f i r s t 

l e a r n e d of the pre-eminent importance of mind,(nous), i n c r e a -

t i o n . In the work o,f P l a t o , e s p e c i a l l y i n h i s "Republic", Book 

Ten, the p l a c e of a r t i n r e l a t i o n , to the s t a t e was s t a t e d i n 

one of i t s s t i l l e x i s t i n g forms - the u s e f u l n e s s of a r t as pro-

paganda f o r a c e r t a i n type.of s o c i a l order, and f o r the educ-

a t i o n and guidance of the d e s i r e d type of c i t i z e n . Whereas Ar-

i s t o t l e , i n h i s " P o e t i c s " , concentrated r a t h e r on the c r a f t as-

pect of 'making' i n a r t . He uses as h i s fundamental premis that 

a l l a r t i s i m i t a t i v e i n c h a r a c t e r , the i m i t a t i o n being based i n 

p h y s i o l o g i c rythms, and on what he thought of as an ' i n s t i n c t ' 

f o r i m i t a t i o n i n man. 

R u s s e l l sums up Greek achievement of genius i n these 

words : "What they achieved i n a r t and l i t e r a t u r e i s f a m i l i a r 
to everybody, but what they d i d i n the p u r e l y i n t e l l e c t -
u a l realms i s even more e x c e p t i o n a l . They invented math-
ematics, and science,and philosophy; they f i r s t wrote h i s -
t o r y as opposed to mere annals; they s p e c u l a t e d f r e e l y 
about the nature of the world and the ends of l i f e , with-

4 . R u s s e l l , B e r t r a n d : "A H i s t o r y of Western Philosophy",New York, 

Simon & Schuster,1945;pps. 24,27. 



-18-

out b e i n g bound i n the f e t t e r s of any orthodoxy... 
A r i t h m e t i c and some Geometry e x i s t e d among the E-
g y p t i a n s and Babylonians, but mainly i n the form of 
r u l e s of thumb. Deductive reasoning from g e n e r a l 
premisses was a Greek invention...They has a maxim, 
•nothing too much', but they were i n f a c t e x c e s s i v e 
i n e v e r y t h i n g - i n pure thought, i n poetry, i n r e l -
i g i o n , and i n s i n . I t was the combination of p a s s i o n 
and i n t e l l e c t t h a t made them g r e a t . N e i t h e r alone 
would have transformed the world f o r a l l f u t u r e time 
as they transformed i t . T h e i r prototype i n mythol-
ogy i s not Olympian Zeus, but Prometheus, who 
brought f i r e from heaven and was rewarded w i t h et-
e r n a l torment. 

I f taken of the Greeks as a whole, however, 
what has j u s t been s a i d would be as one-sided as 
the view that the Greeks were c h a r a c t e r i z e d by 'ser-
e n i t y * . There were i n f a c t two tendencies i n 
Greece, one p a s s i o n a t e , r e l i g i o u s , m y s t i c a l , o t h e r -
w o r l d l y ; the other c h e e r f u l , e m p i r i c a l , r a t i o n a l -
i s t i c , and i n t e r e s t e d i n a c q u i r i n g knowledge of a 
d i v e r s i t y of f a c t s . * 5. 

H e l l e n i s t i c c i v i l i z a t i o n begins when the g r e a t p e r i o d of 

Greek p h i l o s o p h y and a r t had begun to p e t e r out, when the Greek 

p l a s t i c a r t s had s l o w l y developed i n t o the r i c h n e s s of P h i d i a s 

and then begun to d e t e r i o r a t e i n t o the o v e r - d e c o r a t i v e , exem-

p l i f i e d i n t h i s new p e r i o d by the s c u l p t u r e group, *,Laoco0nM. 

H e l l e n i s t i c a r t and c i v i l i z a t i o n i n g e n e r a l r e a l l y be-

g i n s w i t h the conquests of Alexander of Macedon, who s u b j e c t e d 

the s t a t e s n e i g h b o r i n g , and i t extends to the time when these 

t e r r i t o r i e s and a l l his,empire were absorbed by the Roman 

Empire, 146, B.C. 

The f r e e democratic l i f e of the c i t y - s t a t e was over, 

even d u r i n g the time when P l a t o and A r i s t o t l e were a n a l y s i n g 

i t s s t r u c t u r e and v a l u e . Replaced by the empire of Alexander 

the emphasis of v a l u e s s h i f t e d from the p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the 

l i f e of the p o l i s , to the more i n d i v i d u a l value of the S t o i c 

5 . R u s s e l l , op. c i t . , p p S . 3 , 2 1 . 



-19-
and Epicurean philosophy, r e t i r i n g . a s they were from the hur-

l y - b u r l y of c i v i c l i f e to t h e " i v o r y tower" a t t i t u a e n o t i c e a b l e 

at other s i m i l a r p e r i o d s i n the development of other c u l t u r e s . 

However, d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d , one p o s i t i v e r e s u l t was 

that of the spread of the a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g Greek c u l t u r e f a r 

beyond the few c i t y - s t a t e s of the Greek p e n i n s u l a as f a r as 

A s i a Minor, the T i g r i s - E u p h r a t e s v a l l e y , Egypt, and f i n a l l y 

to the new s t a t e of Rome then r i s i n g i n the west. T h i s spread 

forms a l i n k between the c l a s s i c a l c u l t u r e of Greece and Rome. 

T h i s was a p e r i o d of development i n mathematics and mech-

a n i c s r a t h e r than i n 1 a r t ' , producing as i t d i d E u c l i d ' s t h i r -

teen books of "Elements", A p o l l o n i u s of Perga's work on c o n i c 

s e c t i o n s , and the work of Archimedes of Syracuse who demonstra-

ted the laws governing the a c t i o n of the l e v e r and d i s c o v e r e d , 

what came to be known,in h y d r o s t a t i c s , as the "Archimedean 

p r i n c i p l e " , t h a t a s o l i d body immersed i n a f l u i d becomes l i g h t -

er i n p r o p o r t i o n to the weight i t d i s p l a c e s i n the water. 

The a r t s i n the H e l l e n i s t i c p e r i o d had very d i f f e r e n t 

p o i n t s of emphasis to that of the e a r l i e r and r i c h e r p e r i o d of 

Greek a r t . They were more exaggeratedly d e c o r a t i v e i n concep-

t i o n and execution, as i s shown i n the p r e v i o u s l y mentioned "La-

ocoon" group, as i n tne Colossus of Rhodes, the Nike of Samo-

thrace", the Venus of M i l o , and i n the Pergamese groups, "Dy-

i n g Gaul" and "Gaul S l a y i n g Wife and S e l f " , commemorating the 

i n v a s i o n of Thrace and A s i a Minor by the Gauls, 279-8 B.C., 

when tney were defeated by K i n g A t a l u s of Pergamum. 
. i s 

Other Pergamene art'shown i n the remains of the temple a t 



-20-
Pergamum, excavated i n 1878 & 86 and now i n the B e r l i n Museum, 

and i n t h e i r o v e r - l i f e - s i z e d f i g u r e s which i n f l u e n c e d the s c u l p -

t o r s of Rhodes. 

H e l l e n i s t i c a r c h i t e c t s used the true a r c h ( with key-

stone) and spread abroad over the then known world the charming 

Greek p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g s which they copied, u s i n g th&r c e n t r a l 

court open to the sky surrounded by a colonnaded porch from 

which rooms opened. The new c i t i e s of the time were adorned with 

c o s t l y temples, baths,and l i b r a r i e s l i k e the one a t A l e x a n d r i a , 

and t h e a t r e s i n which were performed the comedies of Menander, 

a w r i t e r who i n f l u e n c e d the l a t e r Romans, Terrence and P l a u t u s . 

Menander l o v e d , and wrote about, the l i f e of the H e l l e n i s t i c 

c i t y f o r i t s s o p h i s t i c a t e d i n h a b i t a n t s , w h i l e T h e o c r i t u s wrote, 

f o r those who were bored w i t h t h i s , a new p a s t o r a l poetry, and 

the h i s t o r i a n Polybius of M e g a l o p o l i s wrote the " H i s t o r i e s 1 ' , t r a c -

i n g the s t o r y of the Roman conquest from the C a r t h a g i n i a n war to 

the f a l l of C o r i n t h i n 146 B.C. 

As we t u r n to the f i n a l phase of c l a s s i c a l c u l t u r e , w i t h 

t h e p e r i o d of Roman dominance, we can bear i n mind what has been 

s a i d of i t by Jose Ortega y Gasset..."The Romans are the only 

people whose e n t i r e s c r o l l of l i f e can be u n r o l l e d before our 

eyes. With others the p i c t u r e i s fragmentary. E i t h e r we cannot 

see them born, or we have not seen them d i e . . . " 

I t i s true of Roman c i v i l i z a t i o n that we know i t s r o o t s 

i n Greece, and i n H e l l e n i s t i c t r a n s i t i o n a l c u l t u r e , that we have 

f u l l r e c o r d s i n f a m i l i a r L a t i n of t h e i r a c t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s to 

law and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and language, and that we have records of 



-21-
the processes accompanying t h e i r d i s i n t e g r a t i o n . From t h i s doc-

umented h i s t o r y of t h e i r decadence we can t h e r e f o r e make c e r t a i n 

deductions about our own somewhat s i m i l a r p e r i o d , w i t h a dying 

and a b e g i n n i n g c u l t u r e i n e x t r i c a b l y j o i n e d ; and c e r t a i n con-

c l u s i o n s s u p p o r t i n g my t h e s i s w i l l be made as we go on. 

How Rome s u b j e c t e d the v a r i o u s peoples s e t t l e d i n the 

I t a l i a n p e n i n s u l a - I t a l i a n s , C a r t h a g i n i a n s , E t r u s c a n s , Greeks, 

C e l t s - and a p p r o p r i a t e d t h e i r c i v i l i z a t i o n , i n t e n s i f y i n g and 

extending i t , becoming the c e n t r e of a wide c u l t u r a l d i f f u s i o n 

the i n f l u e n c e of which has' l e f t t r a c e s to t h i s day, i s one of 

the great s t o r i e s of h i s t o r y . 

Having a p p r o p r i a t e d the I t a l i a n p e n i n s u l a , destroyed 

Carthage i n the C a r t h a g i n i a n wars, and turned to the east, Rome 

proceeded to slowly absorb i t w i t h i n the boundaries of a mighty 

empire : C o r i n t h (146 B.C.), Greece i t s e l f , Macedonia, Pergamum, 

S y r i a , and f i n a l l y Egypt (30 B.C.). In the n o r t h Gaul was con-

quered by J u l i u s Caesar (58-49 B.C.), g a i n i n g as f a r n o r t h as 

B r i t a i n (56-55 B.C.). 

Roman l i t e r a t u r e , l i k e Roman c u l t u r e g e n e r a l l y , began 

w i t h borrowings from the Greek, but had produced by the time of 

P l a u t u s (d.184 B.C.) and Terence (d.159 B.C.) comedies of n a t i v e 

, a b i l i t y which c e n t u r i e s l a t e r i n f l u e n c e d Shakespeare, M o l i e r e , 

and the commedia d e l l ' a r t e , the popular comedy of the I t a l i a n 

Renaissance, though even before t h i s the Saxon nun, Roswitha, 

(10th century A.D.) had i m i t a t e d . Terence i n pious p l a y s omit-

t i n g anything of h i s s t y l e c o n s i d e r e d improper f o r h e r purpose 

which was d i d a c t i c . 



-22-

A f t e r the Punic wars , the "basic small-farmer s o c i e t y 

of Rome was r a d i c a l l y changed. The markets were drugged with 

cheap s l a v e l a b o u r , c a p t i v e s of the many Roman v i c t o r i e s , 

and unemployment of the poorer c l a s s e s of c i t i z e n s l e d to 

g r e a t s o c i a l d i s t u r b a n c e s i n the c i t y of Rome where they f l o c k e d 

to see the " c i r c u s e s " and to get the dole of g r a i n which the 

s t a t e was f o r c e d to g i v e them to prevent r e v o l u t i o n . Some of 

the p l e b i a n s became wealthy from the e f f e c t s of i n c r e a s i n g pop-

u l a t i o n and commerce and they r e s e n t e d the e x c l u s i v e n e s s of the 

r u l i n g p a t r i c i a n s , and o f t e n p r o v i d e d l e a d e r s h i p f o r t h e i r f e l . -

low p l e b s . The Senators of Rome g r a d u a l l y y i e l d e d power to them 

i n the form of t r i b u n e s who were e l e c t e d to r e p r e s e n t the i n t -

e r e s t of the p l e b s . The senators c o u l d not then o v e r r u l e these 

t r i b u n e s who had the power to vet© the a c t i o n of the c o n s u l s , 

and even to k i l l a m a g i s t r a t e who r e f u s e d to take n o t i c e of 

t h e i r v e t o . 

The Roman f e d e r a t i o n of c i t y - s t a t e s f u n c t i o n e d peace-

f u l l y on a p r i n c i p l e of u n i t y i n d i v e r s i t y , w i t h the a l l i e d s t a t e s 

r e t a i n i n g t h e i r l o c a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c o n t r o l and Rome assuming 

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r matters of m i l i t a r y p o l i c y a f f e c t i n g $he 

whole. 

But the conquest of e x t r a t e r r i t o r y i n war poured p l u n -

der i n t o Rome which under mined the moral f i b r e of the govern-

i n g c l a s s , while the i n f l u x of gangs of s l a v e s to work the g r e a t 

p l a n t a t i o n s , c a l l e d l a t i f u n d i a , as has been noted r u i n e d the 

f r e e farmers on small h o l d i n g s who could not compete a g a i n s t 

such m o n o p o l i s t i c concerns. 



-23* 
The conflict between the "unemployed" who drifted in-

to the city, and the senators who profited from these abuses, re-
sulted in c i v i l war. Marius and Sulla, Pompey and Caesar, were 
popular figures who, backed by the mob, demanded reforms. For 
the last hundred years B.C. there was continual strife between 
these r i v a l opportunists whose ruthless ambitions ruined the 
welfare of the republic, while in themselves they expressed 
the change in valies pf the society which produced them. 

The new Roman Empire established by the last of these, 
Augustus, by 27 B.C. had set up conditions of s t a b i l i t y and 
peace which became known as the "pax Romana", lasting for two 
centuries and leading to enormous industrial and commercial 
activity, which in.turn extended knowledge of the inhabited 
world. 

The major philosophical positions of the Romans were 
those of the last Greek schools, Epicureanism and Stoicism. The 
f i r s t appealed to the sophisticated younger Romans, who accepted 
the freedom from fixed values which i t gave them, based i t was 
on the Atomism of Democritus which considered l i f e but an acciden-
t a l combination of atoms, permitting no permanent values of the 
Good as taught by; the Platonic theory of eternally existing 
Ideas. Lucretius expressed this point of view in his "On the 
Nature of Things". 

Opposed to this and accepted by the more serious typ: 
i c a l s p i r i t of Rome was Stoicism, whose essential idea of the 
equality of man is shown by the varying exponents who accepted 
i t and taught i t s doctrines, Epiotetus, a slave at one time, and 
Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome. 



-24-
Seneca stated i t s fundamentally moderate p o s i t i o n 

i n h i s "On the B r e v i t y of L i f e " , "On Anger", and "On Clemency", 
and i n h i s p l a y s , such as h i s "Medea", one of nine t r a g e d i e s • 
w r i t t e n i n i m i t a t i o n of E u r i p i d e s , whose l a t e r i n f l u e n c e on the 
plays of the I t a l i a n Renaissance, and e s p e c i a l l y on the French 
C l a s s i c i s m of the time of L o u i s XIV, was important. 

However the p h i l o s o p h i c a l idea f o r which t h i s l a t e 
c l a s s i c a l p e r i o d i s most famous i s that o f Neoplatonism, expressed 
most f u l l y by P l o t i n u s i n h i s "Enneads" or "Nine P a r t s " which was 
published by Porphyry(d.304)• This accepted the dichotomy i m p l i c i t 
i n P l a t o ' s "Theory of Ideas , and suggested two p o l e s , one rep-
presaating the "one" or G-od, and the other r e p r e s e n t i n g that of 
Matter, and l y i n g between these extremes a l l things i n c l u d i n g 
man, whose s o u l partakes of the immaterial q u a l i t y of God but 
whose, body i s m a t e r i a l and gross. Their s o l u t i o n of t h i s dualism 
was an e t h i c a l one, that man should t u r n h i s back on the mater-
i a l p a r t of h i m s e l f , s u b j e c t i n g and denying i t , and t u r n towards 
the immaterial or God. 

This was the most developed mysticism yet appear-
i n g i n the west, and has had an i n c a l c u l a b l e e f f e c t on most sub-
sequent r e l i g i o u s and p h i l o s o p h i c a l t h i n k i n g . I t was the medium 
from which sprang the medieval doctrine of the s a l v a t i o n of the 
soul through the m o r t i f i c a t i o n of the body. From i t a l s o came 
ideas c u r r e n t i n the Middle Ages o f the mystic v i s i o n , or ladder 
of p e r f e c t i o n . 

The l i t e r a t u r e of Rome i s an e c l e c t i c one, d e r i v -
i n g not only i t s matter from Greece but a l s o many of i t s s t y l i s -
t i c d e v i c e s . Cicero i s the most t y p i c a l o f t h e i r e a r l y w r i t e r s , 



-25-
d i s p l a y s the' eloquence of o r a t o r y which was considered by them 

as by the Greeks one of the c i v i c n e c e s s i t i e s . H i s most famous 
works are "Orations Against C a t i l i n e " , "On the Orator where he 
discusses e d u c a t i o n a l theory;"On the S t a t e " and "On the Laws" i n 
which he s t a t e s h i s p o l i t i c a l philosophy; "On Old Age" and "On 
the Nature of the Gods" which contains h i s conception of S t o i c 
ideas; and h i s " L e t t e r s " which t r e a t of the a f f a i r s of an i n t e l -
l i g e n t well-educated Roman of the l a s t century B.C. 

The most famous Roman poet i s V i r g i l , whose e x q u i s i t e mas-
t e r y of h i s own language can conceal h i s i n t e l l e c t u a l indebted-
ness to the Greeks more r e a d i l y than more o b v i o u s l y d e r i v a t i v e 
w r i t e r s . His best known work, "The Aeneid", which t e l l s of the 
descent of Rome from the Trojan hero Aeneas, i s f a m i l i a r through-
out European education i n which i t has long been used to i n c u l -
cate the p a t r i o t i c i d e a l s of l o y a l t y and courage. His "Eclogues" 
or p a s t o r a l poems are i n s p i r e d by the p a s t o r a l poetry of Theo-
c r i t u s , and the "Georgics" t e l l i n p o e t i c v e i n of the r e a l i t i e s 
of farm l i f e . 

Ovid(d. A.D. 17), though w r i t i n g at about the same time 
as V i r g i l ( d . 19 B.C.) shows i n h i s work r a t h e r a p i c t u r e of the 
l a x m o r a l i t y and l a c k o f purpose of s o p h i s t i c a t e d urban Roman 
s o c i e t y , than the v i r t u e s of a landed a r i s t o c r a c y l i v i n g i n sep-
arate small communities, and possessing a compact f a m i l y l i f e 
r u l e d over by the " p a t e r f a m i l i a s " . 

Ovid"s "Ars Amatoris" and "Metamorphoses" have exerted an 
enormous i n f l u e n c e on the l i t e r a t u r e of Europe. The "Art of Love" 
though w r i t t e n i n a c y n i c a l s p i r i t to s a t i r i z e the subject by 
g i v i n g i t a p s e u d o - s c i e n t i f i c treatment, was used s e r i o u s l y by 



-26-
the w r i t e r s o f the medieval c o u r t l y romances, and h i s "Me-tamor-* 

phoses", t e l l i n g the s t o r i e s of the c l a s s i c a l mythology, has been 

a source f o r Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and many other a r t i s t s 

and h i s mastery o f s t y l e continues to p l e a s e . 

The h i s t o r i c a l w r i t i n g s of the Romans has been u s e f u l 

i n b r i d g i n g the gap between the l a t e H e l l e n i s t i c p e r i o d and t h e i r 

own. P l i n y the E l d e r , i n h i s " N a t u r a l H i s t o r i e s " covers most of 

the f i e l d of extant knowledge;- P l i n y the Younger(d.114) , a w r i -

t e r o f c o n s i d e r a b l y l e s s i n t e l l e c t u a l content and extent, t e l l s 

amusingly about the happenings of h i s day, one o f the most i n t e r -

e s t i n g to us being h i s d e s c r i p t i o n of the e r u p t i o n o f Vesuvius i n 

A.D.79 which destroyed Pompeii; P l u t a r c h (d.120) i n h i s " P a r a l l e l 

L i v e s " r e l a t e s the major b i o g r a p h i c a l events of 23 Greek and 23 -

Roman nobles and n o t a b l e s , and t h i s has served s i n c e as a source 

f o r dramatic p r e s e n t a t i o n s of those c h a r a c t e r s by such w r i t e r s 

as Shakespeare i n h i s " C o r i o l a n u s " , " J u l i u s Caesar" and "Antony 

and C l e o p a t r a " ; J u l i u s Caesar h i m s e l f wrote an h i s t o r i c a l account 

of h i s " G a l l i c Wars" i n o r d e r to j u s t i f y h i m s e l f and h i s a c t i o n s 

i n h i s campaigns; L i v y g l o r i f i e d Rome i n h i s " H i s t o r y o f Rome from 

the Founding of the C i t y " , whereas T a c i t u s i n h i s "Annals"(which . 

begin w i t h the p r i n c i p a t e of Augustus) and h i s " H i s t o r i e s " (which 

begin w i t h A.D.68) shows the c o r r u p t i o n of Roman s o c i e t y , and i n 

h i s "Germania" d e s c r i b e s the t r i b e s o f Germany, and i n h i s " A g r i c o l a 

c o l a " recounts the e x p l o i t s of h i s f a t h e r - i n - l a w who conquered 

B r i t a i n ; t h i s emphasis on morals was not as s t e r n l y f o l l o w e d by 

Suetonius i n h i s " L i v e s o f the Twelve Caesars" (from J u l i u s Cae-

sar to Domitian), who found a l a t e r i m i t a t o r i n the monk E g i n h a r d 

of the 9th century, w r i t i n g a " L i f e o f Charlemagne". 



-27-
More i n t e r e s t e d i n s a t i r i z i n g the f o l l i e s of Roman 

s o c i e t y than i n r e c o r d i n g t h e i r e x p l o i t s were : Juvenal(d.135), 

exceptionally b i t t e r i n h i s r u t h l e s s d e l i n e a t i o n s o f the l u x u r -

ious l i v i n g of the upper c l a s s e s , e s p e c i a l l y so i n h i s s a t i r e 

on women; and M a r t i a l (d,104) whose w r i t i n g s may have i n s p i r e d 

the lampoons o f the l a l i a n Renaissance; and L u c i a n of Samosate, 

whose "Dialogue o f the Dead" and "Alexander the F a l s e Prophet" 

i n s p i r e d or at l e a s t e x e r t e d some i n f l u e n c e on the work o f E r a s -

mus, V o l t a i r e and S w i f t 

The i d e a l o f Roman, e d u c a t i o n has g i v e n us a word d e s c r i b -

i n g our own i d e a l of "humanism", s i n c e they attempted to make 

c i v i l i z e d men out o f t h e i r young men, i n d i c a t i n g t h i s change by 

the name "humanus" g i v e n to the a d u l t , and by the name "humanitas" 

g i v e n to the type o f e d u c a t i o n . 

However, the t y p i c a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n of Roman genius was . .. 

r a t h e r that o f e n g i n e e r i n g and l e g a l c o n s t r u c t i o n . T h e i r a r c h -

i t e c t u r a l p r e f e r e n c e s were f o r an ornate v e r s i o n of the l a t e Cor-

i n t h i a n s t y l e , which i s shown i n the F l a v i a n Amphitheatre, c a l l -

ed the Colosseum, b u i l t to h o l d 50,000 s p e c t a t o r s , and i n the 

Pantheon, b u i l t i n the f i r s t century A.D. so w£l t h a t i n the 1800 

years folia/wing i t has r e q u i r e d very few r e p a i r s . The a r c h o f 

triumph b u i l t to honour some r e t u r n i n g hero i s another very Ro-

man form, f o r example, the Arch o f C o n s t a n t i n e . 

T h e i r s c u l p t u r e c o n s i s t e d i n making copies o f Greek mas-

t e r p i e c e s , and i t was these l a t e r d i s c o v e r e d c o p i e s which i n f l u -

enced the s c u l p t o r s of the Renaissance. The Romans l e f t a l s o a 

f i n e c o l l e c t i o n o f p o r t r a i t b u s t s , from which some i d e a of the 

v i r t u e s they p r i z e d can be understood, as they were c h i e f l y i n -

s p i r e d by reverence f o r t h e i r f o r e f a t h e r s . 



-28-

Almost the only remaining examples of Roman p a i n t i n g are 

those d i s c o v e r e d on the w a l l s of Pompeii, which are s i m i l a r i n 

technique to the f r e s c o e s of the Renaissance p a i n t e r s of f r e s c o e s 

but there are many examples of the mosaic p a t t e r n s w i t h which 

they adorned t h e i r w a l l s and f l o o r s . 

T h e i r e n g i n e e r i n g a b i l i t i e s took a more o r i g i n a l form, 

which i s shown i n t h e i r b u i l d i n g s , and i n b r i d g e s l i k e the one 

s t i l l s t a n d i n g over the Tagus r i v e r at A l c a n t a r a i n Spain, 150 

fjeet high? i n the aqueducts l i k e t h a t a t Nimes i n southern Prance 

where there are three arcades to c a r r y a c u r r e n t of water a t a 

h e i g h t of 160 f e e t ; and i n the b u i l d i n g of t h e i r roads, examp-

l e s s t i l l reamining i n the Appian Way and the Sacred Way i n t o 

Rome. TheBe roads are made of s e v e r a l l a y e r s of stone and con-

c r e t e , and s u r f a c e d w i t h stones which are so w e l l s e t , so w e l l 

hewn and f i t t e d together that wagons r o l l i n g over them h a r d l y 

r a t t l e . 

In l e g a l s t r u c t u r e the Romans b u i l t as e n d u r i n g l y f o r 

p o s t e r i t y a£ i n t h e i r roads. Theodosius 11, i n 438, c o d i f i e d the 

laws of the p r e v i o u s C h r i s t i a n emperors, and J u s t i n i a n 1 , the 

Byzantine Emperoro from 427-565, s e t down i n l o g i c a l form the 

whole body of Roman l e g a l p r i n c i p l e . 

In s a n i t a t i o n and h o s p i t a l care f o r t h e i r g r e a t armies 

Rome a l s o made important c o n t r i b u t i o n s to human knowledge. The 

houses of Rome were p r o v i d e d w i t h water from a c e n t r a l d i s t r i b -

u t i n g c e n t r e , and of their sewage systems the most famous i s the 

Cloaca Maxima. Celsus wrote h i s *0n Medic&ne*, and Galen (d.199) 

was v e r y i n f l u e n t i a l . He continued the i d e a taken from the Greeks 



- 2 9 -

of the f o u r humours, a s s i g n i n g to them these q u a l i t i e s and e l -
ements, •• Q u a l i t i e s Elements Humours 

Hot and wet A i r Yellow B i l e 
Hot and dry E i r e Blood 
Cold and d r y E a r t h B l a c k B i l e 
Cold and wet Water Phlegm 

which d i v i s i o n s l a t e r r e c u r i n medieval medicine and l e t t e r s . 

M e d i c a l knowledge from t h i s time on began to s h r i n k i n 

i t s a t t e n t i o n to a c t u a l anatomical s t u d i e s and to expand i t s non-

s c i e n t i f i c aspects i n a t t e n t i o n to a n t r o l o g y and alchemy, w i t h 

men d a b b l i n g i n i d e a s of magic r a t h e r than i n those of p r e c i s e 

knowledge. The study of the Zodiac was supposed to r e v e a l the 

s t a r s ' i n f l u e n c e on human d e s t i n y , and the s i g n s of tne Zodiac 

were taken as e x e r t i n g i n f l u e n c e over d i f f e r e n t p a r t s of the 

human body... A r i e s on the head, Taurus on the neck, 
Gemini on the shoulders and arms, 
Cancer on the b r e a s t , Leo on the f l a n k s , 
V i r g o on the b l a d d e r , L i b r a on the b u t t o c k s , 
S c o r p i o on the g e n i t a l s , S a g i t t a r i u s on the t h i g h s 
Aquar/ius on the limbs, and P i s c e s on the f e e t . 

which a l s o l a t e r i n f l u e n c e d , medieval.thought. 

Rome's c h i e f p e r s o n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n then to r e s i d u a l c i v -

i l i z a t i o n was i n her e n g i n e e r i n g triumphs, i n her c o d i f i e d law, 

bequeatned i n ner u n i v e r s a l l y used l a n g u a g e , L a t i n , and i n her 

spreading abroad the c u l t u r e of Greece. 

With the f i r s t century A.D. of the C h r i s t i a n era, pop-

u l a t i o n f i g u r e s in I t a l y began to d e c l i n e , and the s t r i c t home 
l i f e and genius of the f a m i l y of the e a r l y Romans d i s i n t e g r a t e d . 

Ovidian s a t i r e g r a p h i c a l l y shows t h i s at the b e g i n n i n g of the 

century i n hie p i c t u r e of the l a x i t y of the t r a d i t i o n a l v a l u e s . 

In p o l i t i c a l s t r u c t u r e a l s o there were changes. And e c o n o m i c a l l y 



-30-

there appeared a form of monopoly l a n d l o r d i s m , and c o n t r o l be-

came more and more concentrated i n the hands of fewer and fewer 

l a r g e landowners, which ms coupled w i t h an i n c r e a s i n g l y crush-

i n g system of t a x a t i o n which drove out the small landlord.The 

Pax Romana d i s s o l v e d and the c i v i l wars (235-285) proved d i s a s -

t r o u s , imposing as they d i d 26 emperors i n 50 y e a r s . T h i s confu-

s i o n was aggravated by the plague, coming from Asia i n 252 and 

decimating the p o p u l a t i o n of the empire i n the f o l l o w i n g f i f t e e n 

y e a r s . The D i o c l e t a i n reforms (284-305) staved o f f the complete 

d i s o r g a n i z a t i o n of the empire f o r a while , but h i s i d e a of sep-

a r a t i n g i t i n two, w i t h two complete s e t s of o f f i c i a l s , proved 

r u i n o u s l y expensive. By 400 the State attempted to impress a 

permanent mold on i t s s o c i e t y i n the hope of r e t a i n i n g s t a b i l i t y 

by means of keeping a l l p o s i t i o n s h e r e d i t a r y : colons were bound 

to the s o i l ; c u r i a l s , the m u n i c i p a l a r i s t o c r a c y , were f o r b i d d e n 

to s h i r k t h e i r d u t i e s ; and c r a f t s were kept as h e r e d i t a r y occu-

p a t i o n s , no craftsman b e i n g p e r m i t t e d to l e a v e h i s j o b ; t h i s 

f i n a l attempt at r i g i d i f y i n g s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e i n the face of immi-

nent s o c i a l change i s r e m i n i s c e n t of the f a s c i s t experiments we 

have been w i t n e s s i n g i n Europe i n the l a s t 25 y e a r s . 

But the government was unable to c r e a t e the p r o s p e r i t y 

which alone would have ensured some measure of success to t h i s 

i d e a , and i t g r a d u a l l y disappeared everywhere - c u r i a l s d i d 

r e f u s e t h e i r appointed d u t i e s , colons d i d run away, and the 

s t a t e was not able to stop them. C i v i c l i f e became p a r a l y s e d , 

and the b a r b a r i a n i n v a s i o n s met l i t t l e r e s i s t a n c e from the once 

mighty but now decadent Rome. 



-31-

E a r l y C h r i s t i a n a r t which p a r t l y o v e r l a p s t h i s p e r i o d of 

Roman d e c l i n e was used to express a s t r i c t l y m o n o t h e i s t i c r e l -

i g i o n , denying the many gods and l i b e r a l l a t t i t u d e s of the c l a s s -

i c a l c u l t u r e of Greece and ROme, 

C h r i s t i a n i t y took over some aspects of N e o p l a t o n i s t the-

ory and renounced the t h i n g s of t h i s l i f e as v a l u e l e s s i n terms 

of e t e r n i t y , and i n s p i t e of p e r s e c u t i o n t h e i r numbers grew, 

s i n c e they regarded martyrdom as the supreme honour p r o v i n g 

t h e i r f a i t h , an a t t i t u d e f a m i l i a r to us today i n the many mar-

t y r s to s o c i a l theory who s a c r i f i c e d t h e i r l i v e s i n the face of 

as severe p e r s e c u t i o n . 

With the l e g a l i z i n g of C h r i s t i a n i t y by C o n s t a n t i n e 1 s 

E d i c t of M i l a n i n 313 begins what can be c a l l e d t y p i c a l e a r l y 

C h r i s t i a n a r c h i t e c t u r e . During the p e r i o d of p e r s e c u t i o n d i s t i n c -

t i v e C h r i s t i a n a r t was known however. The catacombs of Rome are 

important s u r v i v a l s of t h i s phase of development, c o n t a i n i n g 

a l l e g o r i c a l drawings from the o l d testament as w a l l d e c o r a t i o n s , 

and of 'orantes* or ' p r a y - e r s * . The e a r l i e s t form of above-ground 

C h r i s t i a n a r c h i t e c t u r e was based on that of the Roman law-courts 

and the c h r i s t i a n churches b u i l t at t h i s p e r i o d are c a l l e d 'ba-

s i l i c a s ' . They had r e c t a n g u l a r f l o o r p l a n s d i v i d e d i n t o three 

a i s l e s each separated by a row of columns; at the end of the cen-

t r a l a i s l e ( c a l l e d the 'nave' ) was a s e m i - c i r c u l a r 'apse'. The 

roof over the nave was h i g h e r than t h a t over the side a i s l e s , 

and i n f r o n t of the church was an 'atrium', open i n the centre 

and surrounded by a roofed colonnade. Churches of t h i s type 

b u i l t i n the 4th, 5th and 6th c e n t u r i e s are s t i l l s t a n d i n g near 



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Rome, examples b e i n g those of S t . P a u l , Santa M a r i a Maggiere, 

St.Lawrence-outside-the-Walls, and San Clemente. 

The Romanesque churches appearing soon i n the e a r l y Mid-

d l e Ages are very l i k e these b a s i l i c a s , and the l a t e r appearing 

Gothic ( a f t e r 1200) are m o d i f i c a t i o n s of i t s t y p i c a l s t y l e , an-

other p o i n t i n my complaint a g a i n s t Spengler's t h e s i s of the 

e x c l u s i v e n e s s of d i f f e r e n t c u l t u r e s , and f o r my t h e s i s t h a t a r t 

r e s i d u e s from one p e r i o d a f f e c t a r t i s t s of other p e r i o d s . 

In 325 Constantine convoked the C o u n c i l of Nicaea to 

p u r i f y the o f f i c i a l d o c t r i n e s of the Church, f o r there had appear-

ed a form c a l l e d A r i s n i s m , which threatened the s u p e r n a t u r a l 

b a s i s of C h r i s t a i n i t y by a s s e r t i n g that Jesus was l e s s than God 

though more than man, whereas the o f f i c i a l p o s i t i o n was that Je-

sus was c o e t e r n a l w i t h God and at the same time true man. The 

Nicene Creed was formulated and the C o u n c i l upheld the orthodox 

view. 

The C h r i s t i a n i d e a l l e d to c e r t a i n f a n a t i c r i g o u r s of as-

c e t i c i s m i n the l i v e s of such h e r m i t B as St.Anthony of Egypt(d. 
356) d i f f e r i n g from those l a t e r monks who l i k e St.Pachomius(d. 
346) had organized a common r u l e whereby each hermit r e t a i n e d 

a separate c e l l but j o i n e d i n common work, d e v o t i o n s , and read-

i n g of the gospel S t . B a s i l ' s Rule (d.379) l a t e r brought togeth-

e r i n t h i s community l i f e men of s i m i l a r r e l i g i o u s tendencies, 

wherein they worshipped, contemplated, read, and laboured i n a 

p r e s c r i b e d manner. T h i s was a f o r t u n a t e development of the more 

i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c tendency of the hermit, s i n c e the new monaster-

i e s where the r e l i g i o u s communities l i v e d became c e n t r e s of l e a r n -

i n g and exeabted an important c o n s e r v i n g e f f e c t on medieval c u l -

t u r e . 



-33-

The e a r l y church w r i t i n g s , known as ' p a t r i s t i c ' from the 

a p p e l l a t i o n s g i v e n t h e i r authors, the ' a p o s t o l i c f a t h e r s ' and the 

'church f a t h e r s ' , a l s o e x e r t e d a d i r e c t i v e i n f l u e n c e on medieval, 

and through them,on modern ways of t h i n k i n g . 

Bishop Eusebius (d.339) gave the h i s t o r i c a l bases of the 

Church from i t s beginnings i n the time of Jesus to h i s own day. 

Ambrose (d.297), an e c c l e s i a s t i c a l e x e c u t i v e , a l s o i n t r o d u c e d 

the l i t u r g i c a l hymn i n t o the western church. Jerome(d.420) t r a n s -

l a t e d the Old and New Testaments from the o r i g i n a l Hebrew i n t o 

the L a t i n of the 4 t h century known as the V u l g a t e , and h i s v e r -

s i o n was t h a t used throughout the Middle Ages. St.Augustine of 

Hippo (d430) was a v e r y i n f l u e n t i a l w r i t e r . In h i s "Confessione" 

he wrote one of the f i r s t important a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s , t e l l i n g des-

c r i p t i v e i n c i d e n t s from h i s e a r l y l i f e of d i s s o l u t e b e h a v i o r and 

d i s b e l i e f i n candid c o n f e s s i o n . H i s a n a l y s i s of s e c u l a r and s p i r -

i t u a l matters i n h i s • C i v i t a t e D e i * was important i n s e t t i n g the 

o f f i c i a l church o p i n i o n on such m a t t e r s . The works of a l l these 

church f a t h e r s was l a t e r used by Thomas Aquinas i n h i s v a s t r e l -

i g i o u s s y n t h e s i s . 

With the appearance of the b a r b a r i a n t r i b e s as important 

elements of European h i s t o r y we are h e a r i n g the emergence of 

western c u l t u r e proper. 

In the second century A.D. the Goths, and east German 

t r i b e , moved southward to the p l a i n s of f e r t i l e southern R u s s i a 

where they l e a r n t to read and w r i t e , borrowing the alphabet from 

the Greek and Roman s e t t l e m e n t s along the shores of the Black 

Sea, and p a s s i n g i t on g r a d u a l l y to the other Germanic t r i b e s , 



-34-

even as f a r as Scandinavia, employing i n s c r i p t i o n s of the type 

known as ' r u n i c ' which date hack to the 5th and 6th c e n t u r i e s 

B.C. The Goths were a l s o converted to the A r i a n form of C h r i s t -

i a n i t y by Bishop U l f i l a s (d.38l) who had been educated i n Con-

s t a n t i n o p l e . The B i b l e was t r a n s l a t e d i n t o Gothic, the e a r l i e s t 

extant monument of l i t e r a t u r e i n any Germanic language, and Ar-

i a n i s m spread to the other German t r i b e s l i v i n g along the Danube 

f r o n t i e r of the Roman Empire; the V i s i g o t h s , Ostrogoths,Burgund-

i a n s . Vandals, Suevians, Allamanni, and Lombards, so that many 

of these were A r i a n C h r i s t i a n s before moving i n t o the Roman Emp-

i r e . 

T h i s move w i t h i n the borders of the Empire was at f i r s t 

a g r a d u a l one, many i n d i v i d u a l s from the border t r i b e s having 

been to Rome as hostages, v i s i t o r s , or t r a d e r s , and r e t u r n i n g 

t o l d of i t i n such a t t r a c t i v e terms that i t i s f e l t by some h i s -

t o r i a n s that these t a l e s were a c o n v i n c i n g m f a c t o r i n the move 

w i t h i n the b o r d e r s . The Germanic t r i b e s moved south i t i s be-

l i e v e d p a r t l y because of the pressure of the nomadic Huns from 

the r e a r , p a r t l y because of the famine and f l o o d c o n d i t i o n s -

and p a r t l y because of t h i s a t t r a c t i o n toward the r i c h e r l i f e 

of C l a s s i c c u l t u r e . 

I n e v i t a b l y i n t h e i r encroaching movement the b a r b a r i a n s 

destroyed much t h a t was v a l u a b l e i n t h i s l i f e that had a t t r a c t e d 

them, but i t should be remembered t h a t they a l s o absorbed much, 

i n the elements of law, and -language. However i n the 'dark ages' 

f o l l o w i n g these d i s r u p t i v e moves, i n the p e r i o d o f medieval 

h i s t o r y preceeding the 11th century, the c i t y of Byzantium was 

to p l a y the p a r t f o r m e r l y performed by Athens and Rome. 



-35-

Byzantine l i t e r a t u r e was more i n f l u e n c e d by that of Greece than 

by t h a t of Rome; indeed so f a r i n f l u e n c e d that a poet, Constan-

t i n e c r i t i c i z i n g h i s master, Leo the P h i l o s o p h e r , Archbishop of 

T h e s s a l o n i c a , wrote of the pagan gods of the Greeks as • s o u l -

devouring beasts* and condemning Greek l i t e r a t u r e because of t h i s 

i n f l u e n c e . . . "Foul f a r e they, who the gods adore 
Worshipped by G r e c i a n f o l k of yore -
Amorous gods to p a s s i o n s prone, 
Gods as a d u l t e r e r s well-known, 
Gods who were lame, and gods who f e l t 
The wound t h a t some mean m o r t a l d e a l t ; 
And goddesses, a crowd obscene, 
Among them many a h a r l o t queen; 
Some wedded clownish herds, I trow, 
Some s q u i n t e d h i d e o u s l y enow...." 6. 

In medicine the Byzantine d o c t o r s though o c c a s i o n a l l y us-

i n g charms, c a r r i e d on to some extent i n the s p i r i t of Galen, 

w i t h Alexander of T r a l l e s (525-605) making o r i g i n a l o b s e r v a t i o n s 

on the d i s e a s e s of d y s e n t e r y , g o u t , b i l i o u s n e s s and insanity,and 

Paul of Aegina (625-690) i n h i s "Epitome" reviewing m e d i c a l 

knowledge of h i s day, i n p e d i a t r i c s and o b s t e t r i c s , i n removing 

i n f e c t e d t o n s i l s and breasts,and i n opewtions f o r stone. A l s o 

the p u b l i c h e a l t h a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of towns was helped by the 

knowledge achieved by the Byzantine d o c t o r s i n q u a r a n t i n i n g and 

and c o n t r o l l i n g contagious d i s e a s e s l i k e smallpox and d i p h t h e r i a . 

In a r c h i t e c t u r e the Byzantine form i s a m o d i f i c a t i o n of 

tha cruciform, b a s i l i c a s of the western church, u s i n g the Greek 

c r o s s , w i t h g i g a n t i c domes surmounting them. T h i s form spread 

from them to the Russian churches, and to the Arab mosques. The 

d e s i r e f o r ornate magnificence d i s c e r n i b l e i n the most t y p i c a l 

of the b u i l d i n g s of Rome i s everywhere v i s i b l e a l s o i n the By-

6. Bury, J.B. " H i s t o r y of the E a s t e r n E m p i r e " M a c m i l l a n s , L o n d o n . 
1912, pps. 440-441. 



-36-

zantesque a r c h i t e c t u r e . . . "Everywhere i n i t we f i n d that love of 
stupendous l u x u r y and of p r o d i g i o u s splendour which Byzantium 
d i s p l a y e d at every p e r i o d of her h i s t o r y . In the d e c o r a t i o n 
of the churches and the p a l a c e s i t i s always the same s t o r y -
p r e c i o u s m a r b l e s , g l i t t e r i n g mosaics, m a g n i f i c e n t work i n g o l d 
and s i l v e r , e n d wonderful hangings, a l l intended to enhance the 
beauty of the r i t e s of r e l i g i o n , and the majesty of t h e i m p e r -
i a l person; i n p u b l i c and p r i v a t e l i f e n o t h i n g but sumptuous 
t i s s u e s shot w i t h purple and g o l d , f i n e carved i v o r i e s , b r o n g e s 
i n l a i d w i t h s i l v e r , r i c h l y i l l u m i n a t e d manuscripts,enamels, 
c l i s o n n e i n resplendent c o l o u r s , g o l d and silver p l a t e , a n d cost 
l y j e w e l s . Whefcer, by d e c o r a t i n g the w a l l s of churches w i t h 
the pageant of sacred h i s t o r y s k i l l f u l l y disposed, t h i s a r t 
was i n t e n t on g l o r i f y i n g god,on e x p r e s s i n g an a r t i c l e of f a i t h 
on i n t e r p r e t i n g the l i t u r g i c a l r i t e s , or whether, to g l o r i f y 
the majesty of the s o v e r e i g n , and to g i v e p l e a s u r e to the 
c o u r t and the g r a n d e e s , i t was d e p i c t i n g i n a more profane 
s p i r i t s u b j e c t s borrowed from c l a s s i c a l h i s t o r y or mythology, 

p i c t u r e s q u e scenes dear to H e l l e n i s t i c a r t , as w e l l as h i s -
t o r i c a l p a i n t i n g s , r e p r e s e n t i n g the i m p e r i a l v i c t o r i e s , and 
p o r t r a i t s of the p r i n c e s i n t h e i r g l o r y , everywhere we f i n d 
t h a t l o v e of magnificence which even today makes us v i s u a l -
i z e Byzantium i n a j e w e l l e d i r i d e s c e n c e , i n a shimmer of g o l d . 

7. 

T h i s a r t i s t i c a c t i v i t y of Byzantium i s a h y b r i d one, 

w i t h elements from Greece,Rome and the Mohammedan E a s t ; i t s c u l -

ture i s an urban one, a l i v e w i t h c o m m e r c i a l , i n d u s t r i a l , and admin-

i s t r a t i v e a c t i v i t y , and w i t h the a r t s used as the embroidery ap-

p r o p r i a t e to i m p e r i a l m a g n i f i c e n c e . 

M e d i e v a l c i v i l i z a t i o n draws on t h i s Byzantesque aasevoir 

as i t does on Greek,Roman, and Arab sources, which are more or 

l e s s e n f e o f f e d and become p a r t of the l i f e of the C e l t i c , G e r m a n i c , 

S l a v i c and other nomadic p o p u l a t i o n s of Europe. 

The predominant c i v i l i z i n g i d e a of the church, which en-

couraged a s p e c i a l a t t i t u d e toward l i f e was everywhere i n Europe 

i n f u s e d w i t h the_remnants of pagan p r a c t i c e s , evidence of which 

i s found i n the o r d e a l s by f i r e and water l e f t from the days of 

King A t h e l s t a n i n England f o r a t t e s t i n g innocence of the accused. 

7 . D i e h l , C h a r l e s : "YThe Cambridge Medieval H i s t o r y - . M a c m i l l a n s , 
•N.Y., vol.4,p.767. ' 



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A more i n t e l l e c t u a l acceptance of the i d e a l s of C h r i s t -

i a n i t y i s shown i n t h i s account , from Bede ' 6 " E c c l e s i a s t i c a l 

H i s t o r y of the E n g l i s h Nation", of the c o n v e r s i o n of K i n g Edwin 

of Northumbria i n 627... "The present l i f e of man,0 King, seems 
to me , i n comparison w i t h that time which i s unknown to us, 
l i k e to the s w i f t f l i g h t of the sparrow through the room wher-
e i n you s i t a t supper i n w i n t e r w i t h your commanders and min-
i s t e r s , and a good f i r e i n the midst, w h i l s t the storm of r a i n 
and snow p r e v a i l abroad : the sparrow , I say, f l y i n g i n at 
one door, and immediately out a n o t h e r , w h i l s t he i s w i t h i n , i s 
safe from the w i n t r y storm; but a f t e r a s h o r t space of f a i r 
weather, he immediately vanishes from your s i g h t , i n t o the 
dark w i n t e r from which he had emerged. So t h i s l i f e of man 
appears to me,, but f o r a s h o r t space, but what went b e f o r e , 
or of what i s t o f o l l o w , we are u t t e r l y i g n o r a n t . I f there-
f o r e , t h i s new d o c t r i n e c o n t a i n s something more c e r t a i n , i t 
seems j u s t l y to deserve to be f o l l o w e d . " 

l 8. 

C h r i s t i a n i t y spread r a p i d l y t h r o u g h o u t the kingdoms of 

Europe.Russia on the east being almost completely C h r i s t i a n by 

1000, l e a v i n g only the Einn and L i t h u a n i a n groups i n an untouched 

pagan s t a t e . 

One of the agencies of t h i s t r a n s f o r m i n g process was 

that of the monastic orders whose o r i g i n s were d e s c r i b e d b e f o r e . 

The I r i s h C h r i s t i a n s were organized i n t o monastic orders which 

sent t e a c h e r s to Iona o f f the coast of S c o t l a n d to convert the 

S c o t t i s h and the n o r t h e r n E n g l i s h , and then, i n the e a r l y 7th 

century, to convert the s t i l l pagan t r i b e s of Germans i n the 

Rhine v a l l e y . St.Benedict e s t a b l i s i e d h i s f i r s t monastery at Mon-

t e c a s s i n o i n 528, h i s Rule s t r e s s i n g the order of l i v i n g , h i s ob-

j e c t being to h e l p monks who wished to l i v e a s y s t e m a t i c a l l y sim-

p l e l i f e , i n r e l i g i o u s c i r c l e s ; ' 

The Church acted , as has been.noted, as a c o n s e r v i n g ag-

ency f o r c u l t u r e i n these dark days of d i s o r g a n i z a t i o n before 

8.Bede,op.cit,,Everymans,London,pps.35-36, 



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medieval c i v i l i z a t i o n became c l e a r l y a r t i c u l a t e d . T h e i r church-

men depended on the c l a s s i c s of Greece and Rome not only f o r 

l e a r n i n g t h e i r b a s i c reading and w r i t i n g from them, but a l s o to 

d e r i v e fundamental a t t i t u d e s to l i f e therefrom. One of t h e i r 

number, St.Jerome, t e l l s how, when he was once very s i c k , he 

had a v i s i o n . . . "Suddenly I was caught up i n the' s p i r i t and 
dragged before the Judge's seat : and here the l i g h t was 
so d a z z l i n g and the b r i g h t n e s s s h i n i n g from those who 
stood around so r a d i a n t , that I f l u n g myself upon the 
ground and I d i d not dare to look up. I was asked to 
s t a t e my c o n d i t i o n and r e p l i e d t h a t I was a C h r i s t i a n . 
But He who p r e s i d e d s a i d : "Thou l i e s t ; thou a r t a C i c -
eronian, not a C h r i s t i a n . For where thy t r e a s u r e i s 
there w i l l thy h e a r t be a l s o . " 

B o e t h i u s (d.526), who i s f r e q u e n t l y read as an a u t h o r i t y 

by l a t e r Churchmen, was a Roman s c h o l a r who l i v e d a t the court 

of the O s t r o g o t h i c k i n g , Theodoric (d.532) and was l a t e r exec-

uted by the k i n g on s u s p i c i o n . B o e t h i u s was a well-educated man 

whose work of t r a n s l a t i n g Greek c l a s s i c s i n t o L a t i n made these 

a v a i l a b l e when the use of Greek was l a s t . H i s t r a n s l a t i o n s i n -

clude A r i s t o t l e ' s " C a t e g o r i e s " and "De I n t e r p r e t a t i o n e " , and h i s 

own o r i g i n a l work i n c l u d e d t r e a t i s e s on A r i t h m e t i c and music, 

one of which was l a t e r t r a n s l a t e d i n t o E n g l i s h by Chaucer, and 

h i s w i d e l y read " C o n s o l a t i o n of P h i l o s o p h y " . There i s no e v i d -

ence that he was a C h r i s t i a n . 

I s i d o r e of S e v i l l e (d.636), i s another of the g r e a t f i g -

ures of the e a r l y Middle Ages. He wrote an enormous encycloped-

i a c a l l e d the "Etymologies", which i n c l u d e d work on the seven 

l i b e r a l a r t s : grammar, r h e t o r i c , and l o g i c ( t r i v i u m ) , geometry, 

arithmetic,astronomy, and music (quadrivium); as w e l l as mater-

i a l on medicine,law,and theology. He b e l i e v e d that t h i n g s c o u l d 



-40-

be e x p l a i n e d simply by the etymology of t h e i r names. 

Around the C a r o l i n g i a n c o u r t , as i n the monasteries, ga-

thered men of l e t t e r s . Included among these are the monk, E g i n -

hard whose biography of Charlemagne has a l r e a d y been r e f e r r e d 

to, the teacher ,Alcuin,who brought from England (where a t t h i B 

time York was the l e a d i n g shool of the C h r i s t i a n world) the hand-

w r i t i n g which the E n g l i s h had improved by borrowing from I r i s h 

manuscript. T h i s form i s today c a l l e d the C a r o l i n g i a n m i n i s c u l e 

and was the predecessor of the type of medieval handwriting ap-

p e a r i n g at the end of the Middle Ages. 

The t y p i c a l l i t e r a t u r e of the p e r i d i s that of the "hag-

iography" or s a i n t s ' l i v e s , some of which were w r i t t e n by Greg-

ory the Great, pope from 590-604, i n h i s "Dialogues" which he 

wrote to i n s t r u c t and amuse the l a i t y . H i s "Magna M o r a l i a " was 

the fundamental work on theology s t u d i e d throughout the p e r i o d . 

The Bayeux Tapestry which dates from 1120 shows the dawn-

i n g f e u d a l s o c i e t y of t h i s e a r l i e r p e r i o d . I t i s 231 f e e t long 

and 20 inches wide and t y p i c a l l y i n a f i g h t i n g f e u d a l s o c i e t y 

snows the Norman conquest of England. T h i s e a r l y Medieval soc-

i e t y i s one of beginnings, or even of pre-beginnings, s i n c e West-

ern C u l t u r e p r o p e r l y begins w i t h the l a t e Romanesque ana G o t h i c . 

The l i f e of t h i s time with i t s t n r e e - f o l d estate-moid of n o b i l -

i t y , c l e r g y , and p e a s a n t r y , o r g a n i z e d i n t o g r e a t manors modeled on 

l a t i f u n d i a of the l a s t p e r i o d of Roman g r e a t l a n d - h o l d i n g s , was 

one of too g r e a t i n s e c u r i t y , w i t h too l i t t l e c o n t a c t of i n t e l l -

e c t u a l c u r r e n t s of one p l a c e w i t h those of anotner, to a l l o w of 

any p o l i c e d or complete a r t - f o r m s . 



-41-

In l i t e r a t u r e i t was r a t h e r a p e r i o d of legend, equiva-

l e n t c u l t u r a l l y to t h a t which i s d e s c r i b e d i n the Homeric e p i c s . 

*n the n o r t h there were the A r t h u r i a n legends, the e a r l y V i k i n g 

Eddas, the s t o r i e s of the German V a l h a l l a i n the N i e b e l u n g e n l i e d , 

and the F i n n i s h L a l v a l a . These a l l formed a m a t r i x from which l a -

t e r and more i n t e l l e c t u a l l y developed a r t s were to draw source 

m a t e r i a l . We see, at t h i s time, what Spengler d e s c r i b e s as M A 

crowd of 'art-makers* who a l l dance or mime or s i n g . . . . i t i s 

only the h i g h e r a r t that becomes d e c i s i v e l y an a r t 'before 

s p e c t a t o r s * 



Chapter Three : Western C u l t u r e and C i v i l i z a t i o n , T w e l f t h 

Century to the P r e s e n t . 



-43-

One l i n k between the Dark and Middle Ages was made by 

the Schoolmen, teachers who taught i n the monastery and Cathed-

r a l s c h o o l s . Of these the most famous e a r l y teachers were : Jo-

hannes Scotus, c a l l e d E r i g e n a because of h i s I r i s h o r i g i n , a man 

of powerful and o r i g i n a l i n t e l l e c t u a l g i f t s , whose use of the 

M e o p l a t o n i s t i d e a s shows the c o n t i n u i t y of e a r l y p h i l o s o p h i c 

thought. He d i e d between 867 and 891. The famous Gerbert of Au-

r i l l a c was born near the middle of the next century, v i s i t e d 

Spain l a t e r i n l i f e and became steeped i n the A r a b i c s c i e n c e 

s t i l l a v a i l a b l e there, wrote of i t s accumulation and was the 

f i r s t C h r i s t i a n w r i t e r to d e s c r i b e the a r a b i c numerals. In 999 

he became Pope S y l v e s t e r l l l a n d acted as a focus of encourage-

ment f o r l e a r n i n g u n t i l h i s death i n 1003. I n t e l l e c t u a l and a r t -

i s t i c s t i m u l u s was g i v e n a l s o by the three Saxon Ottos, Otto 1, 

who r u l e d from 936-973 and took over the i d e a i f not the scope 

of Charlemagne's empire and undertook a l s o to r e v i v e the C a r o l -

i n g i a n t r a d i t i o n . o f l e a r n e d c o u n c i l l o r s ; Otto 11, 973-983; and 

Otto 111,983-1002, whose Empress Theophane was the daughter of 

the Byzantine emperor Romanus 11, and brought with hear Greek a r -

t i s t s and workmen. 

Gerard of Cremona (d,1187) was the t r a n s l a t o r of A r i s t o t -

l e ' s "Organon", and of the w i d e l y i n f l u e n t i a l "Almagest'' of P t o l -

emy. H i s E n g l i s h contemporary,Adelard of Bath, i n 1116 t r a n s l a -

ted the works of E u c l i d from the A r a b i c . John of S a l i s b u r y , d . l l 8 0 

was one of the most elegant of the L a t i n i s t s c h o l a r s produced by 

the c a t h e d r a l s c h o o l of C h a r t r e s , while St.Anselm,d.ll07,was a 

P l a t o n i s t who d e r i v e d h i s p i a t o n i s m from Augustine of Hippo and 



-44-

.Boethius, and gave o n t o l o g i c a l p r o o f s of the e x i s t e n c e of God 

hased on the P l a t o n i c Ideas i n h i s "Monologium" and " P r o s l o g -

ium". One of the p o i n t s on which the Schoolmen fought most b i t -

t e r l y was t h a t of U n i v e r s a l s . Abelard of P a r i s h e l d to the the-

ory that U n i v e r s a l s e x i s t only i n the mind, the only e x t e r n a l r 

r e a l i t y being that of t h i n g s . T h i s p o s i t i o n was known as "Con-

c e p t u a l i s m " , and was combatted by St.Bernard (d.1153), who f o l -

t lows the p l a t o n i c theory. 

Hear the end of the 12th and d u r i n g the 13th c e n t u r i e s 

there appeared three i n t e l l e c t u a l g i a n t s : A l b e r t u s Magnus , 

(d. 1280), Thomas Aquinas, (d.1274) and Roger Bacon (d.1292).Al-

b e r t the Great mastered the new A r i s t o t e l i a n l e a r n i n g made a-

v a i l a b l e by h i s predecessors and succeeded i n combining i t with 

C h r i s t i a n t e a c h i n g i n a way only exceeded i n b r e a d t h by h i s s t u -

dent Aquinas. A l b e r t was not taken i n by the f o l k l o r e of the 

popular " B e a s t i a r i e s " of the time, but encouraged c r i t i c a l s t u -

dy of the n a t u r a l s c i e n c e s and drew d e f i n i t e boundaries between 

magic and s c i e n c e , s a y i n g : "The aim of the n a t u r a l s c i e n c e s 

i s not merely to accept the statements made by others, but to 

i n v e s t i g a t e the causes which are at work i n n a t u r e . " 

The sources of h i s student Thomas' work and thought show 

him to have been the most e r u d i t e o f the e r u d i t e schoolmen. But 

h i s e r u d i t i o n was not l e f t to c o l l e c t dust i n separate small 

cubby-holes i n h i s mind, but was used r a t h e r to c o n s t r u c t an en-

ormous s y n t h e s i s , "a s e v e r e l y p h i l o s o p h i c a l and t h e o l o g i c a l i n -

t e r p r e t a t i o n of the u n i v e r s e , " 9. 

9. T . G i l b e y , " P o e t i c Experience; an i n t r o d . to Thomistic A e s t h e t i c " 
'frondbn:ik She ed. &i ,C a9 34 • 



- 4 5 -

Thamas had read h i s A r i s t o t l e completely and w e l l . In 

h i s commentaries on A r i s t o t l e he used the t r a n s l a t i o n s from the 

Greek i n t o L a t i n of W i l l i a m of Moerbeke r a t h e r than the Arabian 

t r a n s l a t i o n s then a r r e n t . He used the P l a t o n i c theory of Ideas 

as i n t e r p r e t e d by Augustine. He knew the p h i l o s o p h y of Boethius, 

of the contemporary and e a r l i e r Arabian and Jewish w r i t e r s . He 

knew the s c r i p t u r e by h e a r t . He had read the church f a t h e r s . : 

Ambrose, Augustine,Jerome,John Damascene,Pseudo-Dionysius,Hilary 

of P o i t i e r s , G r e g o r y the G r e a t , I s i d o r e of S e v i l l e , S t . J o h n Chrysos-

t u m , S t . C y r i l of A l e x a n d r i a . He knew the e a r l i e r s c h o l a s t i c s :An-

selm of Canterbury,Rupert of Deutz,Bernard of C l a i r v a u x , G i l b e r t 

de l a P o r r e , Hugh and R i c h a r d of S t . V i c t o r , J o a c h i m of Flora,Ab-

e l a r d , A l a i n de L i l l e and P e t e r the Lombard whose "Pour Books of 

Sentences" c o l l e c t the o p i n i o n s of the Church F a t h e r s on C h r i s -

t i a n t e a c h i n g . Aquinas c o n s t a n t l y quotes h i s contemporaries of 

the 13th century as "quidam", a c e r t a i n one, though not a l l of 

these r e f e r e n c e s have been i d e n t i f i e d . A l s o he quotes e x t e n s i v e -

l y from Horace, O v i d , C a e s a r , C i c e r o , S e n e c a , T e r r e n c e , S a l l u s t , L i v y , 

Strabo, and V a l e r i u s Maximus. 

Thomas1 method i s sometimes t h a t of the church f a t h e r s 

i n h i s d i v i s i o n s i n t o books and chapters, sometimes t h a t of a 

s u s t a i n e d reasonimg p r o c e s s , and sometimes that r i g i d mold of 

the s c h o l a s t i c s f a s h i o n e d c h i e f l y by Alexander H a l l e s , each sub-

j e c t being d i v i d e d i n t o questions,each q u e s t i o n i n t o so many a r t -

i c l e s ; each a r t i c l e begins w i t h a statement of o b j e c t i o n s , d i s -

cusses v a r i o u s o p i n i o n s , e s t a b l i s h e s the author's position, and 

c l o s e s w i t h a s o l u t i o n of d i f f i c u l t i e s which that p o s i t i o n may en-



-46-

counter. 10. For example, the "Summa T h e o l o g i c a " i s d i v i d e d 
i n t o tnree p a r t s , 38 t r e a t i s e s , 6 3 1 questions,3000. a r t i c l e s , and 

10,000 o b j e c t i o n s . 

In c o n s i d e r i n g Thomas' s t y l e , one must, i f one knows i t 

b e s t i n t r a n s l a t i o n , make allowance f o r the i n t e r p o l a t i o n of the 

t r a n s l a t o r between the reader and the o r i g i n a l form of h i s 

thought. Thomas G i l b e y i n h i s book speaks of the"vastness of 

conception","coherence of p a r t s and i m p r e g n a b i l i t y of l o g i c " , 

and i n Thomas' v e r y words there seems to be a q u i e t c l a r i t y , a 

r e v e r b e r a t i o n . In the Thomistic synthesis, there i s c e r t a i n l y a 

v a s t n e s s of c o n c e p t i o n . Of i t s o r i g i n a l i t y Brennan has t h i s to 

say... "The f a c t i s t h a t Aquinas took the m a t e r i a l s f o r h i s sys-
tem from whatever source he could get them, so f a r as they 
l a y open to him, and what he c o n s t r u c t e d was a coherent 
e c l e c t i c i s m welded i n t o a u n i t y by the p r e s s u r e through-
out i t s d e t a i l s of a s i n g l e g r e a t r u l i n g p r i n c i p l e which 
he had won by permanent hard t h i n k i n g , and h e l d w i t h the 
c l e a r e s t consciousness of i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s . H i s t i t l e , 
t h e r e f o r e to o r i g i n a l i t y i s a r e a l one," 11. 

T h i s s i n g l e r u l i n g p r i n c i p l e Thomas s t a t e s h i m s e l f thus: 
"Nothing may be a s s e r t e d as true t h a t i s opposed t© the 

t r u t h of f a i t h , to r e v e a l e d dogma. But i t i s n e i t h e r per-
m i s s i b l e to take whatever we h o l d to be true and p r e s e n t 
i t as an a r t i c l e of f a i t h . For the t r u t h of our f a i t h be-
comes a matter of r i d i c u l e among the i n f i d e l s , i f any 
C a t h o l i c not g i f t e d w i t h the necessary s c i e n t i f i c l e a r n -
i n g , p r e s e n t s as dogma what s c i e n t i f i c s c r u t i n y shows to 
be f a l s e . " 12. 

T h i s g i g a n t i c e d i f i c e i s b u i l t on the two-fold c o n v i c -
t i o n that..."Our thought can know and a t t a i n being, the realm 

of the essences, causes, purposes and laws, t h a t l i e be-
yond the world of appearances...a c o n v i c t i o n of the r e a l -
i t y and k n o w a b i l i t y of the supersensory orders...and end-
l e s s h o r i z o n of the s u p e r n a t u r a l , of the C h r i s t i a n myster-
i e s r e v e a l e d by God, en h o r i z o n that i s even here on 
e a r t h opened to man by means of the l i g h t of f a i t h " , and 

13 

the second h a l f of t h i s c o n v i c t i o n i s the o b j e c t i v e nature of 

knowledge, based as i t i s on the sensory experience of human be-



-47-

i n g s . Thomas h i m s e l f says..."That of which we are p r i m a r i l y 
aware i s the e x t e r n a l o b j e c t , of which the s p e c i e s i s 
the mental s i g n . Only s e c o n d a r i l y can we speak of the . 
i n t e l l i g i b l e s p e c i e s as a content of thought, i n so f a r 
e,s the mind i s r C L e x l y a c t i v e and contemplates i t s own 
a c t i v i t y , and thus a l s o the s p e c i e s , as the p r i n c i p l e 
of t h i s a c t i v i t y " . 14 e 

But though he g i v e s us an o b j e c t i v e l y r e a l r e a l i t y as 
the b a s i s of our conceptual knowledge Aquinas s t i l l assumes a 
s u b j e c t i v e c h a r a c t e r f o r human thought..."That which we d e s i g -

nate by names can be d i v i d e d i n t o three G l a s s e s . The 
f i r s t c l a s s comprises those t h i n g s that are o u t s i d e the 
mind i n t h e i r e n t i r e being (e.g. stone, man)...the sec-
ond c l a s s i s formed of the t h i n g s that e x i s t only i n our 
mind , as dreams, images o f chimera,etc...To the t h i r d 
c l a s s belong those t h i n g s that have a f o u n d a t i o n i n the 
r e a l i t y o u t s i d e the mind, but r e c e i v e t h e i r own formal 
c h a r a c t e r from the a c t i v i t y of the mind. Such are the 
g e n e r a l concepts," 15. 

Thomas d e f i n e s b e i n g as e x i s t i n g , and a f f i r m s the r e a l -

i t y of o b j e c t s i n the external world which we know through the 

operation of the senses and our reason, but the realm of the 

s u p e r n a t u r a l i s known to us only through r e v e l a t i o n and f a i t h , 

Aquinas upheld the harmony between reason and f a i t h a g a i n s t the 

A v e r r o i s t i c heresy s t a r t e d by Averroes of Cordova (d.1198) who 

claimed there c o u l d be no p e r s o n a l i m m o r t a l i t y , as the i n d i v i d -

u a l s o u l was a m a t e r i a l t h i n g , and consequently there could 

only be c o l l e c t i v e immortsliiy through the c o n t i n u i n g race of man 

as a whole; Averroes h e l d a l s o that there might be 'double 

t r u t h 1 , whereby a statement c o u l d be p h i l o s o p h i c a l l y true and y e t 

f a l s e from the standpoint of f a i t h , or v i c e v e r s a , Thomas con-

tended t h a t f a i t h which was s u p r a - r a t i o n a l cannot be proved or 

d i s p r o v e d by reason, but i s true because i t comes from the h i g h -
10. E.Pace,"Thomas Aquinas",vol.2 of " L i b r a r y of World's Best L i t " 
11. R.E.Brennan,"General Psych.".N.Y.Macmillans,1937,pps.13-4. 
12. Thomas Aquinas "De P o t e n t i a " , w r i t t e n 1260-1268. 
13. Brennan,op.cit., 
14. Aquinas,"Summa Theologica",I,q.85,a.2. 



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e s t t r u t h , God, and i s not a g a i n s t reason, s i n c e i t cannot be 

f a l s e . G i l s o n c h a r a c t e r i z e s h i s thought i n these words... 
"His thought, t h e r e f o r e , does not aim a t a c h i e v i n g as 
e c o n o m i c a l l y as p o s s i b l e a s u p e r f i c i a l harmony wherein 
the d o c t r i n e s most e a s i l y r e c o n c i l a b l e w i t h the t r a d i -
t i o n a l t e a c h i n g of theology may f i n d room, but he i n s i s t s 
that Reason should develop i t s own content i n f u l l l i b -
e r t y and should set out i t s demands i n t h e i r utmost 
s t r i n g e n c y ; the value of h i s p h i l o s p h y does not l i e i n 
the f a c t t h a t i t i s C h r i s t i a n but t h a t i t i s t r u e . . I n 
t h i s l i e s the whole s e c r e t of Thomism, i n the immense 
e f f o r t of i n t e l l e c t u a l honesty to r e c o n s t r u c t p h i l o s p h y 
on a p l a n which e x h i b i t s the de f a c t o accord o w i t h 
theology as the necessary consequence of the demands of 
Reason i t s e l f , and as the a c c i d e n t a l r e s u l t of a mere 
wish f o r r e c o n c i l i a t i o n . " 16~ 

The t h i r d great i n t e l l e c t of the 13th century i s that of 
Roger Bacon who, as Aquinas and A l b e r t u s Magnus, a t t a c k e d the 

i d e a of s l a v i s h acceptance of a u t h o r i t y , which he d e c l a r e d to 

be a stumbling-block i n s c i e n c e , f o r s c i e n c e can o n l y be a t t a c k -

ed p r o f i t a b l y from the p o i n t of view of i n d u c t i o n from observ-

a t i o n , which he o u t l i n e s i n h i s "Opus Majus". 

D u r i n g the next two c e n t u r i e s , the 14th and 15th, the 

p r a c t i c e of S c h o l a s t i c i s m g r a d u a l l y d e c l i n e d , though i t s i n t e l l -

e c t u a l mold was not completely broken then, and was not outgrown 

u n t i l D e s c a r t e s ( 1 6 5 0 ) . With Duns Scotus and W i l l i a m of Ockham 

we see i t b e g i n n i n g to doubt.•William accepted the p o s i t i o n of 

Abelard's "Conceptualism" - only i n d i v i d u a l t n i n g s ( r e s ) e x i s t , 

and g e n e r a l concepts ( u n i v e r s a l i a ) are only formed i n the mind 

and, being s u j e c t i v e pnenomena, have no e x i s t e n c e out of the mind. 

15. Thomas, I Sent. d. 19. q. 5, a. 1. 
16, E.Gilson,"The P h i l . o f St.Thomas Aquinas", quoted i n Grab-

Mann's "Thomas Aquinas",pps. 8 9 - 9 0 , 



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The i d e a of i m m o r t a l i t y was a l s o c h a l l e n g e d "by Averroes as has 

been mentioned, and i n a d d i t i o n to these doubts there arose a 

new m y s t i c a l pantheism which not only saw God i n a l l t h i n g s , b u t 

a l s o averred t h a t God was, a l l t h i n g s . The German m y s t i c s , Meis-

t e r Eckhart (d.1327) and Thomas a Kempis (d.1471) saw man's su-

preme happiness i n h i s u n i f i c a t i o n with God, which the l a t t e r 

wrote about g l o w i n g l y i n a book much used bu the church, "The 

I m i t a t i o n of C h r i s t " . 

But the drama of s a l v a t i o n of man's immortal s o u l was the 

u n i f y i n g p r i n c i p l e v i s i b l e i n a l l medieval thought. As Thomas 

Aquinas taught, the t r u t h of r e l i g i o n could not be d i s c r e d i -

ted by the t r u t h of s c i e n c e or p h i l o s o p h y s i n c e i n e v e r y t h i n g 

was v i s i b l e t h i s u n i t y of purpose, the attainment of t r u t h . 

T h i s u n i t y of purpose i s the s t r i k i n g t r a i t i n a l l the 

a r t - o b j e c t s l e f t from t h i s p e r i o d , as i t i s the most c h a r a c t e r -

i s t i c mental a t t i t u d e of the w r i t i n g of the age, and whether 

with Spengler, you c a l l t h i s p r i n c i p l e one of D e s t i n y , or with -

the more orthodox h i s t o r i a n s of c u l t u r e , one of r e l i g i o u s u n i t y 

of purpose, i t i s the main i d e a with which one shoufi. approach 

the p e r i o d from the 12th century onwards, when the d i s o r d e r of 

the e a r l y f e u d a l p e r i o d (850-1000) was over, and the growth of 

p o p u l a t i o n i n g e n e r a l , and s p e c i f i c a l l y the growth of urban 

p o p u l a t i o n , had focussed the d i s c o v e r y of Greek s c i e n c e and 

philosophy, and the r e v i v a l of the study of Roman law , on the 

complete e n u n c i a t i o n of a new and d i f f e r e n t way of t h i n k i n g and 

l i v i n g . 

Before going on to t a l k i n d e t a i l of the development of 



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v a r i o u s a r t e through the stages of western c u l t u r e to the p r e s -

ent, I would l i k e to supply here f o r r e f e r e n c e a c h a r t showing 

the "sequence of hlooming of the main a r t s i n (some) g r e a t 

c u l t u r e s " taken from Sorokin's " S o c i a l Dynamics". The scores 

w i l l semm a r b i t r a r y , as they ignore the p a r a l l e l development i n 

a l l the a r t s i n p e r i o d s of c u l t u r a l r i c h e s s e . But i n a survey 

of the stages through which.the v a r i o u s a r t s pass from the 

p o i n t of view of content, Sorokin has a more v a l u a b l e s c a l e of 

h i s own, as i s e x e m p l i f i e d i n the l a t e r q u o t a t i o n g i v i n g h i s 

c r i t i q u e of c u l t u r a l f l u c t u a t i o n of form i n music.( Note 18.) 

1 Greece 
Music 750-600 B.C. 
L i t e r a t u r e . 5 2 4 - 4 5 0 
Architecture,500-430 
Sculpture..450-350 
Painting...430-350 

Rome 
L i t e r a t u r e . . . 8 6 - 2 5 B.C. 
S c u l p t u r e . . . . 30-69A.D. 
P a i n t i n g 50-108 
Architecture.60-138 
Music 466-495 

Germany: 
Architecture..1130-1250A.D. 
S c u l p t u r e 1400-1500 
P a i n t i n g 1491-1559 
Music 1720-1880 
Literature....1756-1850 

-England 
Architecture..1272-1377 
Literature....1573-1618 
Music 1600-1675 
P a i n t i n g 1717-1763 
S c u l p t u r e 1758-1787 

I t a l y 
Literature..1290-1333 A.D. 
Architecture.1444-1564 
P a i n t i n g 1472-1548 
Music 1560-1800 
Sculpture....1500-1600 

France 
Architecture..1150-1350 
S c u l p t u r e 1200-1250 
Music ....1652-1700 
P a i n t i n g 1760-1853 
Literature....177931895." 

17. 

"The movement of medieval and modern music cam be char-
a c t e r i z e d from the satndpoin& of forms d i s c u s s e d as f o l l o w s : 

(1) On the highway of .the g r e a t music, the medieval music 
d u r i n g almost nine hundred y e a r s ( from about the f i f t h cen-
t u r y A.D. to the f o u r t e e n t h ) was e i t h e r e x c l u s i v e l y Idea-
t i o n a l , or (from the 12th to the 14th) predominantly so. 

(2) The I d e a t i o n a l i t y of t h i s music was of the p u r e s t 
and most sublime. 

17.Sorokin , o p . c i t . , V o l . 1 " F l u e t u a t i o n s of Forms of Art",1937, 
American Book Co. 



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(3) Up to the end of the 11th century, I d e a t i o n a l music 
was almost the only grand music e x i s t i n g ; a f t e r the end of 
that century there appeared the f i r s t s i g n s of the mixture 
w i t h Sensate, i n the music of the troubadours,trouveres,and 
minnesanger, and other forms of s e c u l a r music, which had ac-
q u i r e d many t r a i t s of the Sensate. A f t e r that t i m e , t h i s 
stream of Sensate music - not without f l u c t u a t i o n s - tended 
to i n c r e a s e , i n the form of s e c u l a r motets,madrigals, and 
l a t e r on, i n the 'ars nova', and then i n that of the sym-
phonies, operas,musical comedies, and so on. The growing sen-
s a t i z a t i o n of music manifested i t s e l f i n the Sensate mus-
i c a l m e n t a l i t y , i n the r a p i d i n c r e a s e of Sensate m u s i c , i n 
i t s t e c h n i c a l forms, i n i t s themes, i n the occasions f o r 
which i t was w r i t t e n , i n the s o c i a l events which i t immor-
t a l i z e d . In b r i e f , i n the i n n e r nature as w e l l as i n the 
e x t e r n a l t r a i t s . 
(4) In c o n t r a d i s t i n c t i o n to some other forms of a r t , e s p -

e c i a l l y p a i n t i n g and s c u l p t u r e , w h i c h a t t a i n e d the marvellous 
I d e a l i s t i c phase i n the 13 and 14th c e n t u r i e s , music seems 
to have reached the I d e a l i s t i c stage somewhat l a t e r : a r o u n d 
the 16th and lttth.and p a r t l y i n the 18th ( P a l e s t r i n a , V i t t o r -
ia,Bach,Handel,Mozart,and Beethoven) when these forms were 
w o n d e r f u l l y blended i n r e s u l t e d i n the m i r a c l e of t h i s music. 
(5) A f t e r the b e g i n n i n g of the 19th C. the Sensate begins 

to dominate more and more r a d i c a l l y . In the music of Wagner 
and other Romantics, i t p o s s i b l y reached i t s peak. A f t e r t h a t 
and e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r the end of the 19th G. I t began to show 
a l l the s i g n s of d i s o r g a n i z a t i o n , d e m o r a l i z a t i o n , a n d degener-
a t i o n which has been c o n t i n u i n g up to the present t i m e . I t 
witnesses on the one hand an u t t e r d e g r a d a t i o n , v u l g a r i z a t i o n , 
" j a z z i n g " , and m o d e r n i s t i c - i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c m u s i c a l anarchy 
and i m p o t e n c y * ( i n s p i t e of the g i g a n t i c s k i l l and t e c h n i c a l 
complexity of many modern compositions); and on the other 
hand, i t e x h i b i t s the f i r s t s i g n s of the e f f o r t s to seek 
new,anti-Sensate forms of music. Thus s c h e m a t i c a l l y : 

(a) The p e r i o d from the f i f t h to the t w e l f t h C. i s t h a t 
of the m o n o p o l i s t i c domination of the pure sublime I d e a t i o n -
a l music;(b) the p e r i o d from the 12th to the 15th C. i s the 
time of the entrance of Sensate music,but s t i l l d e f i n i t e l y 
i n the secondary p l a c e ; ( c ) the p e r i o d of the end of the 15th 
to the b e g i n n i n g of the 19th C. was that of balance, of the 
I d e a t i o n a l arid Sensate music; (d) the 19th C. i s the p e r i o d 
of d e c i s i v e domination of Sensate music, and the c l o s e r we 
come to tfe§ 2oth. C. the s t r o n g e r i t becomes; (e) the pres-
ent age i s showing the f i r s t symptoms of r e c e s s i o n of Sensate 
m u s i c . . T h i s r e a c t i o n a g a i n s t Sensate music i s v e r y s i m i l a r 
to that a g a i n s t V i s u a l i s m i n p a i n t i n g , s c u l p t u r e and a r c h i -
t e c t u r e . " 18. 

Sorokin goes on to s u b s t a n t i a t e these statements by con-

s i d e r i n g i n d i v i d u a l works of m u s i c a l a r t w i t h i n each of these 

18.Sorokin,op.cit.,pps.567-569. 



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p e r i o d s : (a) Church chants, the Amhrosian, then the Gregorian, 

then r e l i g i o u s hymns and psalmodies. Of these the most widely 

known today are the Gregorian chants, which c o n s i s t of ahout 300 

I n t r o i t s and Communions , one hundred Graduals, one hundred A l -

l e l u i a s , twenty T r a c t s , and one hundred O f f e r t o r i e s , i n which we 

can s t i l l hear the church i d e a l of o t h e r w o r l d l i n e s s , i n the l a c k 

of i n s t r u m e n t a l or t e c h n i c a l adornment. 

For (h) Sorokin c i t e s the appearance of the songs of the 

troubadours and t r o u v e r e s , and i n Germany, of the minnesanger. 

T h i s music though based on f o l k legends, i s not f o l k - m u s i c , l a c k -

i n g i t s i n t e l l e c t u a l s i m p l i c i t y . T h i s music was s t i l l h i g h l y sym-

b o l i c b u t the complex and sensuously p l e a s i n g form and the s u b j e c t 

of p h y s i c a l and Romantic beauty and l o v e was new and s e c u l a r , 

though the m u s i c a l form employed was s t i l l v e r y s i m i l a r to the 

Ohants , i n the Chansons d ' h i s t o i r e , d r a m a t i q u e , d e danee; i n the 

r e v e r i e , the p a s t o r e l l e , i n the chansons c o u r t o i s e s , and debats. 

The i d e a l of p h y s i c a l l o v e and beauty which entered west-

ern a r t as a major m o t i v a t i n g f o r c e i n a r t f o r the f i r s t time 

w i t h the appearance of the P r o v e n c a l b a l l a d s has never s i n c e 

completely l e f t i t , and i n aany m o d i f i e d forms remains as one 

of the most important m o t i v a t i n g f o r c e s i n a r t - e x p r e s s i o n today. 

Not o n l y music i t s e l f showed t h i s change i n emphasis 

. . . b u t the t h e o r i z e r s , the w r i t e r s of m u s i c a l a e s t h e t i c s , a l s o 

i n d i c a t e d t h i s s h i f t . The medieval t h e o r e t i c i a n s had f o l l o w e d 

the l i n e of B o e t h i u s , whereas those of the next p e r i o d : Guido 

d'Arezzo(ca.1005),Walter Odington of Oxford,Adam de l a H a l l e , 

(1240-1287) a l l show the new a t t e n t i o n to m u s i c a l d e t a i l of form 



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,to make i t r i c h e r and more sensuously pleasing.The t e c h n i c a l 

changes of the s h i f t i n emphasis are noted by Sorokin to be : 

" A f t e r the 13th C. i t becomes 'measured',quite a symbolic 
phenomena i n i t s s i g n i f i c a n c e ; i t developed polyphony; i t 
produced and developed c o u n t e r p o i n t , . t h e 15th C. being the 
'golden age'; i t i n t r o d u c e d and c u l t i v a t e d the r i c h e s t var-
i e t y of rhythms; then developed harmony and ' v e r t i c a l ' w r i t -
i n g i n s t e a d of h o r i z o n t a l ; began a r t i s t i c a l l y to use i n t e n s -
i t y - piano, f o r t e , e t c . ; achieved wonderful p e r f e c t i o n i n 
the use of chromatics, consonances, dissonances; tended to 
become more and more e x p r e s s i v e ; i n t r o d u c e d and expanded 
and p e r f e c t e d i n s t r u m e n t a l music, and blended i t w i t h v o c a l ; 
enlarged the s c a l e of the choruses as w e l l as that of the 
o r c h e s t r a ; combined the sound impression w i t h the v i s u a l 
i n form,colour,and motion...The trend was g e n e r a l f o r Eur-
opean c u l t u r e . " 19. 

In SorQfei'Rt-s s e c t i o n (c) s e c u l a r i z a t i o n had proceeded 

so f a r as to be a c t u a l l y a f f e c t i n g cnurch music i t s e l f , which 

was becoming i n c r e a s i n g l y i n s t r u m e n t a l l y and t e c h n i c a l l y d e v e l -

oped, u s i n g Sorokin's t e r m , i n c r e a s i n g l y 'Sensate 1 . Examples i t 

i s p o s s i b l e to l i s t f o r t h i s are numerous S Johann S e b a s t i a n 

Bach's "Mass",, a St.Matthew Passion","St.John P a s s i o n " ; P a l e s t r i -

na's "Masses"; Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis",Mozart*s "Requiem 

Mass", B e r l i o z 1 "Tuba Mirum". In l i n e w i t h t h i s f a c t i s the other 

that Bach,Mozart,Handel and Beethoven, to name the g r e a t e s t , u s e d 

s i m i l a r themes and techniques i n t h e i r r e l i g i o u s and s e c u l a r 

music. The i n c r e a s i n g l y ornate and t h e a t r i c a l music of s e c t i o n ( d ) 

f o l l o w i n g on t h i s , i s shown i n the works of Wagner, e s p e c i a l l y 

i n the dramatic use he made of the legend of the •Niebelungen-

l i e d " . I n t h i s p e r i o d developed a l s o what Sorokin c a l l s 'quanti-

t a t i v e c o l o s s a l i s m ' , shown i n the g r a d u a l i n c r e a s e i n the s i z e 

of i n s t r u m e n t a l groups employed..."Prom seven s i n g e r s i n the 

19,Sorokin, op.cit.,pps.572-3 • 



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Gregorian chants of the Gregorian 'Schola', from f o u r and 
twenty f o r P a l e s t r i n a ' s music, from some t h i r t y to s i x t y 
instruments i n the r e g u l a r o r c h e s t r a s of Bach and Mozart, 
the o r c h e s t r a s of the 19th and 20th C. have c e r t a i n l y 
grown to be c o l o s s a l " . 21. being normally from one hun-

dred to one hundred and twenty i n s i z e . T h i s same trend towards 
extremity i n s i z e i s matched i n one of e x t r e m i t y i n the t e c h n i -
c a l l y complex texture of the music, f o r example, i n S t r a v i n s k y ' s 
"Sacre du Printemps", i n Schoenberg's " G u r r e l i e d e r " , or S t r a u s s ' 
" S i n f o n i a Domestica"; and a l s o i s matched by the g r a d u a l l y grow-
complexity and e m o t i o n a l i t y of the ' p l o t ' m a t e r i a l f o r comic and 
'genre' music, i n opera and m u s i c a l comedy, and i n the impression-
i s t i c music of Debussy. F i n a l l y , i n the p e r i o d of today, s e c t i o n 
( e ) , there i B a rupture w i t h the v a l u e s of Sensate a r t i n the re-
a c t i o n toward I d e a t i o n a l music of such men as Honegger and other 
'Cubists i n music', 

A s i m i l a r development of the other a r t s , e x h i b i t i n g these 

phases of (a) church or r e l i g i o u s domination i n theme and form; 

(b) of g r a d u a l l y growing s e c u l a r i z a t i o n i n both; 

(c) of a harmony e s t a b l i s h e d at d i f f e r e n t times i n the 

d i f f e r e n t a r t s between the two f o r c e s ; and f i n a l l y , showing the 

(d) almost completely s e c u l a r a r t of the present, w i l l 

now be undertaken, i n the order f o r each p e r i o d : A r c h i t e c t u r e , 

S c u l p t u r e , P a i n t i n g , L i t e r a t u r e . I t i s needless, perhaps, to 

p o i n t out that we do not f o l l o w h e r e , e x a c t l y , t h e Sorokin s c a l e of 

change, and that i * i s used r a t h e r t o suggest the whole flow of 

change through t h i s l o n g p e r i o d . The changes to be noted i n terms 

other than h i s w i l l be commented on from time to time, pointing-

out the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of such change i n terms of the p o i n t of 

view t h i s t h e s i s has been attempting to e s t a b l i s h . 

21.Sorokin, op. c i t . , pps.583„ 



-55-

The e a r l i e s t form of church a r c h i t e c t u r e , borrowing from 

the Roman b a s i l i c a s , was c a l l e d Romanesque, and Churches i n t h i s 

s t y l e were c o n s t r u c t e d between 1000 and 1200 A.D. , among the 

most famous of which s t i l l extant are the C a t h e d r a l of P i s a , 

completed i n 1093, end the Abbey Church of Cluny, consecrated 

i n 1131. 

The former of these, that at P i s a , d i s p l a y s the t y p i c a l 

r e c t a n g u l a r form w i t h a nave and double a i s l e s . A f l a t wooden 

c e i l i n g covers the nave, but on account of the dangers of f i r e 

the a i s l e s are covered only by stone v a u l t i n g , and there i s a 

low dome where the nave and t r a n s e p t s meet. The nave i s f l a n k e d 

by two rows of 34 columns each, and from these s p r i n g round a r c h -

es c o n s t r u c t e d on the a r c of the h a l f - c i r c l e which h e l p bear up 

the heavy masonry s u p p o r t i n g the r o o f of the c e n t r a l p a r t . A 

B e l l Tower s t a n d i n g s l i g h t l y behind the church sagged i n time 

and has become known as the ' l e a n i n g tower' of P i s a . 

The Abbey at Cluny was i n f l u e n t i a l , s i n c e the order com-

p r i s e d an e x t e n s i v e group of monasteries, and helped promote 

c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t y . The church was l a r g e , w i t h the u s u a l nave,dou-

b l e a i s l e s and t r a n s e p t s , w i t h an ambulatory around the c h o i r 

and apse, and i t boasted a spacious a t r i u m . Over i t s main cross-

i n g there was a quadrangular tower. 

The use of r i b b e d v a u l t i n g made i t ... ̂ Possible to r e s t the 

heavy r o o f on c e r t a i n p o r t i o n s of the w a l l s where there were 

c l u s t e r s of columns, and i n the l a t e r Romanesque churches i t was 

thus p o s s i b l e to d i s c a r d the t i n y s l i t - l i k e windows, and have 

wide windows i n - t h e c l e r e s t o r y and i n the s i d e w a l l s of the a i s l e s . 



-56-
Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e d e r i v e s from t h i s Romanesque s t y l e , chan-

g i n g the a r c h from the arc of the h a l f - c i r c l e to the t y p i c a l 

p o i n t e d one, which enabled a r c h i t e c t s to l i g h t e n the weight of 

the roof, s i n c e on the p r e v i o u s h a l f - c i r c l e p r i n c i p l e there was 

a f i x e d r e l a t i o n always between the h e i g h t of the r o o f and the 

d i s t a n c e between the w a l l s . 

The Gothic s t y l e a l s o used the r i b b e d v a u l t i n g employed by 

the l a t e Romanesque, which w i t h the p o i n t e d a r c h and the use of 

columns p e r m i t t e d the r a i s i n g of the r o o f to a very g r e a t h e i g h t 

i n c r e a s i n g |he h e i g h t of the d e r e s t o r y . The use of a group of 

columns or p i l a s t e r s to support the r o o f l e f t the w a l l s a v a i l -

able f o r d e c o r a t i v e use i n windows of g r e a t beauty which f l o o d -

ed the c e n t r a l p o r t i o n of the church and the nave w i t h l i g h t . 

There are b u i l d i n g s extant which combine the f e a t u r e s of the 

two p e r i o d s , f o r example the B e n e d i c t i n e abbey church of St.Den-

i s n o r t h of P a r i s , which s t i l l uses the round arches i n the f a -

cade. C a t h e d r a l s a l s o belong to t h i s t r a n s i t i o n a l p e r i o d , those 

at Noyon,Chartres,Senlis b e i n g examples, w i t h the t r a n s i t i o n be-

coming g r a d u a l l y more completely to Gothic by the year 1 2 0 0 . The 

d i s p e r s i o n of t h i s type of architecture was f a c i l i t a t e d by the 

f a c t t h a t many orders of monks had head houses i n Prance and 

c a r r i e d the ideas to t h e i r l o c a l chapters, the C i s t e r c i a n s esp-

e c i a l l y . But i n each country the s t y l e developed i t s own unique 

f e a t u r e s , the E n g l i s h having t h e i r s set i n lawns,with a s p i r e 

r i s i n g from a c e n t r a l c r o s s i n g , a n d massive towers as p a r t of the 

facade; the Flemish being c o n s t r u c t e d of b r i c k r a t h e r than the 

usual limestone; the I l a l i a n having a superabundance of decor-

a t i o n (ex. the c a t h e d r a l at M i l a n ) ; the Spanish producing another 



- 5 7 - . 

unique v a r i a t i o n "by merging the Gothic w i t h the l o c a l Moorish ; 

the Germans f o l l o w i n g the French most c l o s e l y (ex. the C a t h e d r a l 

at Strasbourg, and the e a r l i e s t p a r t s of Cologne). 

Gothic a r c h i t e c t u r e ( s o - c a l l e d because c r i t i c s p r e f e r r e d the 

b u i l d i n g s of the Greco-Roman p e r i o d and wished to d i s d a i n the 

values of what they considered e a r l y b a r b a r i a n or " G o t h i c " a r t ) 

i s s t i l l v i s i b l e i n many f i n e p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s : the town h a l l 

a t Ypres, c a s t l e s l i k e those at Ghent and Venice, and others 

s c a t t e r e d over every country of Europe, and i n many p r i v a t e dwell-

ings l i k e those l i n i n g whole s t r e e t s of Bruges today. 

Gothic as a s t y l e i s a l s o v i s i b l e i n the d e c o r a t i v e s c u l p -

ture and p a i n t i n g f o r the b u i l d i n g s Q>t t h i s p e r i o d . 

During the Romanesque p e r i o d the c a t h e d r a l d e c o r a t i o n s i n the 

form of s c u l p t u r e d f i g u r e s were not l i f e l i k e , being done u s u a l l y 

without models, from memory or from other examples. But with Go-

t h i c , s c u l p t u r e was used c r e a t i v e l y as the p r i n c i p l e s of a r c h i t e c -

ture had a l s o been. A p u r e l y d e c o r a t i v e use of n a t u r a l i s t i c forms 

i s found i n t h e i r b e s t work, and though the f i g u r e s seem r a t h e r 

s t i f f they were done to stand i n n i c h e s and to harmonize w i t h the 

predominantly l i n e a r l i n e s of the b u i l d i n g . The treatment of the 

p r o p o r t i o n s , muscles, and f e a t u r e s i s g i v e n a v e r y l i f e l i k e ren-

d i t i o n . T h i s treatment i n f l u e n c e d the s c u l p t u r e of I t a l y , i n the 

work of N i c c o l a and Giovanni Pisano (dl328) who carved p a n e l s f o r 

the p u l p i t s of the c a t h e d r a l s of P i s a and Sienna; and i n the pa-

n e l s of G i o t t o f o r the campanile or b e l l - t o w e r of the c a t h e d r a l 

of Plorence, the Church of St.Mary of the Flower; and i n the 

s c u l p t u r e on the bronze doors of the B a p t i s t r y of San Giovanni 

i n f r o n t of the C a t h e d r a l of F l o r e n c e done by Andrea P i s a n o . 



- 5 8 -
Painting at t h i s period was also r e l i g i o u s i n inspiration,the 

f i r s t a r t i s t s of n o r t h e r n Europe to make any p e r s o n a l l y noteworthy 

advance "being the F l e m i s h b r o t h e r s , Jan and Hubertus van E y c k ( d # 

ca.1440) who made m i n i a t u r e s i n books, g r a d u a l l y extending the 

s i z e of t h i l l u m i n a t i o n s u n t i l they crowded the t e x t o f f the page 

and i n t h i s we see the beginning of an independent form of p a i n t -

i n g apart from m a n u s c r i p t s . T h e i r works i n o i l s are the f i r s t 

s u c c e s s f u l use of t h i s medium, e s p e c i a l l y so i n the a l t a r p i e c e , 

"The M y s t i c Lamb'', preserved i n the C a t h e d r a l of Ghent. A l s o i n 

the p a i n t i n g s of donors of r e l i g i o u s groups there begins a secu-

l a r a r t of p a i n t i n g , of which Jan van Eyck's "Marriage of John 

A r n o l f i n i " i s a f i n e example.Continuing t h i s l i n e of Plemish 

a r t i s t s were Rogier van der Weyden (d.1464) and Hans Memling(d 

1494), the l a s t of the group, 

I t a l i a n p a i n t i n g i n t h i s e a r l y p e r i o d was more i n f l u e n c e d by 

the Greek p a i n t e r s who had come from Byzantium than by the more 

p r o g r e s s i v e Gothic s p i r i t . o f F l a n d e r s . F l o r e n c e took the l e a d i n 

a development from t h i s , c o m b i n i n g w i t h the Gothic s p i r i t , f i r s t , 

n o t i c e a b l e i n the work of Cimabue (d.1302 ?) and i n t h a t of h i s 

p u p i l , G i o t t o ( d . 1 3 3 6 ) . In these p a i n t i n g s though the technique 

s t i l l shows the i n f l u e n c e of the mosaic i n the r i g i d i t y of l i n e , 

the composition and d e t a i l s of the f i g u r e s are more n a t u r a l i s t i c , 

Cimabue*s " V i r g i n Enthroned" i n the U f f i z i , and the G i o t t o f r e s -

coes on the l i f e of S t , F r a n c i s , at A s s i s s i , and i n the B a r d i cha-

p e l i n the church of Santa Croce i n F l o r e n c e , and those on tne 

l i v e s of the B l e s s e d V i r g i n and Jesus i n the Arena Chapel of the 

C a t h e d r a l at Padua, are the g r e a t works of t h i s p e r i o d . 



The e a r l i e s t medieval. l i t e r a t u r e WS§ i n f l u e n c e d , b y fche L a t -

i n , and indeed a g r e a t p a r t of i t , e s p e c i a l l y the r e l i g i o u s and 

p h i l o s o p h i c a l . t r e a t i s e s , were w r i t t e n i n L a t i n , hut with the 11th 

century there was f e l t a wave of l e g e n d - i n s p i r e d a c t i v i t y , r e s u l t -

i n g i n l i t e r a t u r e w r i t t e n i n the language spoken l o c a l l y . In 

France, the chansons de geste, mentioned i n the s e c t i o n on mus-

i c , show the great new i n t e r e s t i n s e c u l a r n a r r a t i v e , u s i n g the i -

d e a l s of a f e u d a l f i g h t i n g s o c i e t y . The most famous, "The Song 

of Roland", was w r i t t e n j u s t a f t e r the f i r s t Crusade,(1096-1099), 

and t e l l s the t a l e of Charlemagne .Is attempt to g a i n Spain away 

from the fflohammedansH, of h i s eventual peace with M a r s i l e , K i n g 

of Saragossa,and of the treacherous Ganelon who p l o t s Roland's 

d e s t r u c t i o n when he i s l e f t by Charlemagne to command the r e a r -

guard as he leaves Spain. I t concludes w i t h the a t t a c k on Roland 

at R o n c e v a l l e s . In the b a t t l e the v i r t u e s of courage and l o y a l -

t y are descanted u p o n , e s p e c i a l l y l o y a l t y to one's f e u d a l l o r d , i n 

t h i s case the K i n g . . . "Man f o r h i s l o r d should s u f f e r g r e a t d i s -
ease 

Most b i t t e r c o l d endure and burning heat, 
H i s h a i r and s k i n should o f f e r up at n e e d 8 

The Gothic s p i r i t of d e v o t i o n , a l r e a d y commented upon, i s here 

expressed i n more s e c u l a r terms, as w e l l as i n the "Lay of the 

C i d " w r i t t e n i n Spain about 1140. 

With the 12th C. appears a new type of l i t e r a t u r e . The l a y s 

of the troubadours of Provence i n t r o d u c e a new theme i n to the 

l i t e r a t u r e of western Europe, one s t i l l w i d e l y p r e v a l e n t i n i t s 

use today, t h a t of Romantic Love. In t h i s p e r i o d the theme i s i d -

e a l i z e d i n the person on the "Lady" f o r whom the k n i g h t perform-

ed h i s k n i g h t l y duty, d e d i c a t i n g i t a l l to her, 
2 2 ' C . . K . S c o t t - M o n c r i e f f , "The Song of K O I a n d c h a p m a n & Hall,London, 

l i n e s 1136-1138. 



- 6 0 -
The l y r i c s w r i t t e n i n t h i s v e i n by the troubadours i n f l u e n c e d 

the c o u r t l y romances which were beginning to be w r i t t e n , u s i n g 

the legends of Arthur, those of Troy, and others w r i t t e n on 

these as models. C h r e t i e n de Troyes' " E r i e and E n i d e " , " Y v a i n " , 

and " L a n c e l o t " are the f i r s t of these u s i n g the conventions of 

• C o u r t l y Love 1 : love i n s p i r e d by the g r e a t p h y s i c a l beauty of 

the l a d y who a c c o r d i n g to the convention i s always m a r r i e d to 

someone e l s e , the earnest p r o t e s t a t i o n s of l o v e and d e s i r e to 

serve the l a d y , h e r acceptance of the d e v o t i o n and her t e s t i n g of 

the k n i g h t ' s l o y a l t y , and f i n a l l y her i n t i m a t e acceptance of the 

k n i g h t as her l o v e r . These conventions are based p a r t l y on the 

s e r i o u s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of Ovid's c y n i c a l advice to l o v e r s i n 

h i s "Ars Amatoris". There are however a p p r e c i a b l e d i f f e r e n c e s 

i n the conventions he s e t s out and those employed by the w r i t e r s 

of the C o u r t l y Komances, and these d i f f e r e n c e s are important as 

they show the c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p of l i t e r a t u r e to l i f e . Ovid's 

d e s c r i p t i o n of l o v e i s as a degrading p a s s i o n , and h i s conven-

t i o n a l i z i n g the techniques of h a n d l i n g the s i t u a t i o n was a meth-

od of s a t i r e , whereas the w r i t e r s of the medieval romances h e l d 

l o v e to be an ennobling emotion,and the s e r v i c e to the l a d y en-

j o i n e d on the l o v e r the v i r t u e s of l o y a l t y and c h i v a l t y . 

The g r e a t w r i t e r s of t h i s p e r i o d are B o c c a c c i o and Dante i n 

I t a l y , and Chaucer and Langland i n England. There are others 

but to these f o u r a t t e n t i o n i s c a l l e d as i l l u s t r a t i v e of the 

t y p i c a l romance, and as i l l u s t r a t i v e of the new concept of i n d i v -

i d u a l i t y , with l i t e r a t u r e l e a v i n g the stage of legendary e p i c , 

and speculating on the p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e a l i t i e s of p e r s o n a l i t y 

and bases of conduct. 



- 6 1 -
B o c c a c c i o ' s " I I F i l o s t r a t o " i s a romance i n the s t y l e des-

c r i h e d , i n which he s t a t e s i n his'proem' t h a t he i s w r i t i n g to 

counteract the p a i n of p a r t i n g from h i s own 'lady', and to des-

c r i b e f o r her and f o r a l l the world the f e e l i n g he has, i n the 

words of P r i n c e T r o i l u s to h i s l o v e C r i s e y d e . The "Decameron", 

"Wherein are contained an hundred s t o r i e s i n ten days t o l d by 

Seven L a d i e s and Three Young Men" i s a c y c l e of t a l e s t o l d by a 

group of young nobles to while away the tedium of being s t r a n d -

ed i n a country-house to a v o i d the ravages of the Plague, which 

i s d e s c r i b e d w i t h g r e a t r e a l i s m i n the •proem 1. T h i s c y c l e was 

a model f o r Chaucer's g r e a t one, "The Canterbury T a l e s " , and 

from B o c c a c c i o ' s "Teseide" c o n t a i n i n g g the legend of Thebes 

Chaucer t r a n s l a t e s w i t h numerous a d d i t i o n s i n h i s 'Knight's tale.' 

Boccaccio, l i k e Dante, ( h i s g r e a t and f a v o u r i t e exemplar), 
wrote i n I t a l i a n as i t was spoken i n h i s day. Dante A l i g h i e r i , 

1265-1361, i s the w r i t e r who b e s t fuses the v a l u e s of r e l i g i o n , 

p h i l o s o p h y , o b s e r v a t i o n of the l i f e around him,the new theme of 

c o u r t l y l o v e , i n t o g r e a t works of a r t . In h i s "Vita. Nuova" he 

i d e a l i z e s the concept of c o u r t l y l o v e , emphasising i t s aspects 

of d e v o t i o n , i n s p i r a t i o n and s e r v i c e , and l e a v i n g i t s aspect of 

p h y s i c a l i n t i m a c y untouched. In "De V u l g a r i Eloquentia," he s t a t e s 

e x p l i c i t l y h i s views on the use of the mother-tongue i n l i t e r a -

t u r e , showing the p a s s i n g of the supremacy of L a t i n as the l i t e r -

ary and s c h o l a r l y language. Dante's g r e a t e s t work , the " D i v i n a 

Comedia" i s w r i t t e n i n a d i s t i n c t i v e s t a n z a , ' t e r z a r i m a 1 or t r i -

p l e rhyme, and i s d i v i d e d i n t o three p a r t s , "Inferno","Purgator-

i o " , and " P a r a d i s e " . In i t the Roman poet V i r g i l guides him through 

H e l l . a n d there Dante sees the sou!s of the d a m n e d . a n d through 



- 6 2 -

p u r g a t o r y , f i n a l l y g i v i n g p l a c e to B e a t r i c e who guides him through 

P a r a d i s e , which s e c t i o n c o n t a i n s i m p l i c i t i n i t s survey the i n -

t e l l e c t u a l h i s t o r y of the Middle Ages. 

G e o f f r e y Chaucer (dJ.400) a l s o f o l l o w e d the model of the c o u r t -

l y romance, u s i n g i n the e a r l y bock of "Blanche the Duchesse" the 

poems of the French poet Guillaume Michaut and of the c h r o n i c l e r 

P r o i s s a r t ; t r a n s l a t i n g the g r e a t medieval legend of the 'Rose' i n 

h i s "Romaunt of the Rose"; r e t e l l i n g the s t o r y of Troy i n h i s 

" T r o i l u s and C r i s e y d e t r a n s l a t i n g the p h i l o s o p h y of Boethius i n 

h i s "Boece"; and coming under the i n f l u e n c e of the I t a l i a n w r i -

t e r s l a t e r i n h i s t r a n s l a t i o n s from B o c c a c c i o , i n h i s reading of 

Dante,and i n h i s use of Ovid's m y t h o l o g i c a l "Metamorphoses" as 

source m a t e r i a l . The work of Chaucer's f u l l y developed genius i s 

h i s g r e a t s e r i e s of t a l e s ,"The Canterbury T a l e s " , which though 

perhaps suggested by B o c c a c c i o ' s use of the device i s so essen-

t i a l l y o r i g i n a l and c r e a t i v e that even the p a r t s that s t a r t as 

t r a n s l a t i o n s have both t h e i r i d e a s and language so transmuted as 

to become p e c u l i a r l y h i s own. 

W i l l i a m Langland's " P i e r s Plowman" i s the work of a m o r a l i s t , 

p i c t u r i n g the s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l , and r e l i g i o u s c o n d i t i o n s of the 

time and e x p r e s s i n g h i s d i s c o n t e n t w i t h l i f e l i v e d as i t was, 

s t r e s s i n g i t s moral i m p l i c a t i o n s and u r g i n g men to the good l i f e . 

With the Renaissance we reach a p e r i o d of l o o k i n g back to the 

c u l t u r a l achievements of Greece and Rome, shown f i r s t i n the a r c h -

i t e c t u r e of B r u n e l l e s c h i i n I t a l y , where he completed the dome 

of the c i t y c a t h e d r a l of F l o r e n c e which had stood unroofed f o r a 

century, h i s s o l u t i o n being a r o o f 138£ f e e t i n diameter,using an 



-63-
outer dome Gothic i n l i n e , and an i n n e r one saucer-shaped of 

stones f i t t e d together, which was an emulation of c l a s s i c a l 

b u i l d i n g and y e t an o r i g i n a l c r e a t i o n meeting c e r t a i n s p e c i f i c 

problems of d e s i g n and s t r u c t u r e . He a l s o b u i l t the "Foundling 

Home" i n F l o r e n c e f o r the S i l k G u i l d , the facade of which has a 

porch supported by a l o n g row of C o r i n t h i a n columns, i n the i n -

t e r v a l s between which are Andrea D e l i a Robbia's t e r r a c o t t a "Bam-

b i n i " . Another f e a t u r e of the a r c h i t e c t u r e of the time was the 

domestic p a l a c e , l i k e that of the M e d i c i , b u i l t by M i c h e l o z z o d i 

Bartelommeo Id.1472). A l b e r t i a l s o b u i l t i n the s t y l e of the clas' 

s i c a l p e r i o d u s i n g the Greek-cross p l a n w i t h f o u r equal arms i n -

stead of the commonly used r e c t a n g u l a r c r o s s - f o r m f o r churches. 

F o l l o w i n g the s t y l e of the M e d i c i palace was t h a t b u i l t 

f o r the Farnese i n the 16th C. by Antonio da S a n g a l l e i n Home, 

and by Sansovina i n V e n i c e ; and Donate Bramante (1444-1514) c a r -

r i e d the t r a d i t i o n of c l a s s i c a l i n f l u e n c e f u r t h e r i n h i s copy of 

the Roman Pantheon i n the s m a l l round church of Tempiette near 

the V a t i c a n . Bramante, Raphael,Michelangelo,and B e r n i n i ( i n the 

16th C.) a l l worked on the enormous s t r u c t u r e of S t . P e t e r ' s a t 

Rome. The Roman t a s t e f o r l u x u r y and p l e a s u r e i n the ornate was 

a l s o copied, as i s p e r f e c t l y d i s p l a y e d i n the works of Vincenza's 

master b u i l d e r , P a l l a d i o ( d . l 5 8 0 ) who used what has become known 

as the ' P a l l a d i a n m o t i f , the use of s m a l l e r columns to c a r r y the 

arches inward from the outer order of l a r g e columns, an example 

being the facade f o r the town h a l l of V i n c e n z a . 

In p a i n t i n g I t a l y . a l s o l e d i n the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of new 

s t y l e s d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . In F l o r e n c e there were working Mass-

accio(d.1428)..."Adam and Eve e x p e l l e d from P a r a d i s e " ; U c e l l o ( d . 



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1475) w i t h a b i z a r r e hut p l a s t i c a l l y fused sense of design; An-

drea d e l Castagna(d.1457).."Last Supper"; F r a F i l i p p o L i p p i ( d , 

1469) u s i n g an e x o t i c n o n - n a t u r a l i s t i c c o l o u r and complex rhythm/' 

f o r example i n h i s " V i r g i n adoring the C h i l d " ; F r a A n g e l i c a l d . 

1455) whose c h i e f value i s l i t e r a r y not p l a s t i c ; P i r o d e l l a Fran-

cesco (d.1492) u s i n g a c o m p o s i t i o n ' p o w e r f u l l y welded by c o l o u r , 

c h i e f l y i n c o o l b l u e s , i n h i s " E x a l t a t i o n of the Cross"; B o t t i -

c e l l i ^ . 1 5 1 0 ) , showing a rhythmic use of l i n e i n . such p a i n t i n g s 

as " A l l e g o r y of S p r i n g " ; Leonardo da Vinci(d.1519) whose f i n e 

sense of composition i s shown i n the "Adoration of the Magi" and 

i n nxs famous "Last .Supper", but who was a s c i e n t i s t r a t h e r than 

a sensuously o r i g i n a l c o l o u r i s t ; Michelangelo(d,1564) who used 

h i s s c u l p t u r a l i m a g i n a t i o n i n h i s a c c e n t u a t i o n of muscular con-

t o u r s ; and Raphael(d.l520) who waB a f i r s t r a t e v i r t u o s o , but 

r e a l l y an e c l e c t i c . 

In Siena the t r a d i t i o n was one of exaggerated line,known 

sometimes as'Sienese droop', shown i n the l i n e s of d r a p e r i e s , i n 

the elongated whites of eyes and l i n e of l i d s , and i n the t r e a t -

ment of rocks i n landscape. There was r e t a i n e d here Byzantine pat-

t e r n s which were converted i n t o sinuous rhythms,by such a r t i s t s 

as Duccio d i Buoninsegna(d.l339) and U g o l i n o da Siena(d.l340) who 

resembles Duccio i n h i s naive d e l i c a c y , but has more movement and 

b r i g h t e r colour.- --

In Venice the t r a d i t i o n i s expressed i n the phrase,"Venetian 

glow",mentioning t h e i r glowing use of c o l o u r i n s t r u c t u r a l r e l a -

t i o n to l i g h t , and r e a c h i n g a h i g h s t a t e of p i c t o r i a l a r t . T h i s 

i s shown i n the work of such men as : B e l l i n i (d.1516) whose per-



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v a s i v e atmospheric use of c o l o u r d e r i v e s ffom Massaccio;Carpaceig 

(d.1525) whose "Dream of S t . U r s u l a " shows him to be one of the 

g r e a t e s t masters of space-composition; G i o r g i o n e ( d . l 5 1 0 ) i n whose 

" S l e e p i n g Venus" and "Two Prophets" i s shown a l y r i c beauty merg-

i n g a l l the elements of form; T i t i a n ( d . l 5 7 6 ) u s i n g r i c h l y dappled 

s u r f a c e s of f l e s h i n " C h r i s t and Magdelene" and '"Assumption"; T i n t -

oretto(d,1594) whose " A r t i s t ' s P o r t r a i t " , " P a r a d i s e " and "Susanna 

at the Bath" show use of areas of c o l o u r i n r i c h deep p o o l s i n 

c o n t r a s t w i t h areas of accentuated l i g h t ; Paolo Veronese(d.1588) 

whose work has a j e w e l - l i k e s i l v e r y enamelled t e x t u r e ; a l l of the 

Venetians indeed express the same mastery of space i n composition 

as that d i s p l a y e d by the m a s t e r - b u i l d e r s ' use of the f l y i n g but-

t r e s s , and the c o n t r a p u n t a l technique i n the music of the p e r i o d . 

Continuing i n the F l e m i s h t r a d i t i o n i n the n o r t h were : Pe-

truB C h r i s t u s (d.1473) whose "Marco B a r b a r i g o " and " D e p o s i t i o n 

from the C r o s s " show f i n e c o l o u r r e l a t i o n s and a sheen to t e x t u r e s ; 

D i r k Bouts'(d.1475) "Entombment" and " P o r t r a i t of a man" having 

r i c h c o l o u r and l i n e a r d e s i g n ; Hugo van der Goes(.1482) u s i n g a 

l i n e of r e f l e c t e d l i g h t to d e f i n e countours; and Hieronymous Bosch 

(d.1516) who renders the essence of any p l a s t i c s i t u a t i o n i n sa-

t i r i c mastery. Other Flemish p a i n t e r s of the p e r i o d f o l l o w i n g were: 

Gerard David (d.1523) who shows a predominantly l i n e a r p a t t e r n i n 

h i s " C r u c i f i x i o n " ; .;' Joachim P a t i n i r ( d . l 5 2 4 ) . . " B a p t i s m of C h r i s t " ; 

Adrian Isenbrant (d.1551)-who shows a r i c h deep c o l o u r and f i n e 

c o m p o s i t i o n a l sense i n h i s " N a t i v i t y " ; L u c a s van Leyden(d.1533), 

who used c o l o u r i n r e l a t i o n . t o l i g h t i n h i s "Man's P o r t r a i t " and 

"The A d o r a t i o n of the M a g i " ; P i e t e r Brueghel(d.1569) who f o l l o w e d 

Bosch i n h i s i n t e n s e p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e a l i s m , and used c o l o u r mas-



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t e r f u l l y i n such landscapes as "Harvesters", and a l s o used or-

dered space i n such winter scenes as "Hunters"; Antonio Moro(d. 

1578) adds to t h i s Flemish technique some of the c o l o u r q u a l -

i t y of the V e n e t i a n s . 

The German s t y l e of t h i s p e r i o d drew i t s c o l o u r from the 

I t a l i a n s , h u t s t i l l used the l i n e a r r i g i d i t y of the Byzantine 

i n a charming naive q u a l i t y shown i n the work of:Stephen Loch-

ner(d,1451).Barthel Bruyn(d.l555),Konrad von Soest(d.1404?).Ber-

nard S t r i g e l ( d . 1 5 2 8 ) who begins to show an i n d i v i d u a l use-of 

c o l o u r i n unison w i t h l i g h t and a sharp l i n e ; Mathias Grunewald 

(d.1530) whose " C r u c i f i x i o n " and "Entombment" show a. m a s t e r f u l 

use of space and c o l o u r ; A l b r e c h t Durer(d.1528) who c r e a t e s a 

new form w i t h h i s w o n d e r f u l l y s u b t l e f l o w i n g c o l o u r shown i n 

"Erasmus","Girl's P o r t r a i t " , the B e r l i n "Madonna" and "Head of 

Woman"; Lucas Cranach the E l d e r (d,1553) who d i d p o r t r a i t s w i t h 

landscape backgrounds l i k e h i s "Judgment of P a r i s " ; Hans H o l b e i n 

(dil545)who ranks as a p o r t r a i t p a i n t e r and m i n i a t u r i s t w i t h the 

g r e a t e s t , as shown i n such works as h i s "Erasmus" and h i s r o y a l 

p o r t r a i t s . 

The French p r i m i t i v e s t y l e was a f u s i o n of the i n f l u e n c e s • 

from Italy,Germany, Spain and the I F l e m i s h t r a d i t i o n , r e s u l t i n g 

i n a form rooted i n that of the m i n i a t u r i s t s ; i n a c o l o u r not 

used s t r u c t u r a l l y , but l i g h t and d e l i c a t e l y •:> i v o r y i n tone;and 

i n drawing which seems a s u r v i v a l of the ByzanteBque i n I t s r i -

g i d i t y , v i s i b l e i n works l i k e those of F r a n c i s Clouet(d.1572),Cbr-

n e i l l e de Lyon(d.l575), and i n the b r o t h e r s Antione,Louis,and Ma-

t h i e u l e Nain. 



The l i t e r a t u r e of the e a r l y f i f t e e n t h century shows the •-e 

d e c l i n e of medieval s o c i e t y and the emergence of the new bourge-

o i s i e , and t h i s was marked by a backward-looking at .the f i n e i d e a l s 

of c h i v a l r y whose motive power was almost exhausted,for example,.: . 

the work of Malory whose "Morte d ' A r t h u r * was very popular,and 
the 

t h i s excerpt from the "Book of'Order of C h i v a l r y " by the E n g l i s h 

p r i n t e r Caxton which p l e a d s f o r a r e t u r n to the former i d e a l s . . . 

"0 ye k n i g h t s of England, where i s the custome and usage of 
noble c h i v a l r y that was used i n those days? What do ye now .!-
but go to the baynes and p l a y at d i c e ? And some not w e l l ad-
v i s e d use not honest and good r u l e a g a i n s t a l l order of 
knighthood. Leave t h i 3 , l e a v e i t , and read the noble volumes 
of S a i n t G r a a l , of L a u n c e l o t , of Gawayne.and many more. There 
s h a l l ye see manhood,courtesy,and g e n t l e n e s s * And look i n l a t -
t e r days of the noble a c t e s w i t h the "^conquests as i n K i n g 
Richard's days Couer de Lyon, Edward the F i r s t , a n d the T h i r d , 
and h i s noble s o n s , S i r Robert K n o l l e s , S i r John Hawkwood,Sir 
John Chaundos and S i r Walter de Manny. Read E r o i s s a r t . "..23, 

There were c r i t i c s of the other aspects of s o c i e t y who 

wrote,as d i d Erasmus, c r i t i c i z i n g the education of the c l e r g y ; 

the Papal B u l l " E x e c r a b i l i s " (1460) put an end to the movement f o r 

reform w i t h i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the church brought on by the 

p r e a c h i n g of Buch men as W y c l i f f e ( d . l 3 8 4 ) , and r e - e s t a b l i s h e d pa-

p a l a u t h o r i t y ; i n the m o r a l i t y p l a y s l i k e the English"Everyman" 

a b s t r a c t themes are d e a l t with, while the m i r a c l e p l a y s allowed 

the e x p r e s s i o n of r e a l experience w i t h i n the p a t t e r n of the B i b l e 

s t o r i e s . The most famous poet of t h i s p e r i o d i s the Frenchman, 

F r a n c o i s V i l l o n (d.1462?) whose s t r i k i n g B a l l a d e w r i t t e n when he 

was to be hanged w i t h f o u r others because of h i s vagrant t h i e v i n g 

l i f e has been t r a n s l a t e d by Wyndham Lewis thus... 

23. Lucas,"A Short H i s t o r y of C i v i l i z a t i o n " . M c G r a w f H i l l ,N.Y.,1945, 
pps.498-99. 



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"Men,brother men,that a f t e r us y e t l i v e , 
L e t not your h e a r t s too hard a g a i n s t us he; 
For i f some p i t y of us poor men ye g i v e 

. The sooner God s h a l l take of you p i t y . 
Here are wee f i v e or s i x strung up, you see, 
And here the f l e s h t h a t a l l too w e l l we f e d 
B i t by b i t , e a s t e n and r o t t e n , rent and shred, 
And we the bones grow dust and ash w i t h a l ; 
L e t no man laugh a t us d i s c o m f i t e d , 
But pray to God that he f o r g i v e us a l l . 

The r a i n has washed and laundered us a l l f i v e , 
And the sun d r i e d and blackened; yea,per d i e , 
Ravens and p i e s w i t h beaks that rend and r i v e 
Have dug our eyes out; and plucked o f f f o r fee 
Our beards and eyebrows; never we are f r e e 
Not once to r e s t ; but here and there s t i l l sped 
D r i v e n at i t s w i l d w i l l , by the wind's change l e d , 
More pecked by b i r d s than f r u i t s on garden-wall; 

Men, f o r God's s a k e , l e t no gibe here be s a i d , 

But pray to God that he f o r g i v e us a l l . " 24. 

The age of change ushered i n by the i n c r e a s e i n trade and 

r e v i v a l of the c l a s s i c a l l e a r n i n g brought many new i d e a s to , 

l i t e r a t u r e a l s o , one of the most i n f l u e n t i a l w r i t e r s of the per-

i o d being NIccolo M a c h i a v e l l i (d.1527) whose p r a c t i c a l guide 

f o r p o l i t i c a l conduct,"The P r i n c e " w r i t t e n f o r the Duke Lorenzo 

de'Medici, shows a p o l i t i c a l r e a l i s m which has seldom been e q u a l l -

ed, and a t the same time shows the humanist i d e a l of the c u l t u r e d 

c i t y - s t a t e l i f e of F l o r e n c e i n h i s time. An E n g l i s h p o l i t i c a l 

i d e a l i s t , i n c o n t r a s t to t h i s , was S i r Thomas More' whose "Utop-

i a " c o n t a i n s both a c r i t i c i s m of the s t a t e as i t was and a des-

c r i p t i o n of an i d e a l s t a t e . The most s i g n i f i c a n t w r i t e r of the 

French Renaissance was F r a n c i s R a b e l a i s . From h i s e a r l y education 

i n a monastic order which he entered at the age of seven and from 

which he ran away to study medicine at the u n i v e r s i t y of Montpel-

l i e r , R a b e l a i s conceived a h a t r e d f o r the medieval r e l i g i o u s d i s -
d i s c i p l i n e of the church, and he wrote h i s g r e a t "Gargantua and 
24.Wyndham Lewis, op. c i t . 



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P a n t a g r u e l r t ( w r i t t e n i n the o r d i n a r y French of the day) i n a s p i r -

i t of s a t i r e towards some of the e v i l s of h i s day, u s i n g l a n g -

uage so c r e a t i v e l y that he g r e a t l y e n r i c h e d the spoken language. 

The " N i n e t y - f i v e Theses" of M a r t i n Luther (d.1546) a t t a c k -

ed the p r a c t i c e s t i l l c u r r e n t f o r some time a f t e r t h i s of s e l l -
de 

i n g indulgences, or pardons f o r s i n s , which Chaucer h a d ' p i c t e d 

so w e l l i n h i s "Pardoner", and Luther's "Open L e t t e r to the C h r i s -

t i a n N o b i l i t y of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the 

German State**, w r i t t e n i n German, and thoroughly understood by 

these p r i n c e s , produced among them a wave of sympathy f o r h i s 

t e a c h i n g about the r e l a t i o n of the s p i r i t u a l and temporal e s t a t e s * 

and a s t a t e - c o n t r o l l e d church r e s u l t e d i n most p a r t s of Germany. 

Though Luther was excomnunicated by the Pope i n 1521, Lutheranism 

continual to spread, e s p e c i a l l y among the peasants, to whom the 

d o c t r i n e of each man as h i s own ' p r i e s t 1 appealed, u n t i l the out-

break of the Peasants' War i n 1525. In t h i s Luther's other d o c t r i n e 

of the s t a t e - c o n t r o l of botn s p i r i t u a l and and temporal matters 

caused him to advise the nobles to put down the u p r i s i n g with 

s e v e r i t y , thus checking the spread of Lutheranism among the pea-

sants of S.Germany who remain C a t h o l i c to t h i s day. 

T h i s i d e a , of the s t a t e - c o n t r o l of p r i v a t e r e l i g i o n , was 

contested by the A n a b a p t i s t s , who were everywhere persecuted, 

t h e i r l e a d e r s b e i n g f r e q u e n t l y burned at the stake. 

The other i n f l u e n t i a l p r o t e s t a n t reformer of t h i s time 

was John C a l v i n , whose " I n s t i t u t e s of the C h r i s t i a n R e l i g i o n " was 

f i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n 1536 and contained a systematic arrangement of 

the whole body of d a t a about the C h r i s t i a n r e l i g i o n which he f e l t 

a C h r i s t i a n should Know, emphasizing r e a d i n g the B i b l e , a s God's word. 



-70-
Th e C a t h o l i c Church a l s o conducted reforms at t h i s time, 

w i t h the formation of the " S o c i e t y of Jesus" hy I g n a t i u s L o y o l a , 

(dj.556) whose " S p i r i t u a l E x e r c i s e s " resembled Thomas a Kempis' 

" I m i t a t i o n of C h r i s t " i n i n t e n t . The J e s u i t s were a s e l e c t order 

many of whom were the c o n f e s s o r s of Kings and P r i n c e s , and thus 

gained power f o r t h e i r s o c i e t y , t h o u g h many went as m i s s i o n a r i e s 

to the Americas,China,India, and Japan. Reform w i t h i n the church 

was c a r r i e d on a l s o hy means of the I n q u i s i t i o n , which, under 

Pope Paul IV.was so severe as to almost wipe out heresy i n I t -

a l y . Pope Paul IV a l s o p u b l i s h e d the "Index", a l i s t of f o r b i d -

den books, d u r i n g 1555-1559. 

There were other r e l i g i o u s r e f o r m i s t s among groups l i k e 

the P u r i t a n s , who under t h e i r l e a d e r John Browne, l e f t England , 

where they f e l t they were not f r e e to worship as t h e i r c o n s c i -

ences ordered them to, and f o l l o w e d Browne f i r s t to L e i d e n , and 

then l a t e r to the New World, s a i l i n g on the "Mayflower", and 

l a n d i n g on the shores of America at Plymouth i n 1620. 

The P u r i t a n s , who were m i d d l e - c l a s s merchants, fought 

under t h e i r l e a d e r , Cromwell, a g a i n s t the K i n g and the order of 

p r i v e l e g e , and were s u c c e s s f u l , the k i n g C h a r l e s 1st, being be-

headed i n 1649, l e a v i n g Cromwell as D i c t a t o r u n t i l h i s death, 

when C h a r l e s the Second r e t u r n e d . D u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d of P u r i t a n 

c o n t r o l the t h e a t r e s were c l o s e d and England l a y under a r e l -

i g i o u s p a l l , from which she has not f u l l y recovered even today, 

the e f f e c t s of r e p r e s s i o n of a l l a r t i s t i c tendencies being more 

f a r - r e a c h i n g , u n f o r t u n a t e l y , than those of a reverse s i t u a t i o n . 

S c i e n t i f i c changes were h e l p i n g l o o s e n the h o l d of r e l -

i g i o u s u n i t y i n the west. Prom 1500 u n t i l the death of Newton 



-71-

there was v i s i b l e a steady i n c r e a s e i n the systematic i n v e s t i g a -

t i o n of nature made p a s s i b l e by the i n v e n t i o n s of such d e v i c e s as 

the t e l e s c o p e , the microscope, the thermometer,barometer,pendulum, 

and micrometer. The s i g n i f c a n t men of t h i s long l i n e of s c i e n t i s t s 

were Copernicus,Brahe,Kepler,Galileo,Harvey,van Loeuwenhoek,Huy-

gens.Malpighi, and Newton. T h e i r work helped l a y the b a s i s f o r 

the g r e a t m a t e r i a l and i n t e l l e c t i a l changes of the next p e r i o d . 

To t h i s next p e r i o d the c r i t i c a l term,Baroque, i s a p p l i e d . 

T h i s term was taken over from one of the f i g u r e s of the c l a s s i c a l 

s y l l o g i s m , and has been used at d i f f e r e n t p e r i o d s i n c r i t i c i s m to 

mean q u i t e d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s , v a r y i n g from the h i g h p r a i s e of the 

p e r i o d by Spengler as the Manhood of Western C u l t u r e to a term of 

contempt used c h i e f l y of I t a l i a n a t e ornateness by the c r i t i c s of 

the 18th century l i k e C o l i n Campbell,and the E n g l i s h Ruskin of the 

19th c e n t u r y . 

Baroque, as a p p l y i n g to the s c u l p t u r e and a r c h i t e c t u r e of 

the p e r i o d s t r e s s e s the d i f f e r e n c e s i n the use of the Renaissance 

forms, which were i n f u s e d here w i t h a new s p i r i t , o f l a v i s h orna-

mentation. In I t a l y the church of the V a t i c a n was changed by the 

a d d i t i o n of an ornamented approach w i t h a long colonnade and s a i n t s 

s c u l p t u r e d on the facade done by the a r t i s t Bernini(d.1680) who 

a l s o worked on the' palace o f the Louvre i n P a r i s u n t i l he disagreed 

w i t h Mazarin and returned home. In Prance working then i n s c u l p -

ture was C h a r l e s l e Brun who d i d very d e c o r a t i v e work. The Baroque 

s t y l e i s shown p e r f e c t l y i n the Chateau of V e r s a i l l e s with i t s ex-

q u i s i t e l y l a i d out formal gardens, which was the work of the 

a r c h i t e c t Mansart, who a l s o b u i l t many g r a c e f u l countryhom.es of 

the p e r i o d and designed the dome of the I n v a l i d e s i n P a r i s . 

http://countryhom.es


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In p a i n t i n g the p e r i o d wa.s a r i c h one though i t s f i r s t 

d i s t i n c t i v e exponents were known as a group as the 'mannerists', 

u s i n g as they d i d an e c l e c t i c s t y l e combining' the F l o r e n t i n e , 

Umbrian,Mantuan,and Venetian t r a d i t i o n s . The f i r s t I t a l i a n ex-

ponent was a Flemish a r t i s t , Denis C a l v a e r t , ( d l 6 1 9 ) who passed 

h i s technique on to h i s students,Ludovico Carracci(d.1619) and 

h i s nephews,Agostino and Annibale C a r r a c c i . 

The f i r s t g r e a t I t a l i a n p a i n t e r i n the new Baroque t r a d -

i t i o n was Caravaggio (d.1609) whose "Entombment" shows the s k i l l 

i n use of c h i a r o s c u r o which foreshadows Rembrandt; while h i s 

f e l l o w - a r t i s t s , among whom were G-uido Reni (d.1642),sometimes 

p a i n t e d i n the new s t y l e . 

In Spain E l Greco (d.1614), p u p i l to the Venetian T i n t o r -

r e t t o , was working i n a d i s t i n c t l y p e r s o n a l v e r s i o n of the new 

s t y l e , u s i n g long nervous l i n e s with l i g h t and c o l o u r worked i n 

to make a d e l i b e r a t e l y d i s t o r t e d p a t t e r n i n the i n t e r e s t of h i s 

d e s i g n . A l s o i n Spain , Velasquez (d.1660) was working , who 

though he d e r i v e s from the Venetians and the Flemish, p a i n t e d 

i n such an i n d i v i d u a l and s u b t l e manner that he i s d i f f i c u l t to 

• c l a s s i f y . 

In the Netherlands Salomon van Kuysdael (d.1670) was 

p a i n t i n g landscape around Haarlem, as shown i n h i s "View of Haar-

lem", and f o l l o w i n g the l i n e of the other Dutch genre p a i n t e r s , 

who d e r i v e p a r t i a l l y from Caravaggio i n t h e i r s u b j e c t - m a t t e r of 

o r d i n a r y people doing o r d i n a r y t h i n g s . T h i s B w i l d i i n s u b j e c t to 

completely s e c u l a r m a t e r i a l i s shown e s p e c i a l l y i n the work of 

such an a r t i s t as Franz H a l s , (d.1666) i n p a i n t i n g s l i k e h i s 

"Mad Baabe", Hals a l s o had an enormous i n f l u e n c e on succeeding 



artists who used his brush technique. At Delft,Jan Vermeer used 

this characteristic intimate approach in his " L i t t l e Street", 

"View of Delft", "Young Woman with Jug" and "Lady with a Lute", 

In Amsterdam there was Rembrandt (d.1669) whose form i s wholly 

characteristic and his own, though often imitated by lesser 

a r t i s t s . The means he used consisted chiefly of a combination of 

light and shadow related to the outline so as to achieve a dis-

tinctness of contour so subtle that i t is impossible to say how 

i t was done. In Rembrandt an imaginative interpretation of the 

actual world reaches i t s perfect plastic expression, with com-

plete avoidance of anything not capable of being rendered plas-

t i c a l l y , that i s , in the medium he has chosen. He is at his best 

in such paintings as "Hendrickje Stoffels","Old Man" and "Unmer-

c i f u l Servant." In the south there were working Rubens(d.1640), 

and Van Dyck(d.l641). To conclude with the Netherlands , their 

Baroque architecture consists chiefly of public buildings like 

that in the town hall of Bolsward, and the Butcher's Hall in 

Haarlem. 

In Russia, Petee the Great travelled from home to bring 

back his European knowledge in an attempt of Europeanize his 

country, building the city of St.Petersburg on the Neva, and in-

troducing western dress, ideas, manners, and art, and by his 

death in 1725 Russia was within the European tradition. 

In Prance were working the Painters : Poussin (d.1665), 

one of the great .French colourists*, integrating his colour and 

light and line; Claude le Lorrain(d.l682) who uses a pervasive 

colour and l i t t l e detail in his "Embarkation of the Queen of 

Sheba" and in his "Landing of Cleopatra". 
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-75-

In l i t e r a t u r e d u r i n g the p e r i o d of c i v i l war i n France 

which accompanies the Reformation, there were two g r e a t w r i t e r s , 

Jean Bodin(d.l596) and Montaigne(d.1592). Bodin's " S i x Books on 

the S t a t e " recommaded a strong monarchy as the most s t a b l e form 

of government, but a s s e r t e d the n e c e s s i t y of the monarch's being 

s u b j e c t to the laws. Montaigne's "Essayes" are the s c e p t i c a l op-

i n i o n s of an i n t e l l i g e n t and honest man i n t e r e s t e d i n every ph 

phase of l i f e . 

L a t e r , a f t e r the a c c e s s i o n of L o u i s XIV, the c o u r t l y a t -

mosphere produced the comedy of Moliere(d.1673),which s a t i r i z e d 

the mannered c o u r t n o b i l i t y , and the tragedy of Racine(d.1699) 

and C o r n e i l l e ( d . 1 6 8 4 ) which, based on the heroes of c l a s s i c a l 

h i s t o r y , are more s t a t e l y i n s u b j e c t matter, and more "rigid i n 

form.Also w r i t i n g were B o i l e a u . L a Rochefoucauld, La F o n t a i n e , 

Marie de Sevigne, Fenelon, and B l a i s e B a s c a l , whose "Pensees" 

c o n t a i n r e f l e c t i o n s on C h r i s t i a n i t y . 

In England the Age of E l i z a b e t h was one of n e v e r - p a r a l l e d 

l i t e r a r y b r i l l i a n c e , f e a t u r i n g as i t does,near i t s beginning,the 

work of such men as John Lyly,Bacon,Hooker,Fox, and i n i t s g r e a t 

p e r i o d of f u l l development the work of Spenser, Marlowe, Shakes-

peare, Jonson, Donne, M a r v e l l , and , c l o s i n g i t , B u t l e r , Bunyan 

and M i l t o n , ( d . 1 6 7 4 ) . Among these are many who deserve the name 

of genius,and they are only the b e s t known w r i t e r s ; there were 

many of the d r a m a t i s t s , who , l i k e Webster and Chapman, would 

have f a r e d more k i n d l y i f they had not been faced by the u n i v e r -

s a l genius of Shakespeare. 

The Baroque, then, was a p e r i o d of g r e a t achievement, i n 



many of the i n d i v i d u a l art-forms, and was one of enormous a l i v e -

ness i n f e e l i n g . I t s more ornate s t y l e has heen termed "marin-

i s t " i n I t a l y , a f t e r t h e i r poet M a r i n i , "Gongorism" i n Spain 

a f t e r Gongor, " e u p h u i s t i c " i n England a f t e r the "Euphues" of L y l y 

and, i n i'rance, " p r e c i o s i t e " . I t saw, d u r i n g i t s course, the 

death of I t a l i a n s o c i a l comedy i n the •commedia d e l l ' a r t e " , and 

the.emergence of i t s most t y p i c a l a r t - f o r m i n the new a r t of the 

'opera'. These f i r s t operas were r e a l l y only performances of 

works meant simply to he sung r a t h e r than played, such as P a l -

e s t r i n a ' s "Dafne" and " E u r i d i c e " . 

At £ouis' c o u r t the manners of the r e s t of p o l i t e Europe 

were formed, and the masques and entertainments he p r o v i d e d f o r 

h i s guests s t i m u l a t e d the a r t s to almost the same degree that 

they exhausted h i s t r e a s u r y . Here, f o r i n s t a n c e , appeared the 

f i r s t c l a s s i c a l dancing, i n r e f i n e d v a r i a t i o n s on the s o c i a l 

dancing of the c o u n t r y - s i d e . The conventions f o r the c l a s s i c a l 

f i g u r e s of the b a l l e t were l a i d down, and i n s p i r a t i o n g i v e n to 

m u s i c a l forms which often,today even, uses the dance forms of : 

pavanne,galliard,allemande,courante,sarabande,gigue,minuet, 

gavotte,bouree, rigaudon,chaconne,and p a s s e c a g l i a . 

I t was a p e r i o d of a new spaciousness i n l i v i n g , u s i n g the 

new l u x u r y of l e i s u r e , and i t s a r t was"sometimes overblown w i t h 

exuberance. 

D u r i n g the 16th ,and 17th c e n t u r i e s economic changes were 

t a k i n g p l a c e , world trade and manufacturing were i n c r e a s i n g i n 

scope, and were b e g i n n i n g to b r i n g together money, or c a p i t a l , 

which made a commerce i n wealth p o s s i b l e ; g r e a t t r a d i n g compan-



-77-
i e s were e s t a b l i s h e d , n e c e s s i t a t i n g the formation of banking hou-
ses to supply them w i t h c r e d i t f o r t h e i r operations; double entry 
book-keeping had r e c e n t l y been invented; i n agricu3isre new and 
improved methods had made l a r g e land-holdings more p r o f i t a b l e 
than ever, and a l e g a l i z e d d i s p o s s e s s i o n of the peasants from 
t h e i r land was t a k i n g place i n England, the now l a n d l e s s work-
ers who d r i f t e d to the c i t i e s forming the o l a b o u r - f o r c e f o r the 
new E n g l i s h f a c t o r i e s . 

L i f e was changing. The machines and methods f o r making 
things more q u i c k l y and more cheaply were being invented. In the 
t e x t i l e i n d u s t r y Watt's steam-engine proved u s e f u l i n operating 
Richard Arkwright's (d. 1792) water-frame spinning-machine. In 
America, E l i Whitney(d.l825) invented a cotton g i n which i n c r e a s -
ed the production of cotton from 189,000 l b s . i n 1791 to 2,000,000 
i n 1860 and 5,ooo,ooo i n 1900. In metal-working Cort's (d.1800) 
process of 'puddling' made the p i g - i r o n production of England 
jump from 48,000"Tons i n 1740 to 8,000,000 i n 1844. In the manu-
f a c t u r e of tools,Maudsiay (d,183l) made an i r o n - l a t h e and a s l i d e -
r e s t which permitted measurements of 1/10,000 of an i n c h to be 
made; W i i i n s o n , by boring c y l i n d e r s f o r the steam engine helped 
i t s success; J o s i a h Wedgewood (d.1795) produced machine-made 
vases of great beauty; and i n d i s t i l l i n g a vapour from c o a l to 
l i g h t h i s own home Murdock (d.1839) produced a method f o r using 
i l l u m i n a t i n g gas i n i n d u s t r y . 

L i f e was changing a l s o i n i t s meaningful geographic scope. 
Transportation methods were invented to make t r a v e l e a s i e r and 
cheaper : McAdam (d.1836) invented a method of t s u r f a c i n g roads 



-78-
by elevating them and draining them before covering them with 
successive layers of finely crushed rock; Meaton (d.1792) and 
Telford(d,1834) built canals, the former the Forth and Clyde, 
the latter the Ellesmere connecting the Mersey and Severn rivers, 
Stevenson invented the the f i r s t successful steam engine which 
drew the f i r s t coaches on the Liverpool-ManChester Railway in 
1830 carrying 600 passengers.Symington, in 1802 b u i l t the steam-
boat "Charlotte Dundas", whih was later improved upon by the Am-
erican, Fulton, whose "Clermont" with a Watt steam engine operat-
ing i t s paddles travelled 150 miles up the Hudson River. 

By 1800 England led the world in the development of mech-
anized industry. Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" laid down the 
accepted line of economic theory, with i t s p o l i t i c a l concomitant 
the 'laissez f a i r e ' attitude. Along with Ricardo, Mai thus, and Ben-
tham he enunciated the principles of what later was called "Lib-
eralism", a justification for the rise of the new class of ex-
ploiter-capitalists, and gained for them greater representation 
in Parliament which had formerly been the exclusive 'club' of the 
land-owning class. Gradually even these parliamentary apologists 
were compelled to forsake their 'hands off industry' stand and 
pass legislationslike the Factory Acts of 1802-33-44-47 and the 
Mine Regulations of 1819 regulating hours and conditions of lab-
our. 

This period is paralled in i t s earliest stages by the 

Literature of the Age of Reason which in England was written by 

Pope in poetry, and Hume , Locke and Berkelsyin philosophy; in 

France by Voltaire and Montesquieu, and the Encyclopedists,De 

Condillac,Diderot, and D'alembert. With the changes brought by 



- 7 9 -

industrialization the picture changes in England where there 
is a reaction towards Romanticism in the Poetry of Wordsworth, 
Coleridge,Shelley,Keats and Byron, and the novels o f , f i r s t , 
Richardson and Pieliing, and then those of Scott,Dickens, Thack-
aray,George Eliot and the Bronte sisters, of whom,Emily's "Wu-
therirgHeights" shows the greatest poetic a b i l i t y . This was f o l -

by 
lowed in jthe works of Hardy,Samuel Butler,Arnold Bennett,/a more 
r e a l i s t i c treatment of the novel, turning towards rather than 
away from1 the industrial society of English l i f e , and the ord-
inary l i f e of the agricultural society which s t i l l existed in 
parts of England. 

In America the novel passed through a similar period of 
Romanticism, shown in the works of Penimore Cooper, and the soc-
i a l criticism of Mrs.Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", succeeded by 
a period of great social realism shown in the novels of Dreiser 
and Sinclair Lewis, and of greater intellectual power shown in 
those of Henry James. 

In Prance the same romantic tendency away from the reality 
of the bourgeoiBe society surrounding them is visible in the 
poetry of the Symbolistes, V i l l i e r s de l ' i s l e Adam,Mallarme, 
Verlaine, Laforgue,Ducasse,Paul Valery,Rimbaud and Baudelaire, 
divorcing their art from a l i f e in which they could see no val-
ue, deriving greatly from the American poet Edgar Allen Poe. 

In architecture this early period is called "Rococo", 

from the word 'rocaille' or rock-work, because of the prevailing 

a r t i f i c i a l grottoes which the period affected. This style was 

seen characteristically in the decorations of rooms like the 



-80-

one from the Palazzo Sagredo,on the Grand Canal of Venice, now 

i n the M e t r o p o l i t a n Museum i n New York. In such rooms a r c h i t e c -

t u r e , s c u l p t u r e , p a i n t i n g , f u r n i t u r e , and even the l i g h t of the day 

are o r c h e s t r a t e d i n t o a whole. Other examples of the s t y l e are 

the Abbey of Rottenbuch i n A u s t r i a , and the Zwinger i n Dresden. 

In p a i n t i n g the t r a d i t i o n was e s s e n t i a l l y French , being 

an exaggeration of the baroque of the c o u r t of LouisXIV, shown 

i n the d e l i c a t e l y t i n t e d works of Watteau,Fragonard,Boucher, and 

the works of Chardin, whose s l i g h t l y p i t t e d and g r a i n y s u r f a c e 

and p e r s o n a l sense of composition had an i n f l u e n c e on many suc-

ceeding p a i n t e r s . 

In the p a i n t i n g of n i n e t e e n t h century Prance p r i o r to 

Impressionism there was a r e v i v a l of c l a s s i c i s m and a tendency 

towards the a c c e n t u a t i o n of l i n e at the expense of, the other e l -
i 
\ 

ements, v i s i b l e i n the work of such a r t i s t s as David, Ingres; 

and the h i s t r i o n i s m of D e l a c r o i x . The work of s o c i a l c r i t i c s 

l i k e Daumier i n Prance and Hogarth i n England c l o s e l y p a r a l l e l s 

the work of the great n o v e l i s t s of the p e r i o d , Dickens a l r e a d y 

mentioned, f o r England, and Flaubert,(d.1880),Zola(d.1902) and 

Anatole France(d.1924). 

In R u s s i a i t was v i s i b l e i n the p o e t r y of Pushkin, that 

a s i m i l a r though delayed Romanticism was t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e i r 

l i t e r a t u r e , shown a l s o i n the n o v e l s of Turgenev,Gogol,and esp-

e c i a l l y i n the m a g n i f i c e n t p i c t u r e s of i n t e n s e l y human l i f e i n 

D o s t o i e v s k i . In Germany i t developed i n Goethes's g r e a t drama 

"Faust" what Spengler c a l l s the f i n a l p e r f e c t e d e x p r e s s i o n of 

the western or f a u s t i a n s o u l , and was v i s i b l e i n the p h i l o s o p h y 



-81-
of Kant,Hegel,Schopenhauer, and N i e t z s c h , i n the t r a n s l a t i o n s 

by S c h l e g e l of Shakespeare's p l a y s , and i n the a e s t h e t i c c r i t -

i c i s m of L e s s i n g . In Spain i t s e a r l i e s t p e r i o d produced the 

b i t t e r s o c i a l c r i t i c i s m of Goya's e t c h i n g s of the P e n i n s u l a r 

War. Everywhere i n Europe t h i s s p l i t between the v a l u e s o f the 

new i n d u s t r i a l i z e d s o c i e t y and the v a l u e s not only of a r t , but 

those o f ' h u m a n i t y ' i t s e l f , was v i s i b l e , ana i s p a r t i c u l a r l y e v i -

dent i n the two a t t i t u d e s which i t produced then, and which are 

s t i l l c u r r e n t i n a r t today - that of t u r n i n g from the f a l s e va-

l u e s of the l i f e around the a r t i s t to an ' a r t f o r a r t ' s sake'at-

t i t u d e , and t h a t of t u r n i n g the denied value of a r t and human-

i t y i n t o a s e a r c h i n g study of s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s r e s u l t i n g i n 

g r e a t n o v e l s and some f i n e s o c i a l c r i t i c i s m . 

Adding to the new i n v e n t i o n s , d e v e l o p i n g the machine as-

pect of the new s o c i e t y , and, through improved t r a n s p o r t a t i o n 

and communication methods, b r i n g t h i s 'one world' s t i l l more 

c l o s e l y to a r e a l i z a t i o n of i t s u n i t y of purpose, were the mech-

a n i c a l achievements of the f i r s t h a l f of the 2otn century, i n 

the work of such men as Thomas B l a n c h a r d ( p r o f i l e L a t h e ) , F r e d -

e r i c k Winsor ( s t r e e t l i g h t i n g ) , S a m u e l Clegg(gas meter),Howe and 

Singer (sewing machine).Merganthaier ( l i n o t y p e ) and Lanston (mon-

otype ) t S c h o l e s ( t y p e w r i t e r ) , G o o d y e a r ( v u l c a n i z a t i o n o f rubber), 

Daguerre ( f i l m developing),Eastman(kodak),Morse ( t e l e g r a p h ) , 

Lord K e l v i n ( A t l a n t i c c a b l e ) . A l e x a n d e r Graham H e l l ( t e l e p h o n e ) , 

M a r c o n i ( w i r e l e s s ) , L e e de F o r e s t ( r a d i o ) , E d i s o n ( e l e c t r i c i t y ) , G . F . 

J e n k i n s ( t e l e v i s i on),Ford(aut omobile),Wright B r o t h e r s ( a e r o p l a n e ) , 

L i e b i g and W o h l e r ( i n d u s t r i a l c h e m i s t r y ) , J . P . M o r g a n ( f i n a n c i a l 

o r g a n i z a t i o n ) , K a r l Marx(socialism),De Gobineau ( r a c i s m ) , G a t l i n g , 



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Maxim,Colt,Du Pont,Krupp,Skoda,Armstrong & V i c k e r s , a n d Schneider-

Creusot (armaments),Galvani,Volta,Ampere,Ohm, ( e l e c t r i c a l science?) 

Faraday (dynamo),Hetz,Helmholtz,Einstein,Manhattan P r o j e c t (atom-

i c f i s s i o n ) . 

A r c h i t e c t u r e , i n t h i s age of i n d u s t r y , r e c e i v e d a new im-

petus, which i n h e a r i n g out Spengler's own dictum that a r c h i t e c -

ture i s the f i r s t a r t a f f e c t e d hy new beginnings of c u l t u r e , sup-

p o r t s my c o n t e n t i o n that t h i s p e r i o d i s one of new beginnings c u l -

t u r a l l y speaking. I t s t y p i c a l e x p r e s s i o n i n the a r c h i t e c t u r e of 

the 'new w o r l d 1 was the s k y s c r a p e r of American b u s i n e s s , t o w e r i n g 

more than 35 s t o r i e s i n t o the a i r and housing 5ooo people; the en-
ormous f a c t o r i e s made necessary by mass p r o d u c t i o n were sometimes 

r e a l and e x c i t i n g works of a r t i n t h e i r s o l u t i o n of s t r u c t u r a l 

and personnel problems, as i n the Van N e l l e F a c t o r y at Rotterda,; 

the modern department s t o r e was t r e a t e d i n Germany and Sweden 

w i t h i m a g i n a t i o n and beauty; the l a r g e d w e l l i n g u n i t s or a p a r t -

ment b l o c k s have, i n some Mexican examples, achieved a f u n c t i o n a l 

s i m p l i c i t y and" grace; i n the g r e a t power dams necessary f o r i n d -

u s t r i a l c i t y l i f e again t h i s i s v i s i b l e , as i n the Boulder Dam, 

U.S.A. and that at Dnieperpetrovsk, blown up by the Russians i n 

the face of the German advance i n the recent war; and f i n a l l y , the 

p o s s i b l e beauty of the p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g i s shown i n the designs 

of such men as Frank L l o y d Wright, and i n the c i t y p l a n n i n g of 

whole r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t s of such men as Mumford,LeCorbusier, 

and Neutra. 

S c u l p t u r e i s no l o n g e r used as a fundamental p a r t of 

a r c h i t e c t u r e , but s i g n i f i c a n t a c t i v i t y has been going on s i n c e 

the time of Rodin by E p s t e i n , M a i l l o l , L a c h a i s e , D e g a s , and i n the. 



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smooth a b s t r a c t e d shapes of B r a n c u s i . 

P a i n t i n g has passed through v a r i o u s stages , one that e-

q u i v a l e n t to the Komantic poets i n the Impressionism of Monet, 

M a n e t , P i s a r r o , S e u r a t , S i s l e y , R e n o i r , a n d some of the e a r l y Cezanne; 

another p e r i o d of post-impressionism represented by the work of 

Cezanne,Gauguin,Degas,Puvis de Chavannes,Van Gogh,Modigliani,and 

P a s c i n ; the work of i n d i v i d u a l i s t s l i k e Henri R o u s s e a u , U t r i l l o , 

S o u t i n e , P o u a u l t , C h i r i c o , and C h a g a l l ; the p e r i o d of the 'Pauves' 

o r ' w i l d b e a s t s ' l e d f o r a while by M a t i s s e ; In I t a l y Futurism; 

i n Germany the e x p r e s s i o n i s m of-Klee, and the n o n - o b j e c t i v e p a i n t -

i n g of Kandinsky; i n France the C u b i s t s l e d at f i r s t by P i c a s s o 

and Bracque; i n America the 'ash-can' school of r e a l i s t s ; other 

American a r t i s t s l i k e Winslow Homer,John Marin,Walt Kuhn,Max We-

ber and Yasuo K u n i y o s h i who are more r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l i n form; 

and other s t i l l l i k e Mondrian who have a r r i v e d at an almost com-

p l e t e a b s t r a c t i o n from r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l v a l u e s ; i n Canada the 

romantic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l i s m of the 'Group of Seven' and the more 

recent work of such men as Jack Shadbolt and L i o n e l Thomas, and 

such women as E m i l y Carr, and the young and s t i l l d e v e l o p i n g 

M o l l y Lamb; and f i n a l l y the m a g n i f i c e n t Mexican f r e s c o i s t s , Diego 

Rivera,Orosco and S i q u e i r o s , who use t h e i r v e r y o l d medium to 

make s i g n i f c a n t and very modern s o c i a l comment. 

In l i t e r a t u r e the new i n t e r e s t i n language as e x p r e s s i v e 

of ideas and a s s o c i a t i v e images i s c r e a t i n g a new form - the new 

sinewy p o e t i c language of E l i o t and Auden i s matched i n the a r t 

of the novel by the work of D.H.Lawrence and V i r g i n i a W o o l f f , A l -

dous Huxley and C h r i s t o p h e r Isherwood; i n I r e l a n d , by the potent 



-84-
i n f l u e n c e of James Joyce i n the n o v e l , and W i l l i a m B u t l e r Yeats 

i n poetry; i n Prance hy the c u r i o u s l y p r e c i s e i n t e l l e c t u a l rem-

i n i s c i n g of Proust's e x p l o r a t i o n s of time and the work of tilde; 

i n the U.S.A. hy the n o v e l s of such men as E r n e s t Hemingway,us-
by 

i n g a h i g h l y p e r s o n a l and muscular prose s t y l e ; / t h e panoramic 

novel of s o c i a l impact shown i n Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"; 

by the s t u t t e r i n g attempts at s t y l i s t i c r e v i s i o n of Gertrude 

S t e i n ; by the genre s t u d i e s of such w r i t e r s as Dos P a s s o s , P a r r e l , 

and Faulkner; and by the short s t o r i e s of Irwin Shaw,John O'Hara, 

W i l l i a m Saroyan,Damon Runyan,James Thurber, and Jean S t a f f o r d ; 

and i n Canada by the novels of one young Canadian which are , f o r 

a change, worth reading as l i t e r a t u r e , Hugh MacLennan. Other 

European n o v e l i s t s whose work i n t r a n s l a t i o n has been w i d e l y read 

and i n f l u e n t i a l throughout the l i t e r a t e world are Thomas ^ann, 

Franz Kafka, G a b r i e l Silone,Arthua? K o e s t l e r , Jean P a u l S a r t r e , 

A l b e r t Camus, K o n s t a n t i n Simonov, and Stephan Zweig. 

In c r i t i c i s m there are w r i t i n g : Santayana,Dewey,White-

head,Russell,Croce,Bergson and C a s s i r e r i n Philosophy; Mumford, 

P a r k e r , L i p p s , S p e n g l e r , and M a r i t a i n i n A e s t h e i c s ; I.A.Richards, 

T . S . E l i o t , Ivor W i n t e r s . W i l l i a m Empson and Herbert Read i n L i t -

e r a r y C r i t i c i s m ; Ogden & R i c h a r d s , T a r s k i , C h a r l e s M o r r i s , K o r -

z y b s k i and Hayakawa i n Semantics; Watson,:Dewey, D a s h i e l l , B i n e t , 

Thorndike,Yerkes,Terman i n Psychology; Freud, A d l e r , Jung i n 

P s y c h o - a n a l y s i s ; and Toynbee, Pareto, Sorokin,Spengler,Marx,Le-

n i n , T r o t s k y , B e r n a r d Shaw, Edmund Wilson, and Wyndham Lewis i n 

s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l a n a l y s i s . 

L i t e r a t u r e i n g e n e r a l has been a f f e c t e d by the i n f l u x of 

i d e a s and terminology from many other branches of human knowl-



-85-
edge. For example, i n the 'streara-of-consciousness' technique of 

Joyce i n the n o v e l , and i n the c h a r a c t e r a n a l y s e s employed i n the 

modern n o v e l the p s y c h o - a n a l y t i c t h e o r i e s of Freud and h i s c o l l -

eagues have heen i n f l u e n t i a l , as have the s o c i a l t h e o r i e s used i n 

the novel a l s o . In poetry, the ' a s s o c i a t i o n i s t ' and ' i m a g i s t ' 

p s y c h o l o g i c a l t h e o r i e s of p o e t i c meaning of Richards and Empson, 

and the t r a d i t i o n a l i s m of E l i o t have mixed to produce a new v e r b a l 

technique, and a new approach toward p o e t i c e x p r e s s i o n , and i t s 

c r i t i c a l e v a l u a t i o n . 

But i t i s i n the realm of the f i l m that the new v a l u e s 

and techniques of our s o c i e t y are most c l e a r l y v i s i b l e . The f i l m 

i s a c o o p e r a t i v e t e c h n i c a l undertaking, not the work of l o n e l y 

genius, though the c r e a t i v e a b i l i t y of the i n d i v i d u a l has found 

a h i g h l y p e r s o n a l o u t l e t here a l s o . A young c r i t i c of the f i l m 

has had t h i s to say about i t s position today, i n a recent a r t i c l e 

i n the A t l a n t i c Monthly... 

• The monumental coraitragedies of C h a p l i n , the v i g o r o u s ab-
s u r d i t i e s of Mack Sennett,Walt Disney's animated world of f a n -
tasy,and some memorable f i l m s from s u c h ' d i r e c t o r s as Von S t r o -
heim,Murnau,Vidor,Ford,Milestone,Wyler — i n the long run 
these remarkably mature achievements f o r an i n f a n t a r t may b a l -
ance the ..sins;.of tas;elessness,unimaginativene8s,, .and ; a r t i s t i c -
a m o r a l i t y a m a j o r i t y of American f i l m makers have committed 
s y s t e m a t i c a l l y f o r g e n e r a t i o n s . 
. . '"•-These 'of fenders .nave t a k e n an instrument as s e n s i t i v e , 
as d e l i c a t e l y balanced, as capable 'of i n d e s c r i b a b l e beauty 
and s u b t l e emotion as the f i n e s t Steinway; they have set 
themselves b e f o r e the l a r g e s t audience i n the h i s t o r y of the 
world — and have proceeded to p l a y c h o p s t i c k s . 

"For w i t h h a l f a century of m o t i o n - p i c t u r e e x h i b i t i o n be-
h i n d us i t i s h i g h time we were honest w i t h o u r s e l v e s and 
our g r e a t machine f o r making a r t . Hollywood f i n i s h e s at l e a s t 
one f e a t u r e - l e n g t h p i c t u r e every.day of the year, and. s i x of 
the seven turned out are j u s t p l a i n c h o p s t i c k s , the same tune 
everybody knows,repeated i n a repeated s e r i e s of r e p e t i t i o n s . 

"How can i t be t h a t the only n a t i o n i n the world with a 
t r a d i t i o n of popular education produces 98 m i l l i o n movie-
goers a week who h a p p i l y keep on paying t h e i r two b i t s , f o u r 



-86-
b i t s , s i x "bits (and sometimes three times that much) to see 
and hear c h o p s t i c k s year i n and year out ? 

"What's the t r o u b l e ? Is i t j u s t that Hollywood i s a 
low pressure a r e a i n our n a t i o n a l c u l t u r e ? Itfsnot q u i t e 
so simple as the easy c o n c l u s i o n that Hollywood's h i e r a r c h y 
i s composed of a breed i n f e r i o r to the g e n e r a l p u b l i c . In-
stead, too o f t e n t h e i r short-comings l i e i n t h e i r r e l u c -
tance to l i f t themselves above the lowest common denomin-
a t o r of p u b l i c t a s t e . How to r a i s e the standard of a l l our 
mass-consumption a r t s i s the b a s i c problem; Hollywood i s 
merely an outstanding and s p e c t a c u l a r example. The a e s t h e t -
i c bankruptcy that puts "Stage Door Canteen" onto the A l l 
Time L i s t of Box O f f i c e Champios (while f i l m s of l e s s ob-
v i o u s a t t r a c t i o n l i k e * T h e Informer" and "The Ox-bow I n c i -
dent" are l u c k y i f they get t h e i r c o s t s b a c k ) , t h a t permits 
tens of m i l l i o n s to enjoy movies that are f a l s e , s h a l l o w , 
and c l i c h e - c l u t t e r e d , i s the same I d i o t Muse t h a t enables 
c o u n t l e s s r a d i o - l i s t e n e r s to submit uncomplainingly to the 
b r a i n - c r u s h i n g b a n a l i t i e s of the soap operas and.the rout-
i n e t e r r o r s . Sex, not as d e f i n e d by Hemingway but as dished 
up by Kathleen Winsor. Crime, not as p e n e t r a t e d by D o s t o i -
e v s k i but as b a t t e d out by E r i e S t a n l e y Gardner. Love, not 
as d i g n i f i e d by T o l s t o y but as s t a n d a r d i z e d , s t r e a m l i n e d , 
and sweetened to t a s t e (everybody la) i n our radio-shows,love 
magazines and movies. Is t h i s the p r i c e we have to pay f o r 
being not the best-educated people i n the world but merely 
the most l i t e r a t e , w i t h more l e i s u r e than we know what to 
do with, and so much money f o r r e c r e a t i o n that the r e c r e a -
t i v e p u r s u i t s must be geared to mass-production ?" 25. 

The problem of a r t today, t h e r e f o r e , seems to me to be not 

one of decadence but one of d i r e c t i o n . We have a s u f f i c i e n t l y 

f l o u r i s h i n g t e c h n i c a l a b i l i t y producing even the new art-forms 

of r a d i o and f i l m to say t h a t we are i n a p e r i o d of c u l t u r a l 

movement r a t h e r than one of t u r g i d i t y . But the e s s e n t i a l quest-

i o n s of d i r e c t i o n and value are everywhere being posed by the 

s i t u a t i o n not of the a r t s alone, but of human c u l t u r e g e n e r a l l y . 

I have attempted above a survey of western c i v i l i z a t i o n , i n 

terms of i t s motive f o r c e s , i t s main c u l t u r a l movements and 

t h e i r r e s i d u e i n the a r t s , and i t s c o n c l u d i n g phase p o i n t i n g 

toward a new c u l t u r a l upsurge, i n the a r c h i t e c t u r a l a c t i v i t y 

noted above, and i n the new b a l l a d - a r t of the f i l m . I t remains 

to evaluate t h e i r p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r achievement today. 
25, Budd S c h u l b e r g , o p . c i t . . A t l a n t i c Monthly. November,1947. 



- 8 7 -
Chapter Four : The Concept o f A r t i n R e l a t i o n to 

the Economic B a s i s o f Living,Examined, 

and the P o s s i b i l i t y F o r Free C r e a t i v e 

Development under the two Economic 

Forms Current Today a s s e s s e d . 



«88-* 
The e x p r e s s i o n o f the p o e t i c impulse i n the a r t - r e c o r d s 

we possess has been seen to m i r r o r the process of c u l t u r a l 

change. Greek a r t we have seen b u i l d i n g on the remains of My-

cenean and Cretan c i v i l i z a t i o n s ; e a r l y C h r i s t i a n art,Romanesque 

and what i s known as s p e c i f i c a l l y 'western' a r t we have seen 

developing w i t h i n the d i s i n t e g r a t i n g Roman Empire; and s i m i l a r -

l y , I contend, the e a r l i e s t e x p r e s s i o n of a new World-Art can 

now be seen emerging , w i t h i n the s t i l l e x i s t e n t framework of 

t y p i c a l l y 'western' a r t t and c i v i l i z a t i o n g e n e r a l l y . 

Just as r o o t s of much of t h i s t y p i c a l l y western a r t can 

be seen to be c l a s s i c a l or Semitic i n o r i g i n , although complete-
l y e n f e o f f e d w i t h i n the western i d e a l , i n a s i m i l a r way, the 

s i g n s of the new world c i v i l i z a t i o n have developed w i t h i n a l -

ready e x i s t e n t forms...double-entry book-keeping b e i n g invented 

i n the 15th century; manufacturing processes b e i n g f i r s t based 

on h a n d c r a f t s ; l a r g e b u s i n e s s monopolies u s i n g the i d e a of the 

l a r g e land-monopolies of f e u d a l Europe and decadent ^ome; new 

i n d u s t r i a l designs employing f i r s t the d e c o r a t i v e t r a d i t i o n a l 

p a t t e r n s , and only l a t e l y e v o l v i n g t h e i r own completely func .'-

t i o n a l formal expression.' World-Art g e n e r a l l y has thus evolved 

w i t h i n the t e c h n i c a l e x p r e s s i v e n e s s c r e a t e d by western c i v i l i -

z a t i o n . 

We can t r a c e , i n the r e s i d u a l a f t - o b j e c t s of d i f f e r e n t 

p e r i o d s , the c u l t u r a l changes i n emphasis. The u r b a n i z a t i o n of 

Roman s o c i e t y w i t h i t s attendant s o p h i s t i c a t e d Empire-values 

was d e r i v a t i v e from the change i n p r o d u c t i v e b u s i n e s s and. farm-

i n g methods, and t h i s change i s v i s i b l e i n the a r t i s t i c and eng-

i n e e r i n g works e x p r e s s i v e of the p e r i o d : f o r sample,in Ovidian 



-89-
s a t i r e o f p r e v i o u s l y accepted s o c i a l mores; i n the d e t a i l e d and 
w e l l organized system of Roman Law; and i n the t e c h n i c a l e x c e l -

lence and widespread development of the durable Roman Roads. 
S i m i l a r l y , i n the f e u d a l i z a t i o n of western (European) 

s o c i e t y w i t h i t s change i n the productive u n i t to the feudal 
estate and i t s acceptance of the idea of f e a l t y to such a feudal 
l o r d , was t y p i c a l l y expressed i n the c h i v a l r i c romances of the 
p e r i o d ; i n the chamber music composed,during i t s l a s t stages,for 
the small p r i v a t e orchestras of the f e u d a l courts and i n the 
part s i n g i n g which accompanied or was interspersed...among the inst-
rumental music;, i n the. transformation of the country-dancing of 
the peasants i n t o the court-dance-forms p r e v i o u s l y noted; and i n 
the decorative a r t s of the costumer,. the armourer, and of those 
attendant a r t s of embroidery and tapestry-work. 

The growth of the c i t i e s , the spread of trade, the con-
c e n t r a t i o n of the c r a f t s i n the c i t y g u i l d s , can a l s o be seen 
to have i n f l u e n c e d expression i n the a r t s by i n c r e a s i n g the rate 
of s e c u l a r i z a t i o n of the subject-matter used and the formal 
patterns employed - i n music, the popular performances of the 
e a r l y opera;in the musical accompaniment f o r the dance; i n the 
drama, the gradual change from the m i r a c l e and mystery-plays to 
those of the r i c h and s o p h i s t i c a t e d E l i z a b e t h a n t h e a t r e ; i n 
a r c h i t e c t u r e , the b u i l d i n g of such magnificent s e c u l a r e d i f i c e s 
as the g u i l d h a l l s and town-halls; and i n general, a change from 
the J f e u d a l c h i v a l r i c and r e l i g i o u s values to those of c u r i o s i t y 
and the urge f o r knowledge i s mirrored i n the l i f e of the p e r i o d 
e s p e c i a l l y i n the s c i e n t i f i c enquiry of the whole age of the 
Renaissance -to-modern. 



- 9 0 -
With the change in methods in the industrial revolution we 

arrive at similar perceptible changes in social values, and in 
art-expression in the emergence of bourgeois Romanticism and 
proletarian Realism. 

If we can accept(with reservations) the Spenglerian tne-
ofy of culture-patterns as exclusive wholes during their time 
of flowering, I think we must s t i l l see the process of culture 
in the whole world as a gradually expanding circle of influence, 
as a gradually more inclusive unit within which living together 
can become more meaningful and gracious, and that today we must 
see that there are only global limits to our culture, and that 
this presents an even more pressing necessity for social cooper-
ation within that large unit, while at the same time i t makes 
possible an enriched cultural expression. 

My thesis is this : that Spengler's analysis of western 
culture ( developing into Gothic,expressing i t s e l f most f u l l y 
in Baroque, and declining in the following bourgeois decorativ-
ism) can be accepted a s illuminating the superstructure of 
social ^values by showing the interrelationship of the cultural 
drives of the arts, sciences,mathematics.a,and philosophy of any 
cultural pattern. It does no less certainly pervert however, or 
ignore, the basic importance of methods of economic production, 
though he does note the surface effects of industrial change, 
which has largely resulted in the sterile art-forms which Speng-
ler notes. But, and here i s my main point of disagreement, Speng-
ler ignores the basic changes wrought by those changes in method 
and sees the present as an extension of the exclusively western 
culture, decadent, save for development in technics. In contra-



- 9 1 -
d i s t i n c t i o n to t h i s , I see the p r e s e n t as a p e r i o d of beginnings 

of a new c u l t u r e , world-wide i n scope, u t i l i z i n g the media of 

a r t - e x p r e s s i o n developed w i t h i n western c i v i l i z a t i o n j u s t as 

the west used the language and law of -Rome, the r e l i g i o n of 

Jewish C h r i s t i a n i t y , the s c i e n c e and p h i l o s o p h y of Greece, and 

c r e a t i n g , a s the west d i d , i t s own motive power, and i t s own 

t y p i c a l l y e x p r e s s i v e statement i n the v a l u e s i n h e r e n t i n good 

machine design, and i n the new art-forms of r a d i o and f i l m . 

My f i r s t and major p o i n t of c o n t e n t i o n i s w i t h Spengler's 

theory of 'the form-world of economic lifefjiwhich i s the t i t l e 

of Chapter T h i r t e e n of Volume Two) i n d i s c u s s i n g which he says: 

" A l l economic l i f e i s the e x p r e s s i o n of a s o u l - l i f e " . In terms 

of order t h i s statement would seeia to mean t h a t Spengler f e e l B 

t h a t our ' s o u l - l i f e ' , our c r e a t i v e genius, shapes v i s i b l y and 

expresses our economic modes. My p o i n t of view i s a r e v e r s a l of 

t h i s • 

My second p o i n t of c o n t e n t i o n i s w i t h the theory that 

c u l t u r e i s 'dying' today. 

These two p o i n t s of c o n t e n t i o n f i t together i n the f o l -

lowing manner. ' 

I f the s o u l - l i f e d i r e c t s the economic, then the f a c t ( a s 

Spengler contends) that our s o u l - l i f e i s dying out w i t h the 

gradual w i t h e r i n g of our c u l t u r e , should mean that economic-

a l l y speaking, western c u l t u r e i s e q u a l l y d i s i n t e g r a t i n g . And 

i f he means only s p e c i f i c a l l y ' w e s t e r n ' c u l t u r e and economic 

l i f e , I f e e l that there i s no o b j e c t i o n to t h i s statement. But 

s i n c e even Spengler h i m s e l f admits i n h i s schema of development 

that i t i s the l a t e p e r i o d of m e g a l i p o l i t a n decadence(today) 



-92-
i n which economics f l o u r i s h e s , I f e e l t h i s i s an e f f o r t to f i t 

i n an important c o n t r a d i c t i o n which shows the' f o l l y of h i s order 

and i n d i c a t e s the r e a l order, from economic f o r m - l i f e to a r t -

r a t h e r than h i s reverse p a t t e r n . 

T h i s p o i n t seems important to me. I f the c o r r e c t r e l a t i o n 

between the c r e a t i v e f a c t o r i n man and the economic p a t t e r n of 

l i f e can be e s t a b l i s h e d , t h i s r e l a t i o n may be some b a s i s f o r a 

meaningful prognosis f o r the f u t u r e development of the c r e a t i v e 

a r t s w i t h i n the two e x i s t e n t economic p a t t e r n s of today. 

Spengler's whole s e c t i o n on the economic f o r m - l i f e seems 

to me to be m y s t i c i s m rampant, which though i l l u m i n a t i n g i n i t s 

comparisons of culture-Sat t e r n s , performs t h i s a c t of i l l u m i n a -

t i o n i n such a deep purple romantic glow as to be suspect 

"Man", he says," has l i s t e n e d - i n to the march of IMature and 
made notes of i t s i n d i c e s . He begins to i m i t a t e i t by means 
and methods that u t i l i z e the laws of the cosmic pulse...The 
stock of such d i s c o v e r i e s grew and grew. Often they were 
made and f o r g o t t e n and made again, were imitated,shunned, 
improved. But i n the end they c o n s t i t u t e d f o r whole c o n t i n -
ents a s t o r e of s e l f - e v i d e n t means - f i r e , m e t a l - w o r k i n g , i n -
struments,arms,ploughs,boats,houses,animal- taiming and hus-
bandry...On t h i s foundation, now r i s e s the h i g h e r C u l t u r e s , 
e x p r e s s i v e i n q u a l i t y and c o l o u r and p a s s i o n of the whole 
s o u l of these major e n t i t i e s . I t need h a r d l y be s a i d that 
C l a s s i c a l Man, who f e l t h i m s e l f and h i s environment a l i k e 
E u c l i d e a n , s e t h i m s e l f a p r i o r i i n h o s t i l e o p p o s i t i o n to the 
v e r y i d e a of technique...Very d i f f e r e n t i s the E a u s t i a n 
t e c h n i c s , which w i t h a l l i t s p a s s i o n of the t h i r d dimension 
and from e a r l i e s t Gothic days, t h r u s t s i t s e l f upon nature, 
w i t h the f i r m r e s o l v e to be i t s master. Here and here only, 
i s the connection of i n s i g h t and u t i l i z a t i o n a matter of 
course. Theory i s working h y p o t h e s i s from the s t a r t . . . T h e 
P a u s t i a n i n v e n t o r and d i s c o v e r o r i s a unique type. The prim* 
i t i v e f o r ce of h i s w i l l , the b r i l l i a n c e of h i s v i s i o n s , t h e 
s t e e l y energy of h i s p r a c t i c a l ponderings must appear queer 
and incomprehensible f o r anyone at the standpoint of another 
c u l t u r e , but f o r us they are i n the blood...They l i s t e n e d to 
the laws of the cosmic pulse i n order to overpower i t . And 
so they c r e a t e d the machine as a small cosmos obeying the w i l l 
of man alone...As the horse-powers run to m i l l i o n s and m i n -
i m i s , the numbers of the p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e and i n c r e a s e on 
a s c a l e t h a t not other c u l t u r e thought p o s s i b l e . T h i s growth 
i s a prodxcct of the machine. »pfi 

25.Spengler,op.cit.,pp s .500-506. 



-93-

Spengler sees three stages i n the development of the economic 
f o r m - l i f e : that of p r o d u c t i o n , the mode of the peasant; that of 

trade, the mode of the middleman; and one between these two, a 

p r e p a r a t o r y stage, or economy of t e c h n i c s which he c a l l s the mode 

of the c r a f t s , i n d u s t r i e s and c a l l i n g s . But nowehere does he 

see a group who c o u l d be c a l l e d a 'working-class', s a y i n g : 

"In a c t u a l i t y there i s an almost uncountable number of 
p u r e l y s e r v i n g a c t i v i t i e s i n workshop,and counting-houses, 
o f f i c e and cargo-deck,roads,mines,fields,and meadows;;;. 
A l l these t h i n g s are q u i t e i n c a p a b l e of b e i n g compared 
among themselves.. .farm-labourers,bank-clerks,and. t a i l o r ' s 
hands l i v e i n p e r f e c t l y d i f f e r e n t economic worlds". 27 

I have quoted Spengler a t t h i s l e n g t h to make clea,r the sense 

i n which I have accused him - the e s s e n t i m l romanticism of h i s 

thought. To my way of t h i n k i n g he ignores the b a s i c i s s u e i n h i s 

schematic p r e s e n t a t i o n . One could say, r a t h e r , that there are 

these s t a g e s . . . I n d i v i d u a l s , making a l i v i n g 

Groups, making a l i v i n g and then go on to 

s p e c i f y the ways i n which the l i v i n g s are made as 

Marauding S o c i e t i e s 
Hunting,and F i s h i n g S o c i e t i e s . 
Hunting,Fishing,and A g r i c u l t u r a l s o c i e t i e s . 
H u n t i n g , F i s h i n g , A g r i c . , and Trading S o c i e t i e s . 
H u n t i n g , F i s h i n g , A g r i c . , T r a d i n g , and I n d u s t r i a l Soc. 

and then f i n a l l y , note the method of enonomic o r g a n i z a t i o n used 

as Group cooperation, f o r group use 
Some group c o o p e r a t i o n , f o r the p r o f i t of certain 

parts of the group, i n a competitive economy. 

T h i s d i f f e r e n c e i n the b a s i c m o t i v a t i o n s of the whole group 

would, I f e e l , a f f e c t the way every stage of c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t y 

developed; on the one hand a l l o w i n g f o r the f u l l development of 

every member, and on the other, e n f o r c i n g only p a r t i a l or d i s t o r t -

ed development on the m a j o r i t y of the group. 

27. Spengler,op.cit.,pps.479-80 



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To support t h i s c o n t e n t i o n I would l i k e to c i t e i n e v i -

dence the c u l t u r e - a n a l y s e s made hy Ruth Benedict and p u b l i s h e d 

i n her book,"Patterns of C u l t u r e " , i n which she t e l l s of the 

c u l t u r a l h a b i t s of many groups, among them the c o n t r a s t i n g Do-

buan and T r o b r i a n d groups, o f f the southern shores of e a s t e r n 

New Guinea..."The Dobuans amply deserve the c h a r a c t e r they are 

g i v e n by t h e i r neighbours. They are l a w l e s s and treacherous; 
every man's hand i s a g a i n s t every other man. They l a c k the 
smoothly working o r g a n i z a t i o n of the T r o b r i a n d s , headed by 
honoured c h i e f s and m a i n t i a n i n g p e a c e f u l and r e c i p r o c a l ex-
changes of food and p r i v i l e g e s . Dobu has no c h i e f s . I t cer-
t a i n l y has no p o l i t i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n . In a s t r i c t sense i t 
has no l e g a l i t y . And t h i s i s not because the Dobuans l i v e i n 
a s t a t e of anarchy,Rousseau•s ' n a t u r a l man' as y e t unhampered 
by the s o c i a l c o n t r a c t , but because the s o c i a l forms which 
o b t a i n i n Dobu put a premium on i l l - w i l l and t r e a c h e r y and 
make them the r e c o g n i z e d v i r t u e s of t h e i r s o c i e t y . " 28i 

My p o i n t here i s to show how i n a p r i m i t i v e s o c i a l group 

of the a g r i c u l t u r e - w i t h - a - l i t t l e - f i s h i n g - v a r i e t y , the ownership 

or non-ownership i n common of the l a n d and seed yams can make 

r a d i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n the customs a r i s i n g from t h i s , to me, 

primary d i f f e r e n c e between themm.....,.. 

"The j e a l o u s y and s u p i c i o n " , M i s s Benedict goes on,"the f i e r c e 
e x c l u s i v e n e s s of ownership that a r c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Dobu 
are a l l i n the for.egoround of Dobuan marriage, but i t i s im-
p o s s i b l e to giiue them f u l l weight u n t i l we have considered 
a l s o t h e i r manner of l i f e i n other r e s p e c t s . The m o t i v a t i o n s 
that run through a l l Dobuan e x i s t e n c e are s i n g u l a r l y l i m i t e d . 
..In themselves they have the s i m p l i c i t y of mania. A l l e x i s -
tence i s c u t - t h r o a t competition, and every advantage i s gained 
a t the expense of a d e f e a t e d r i v a l . . . t h e good man, the suc-
c e s s f u l man, i s he who has cheated another of h i s p l a c e . " 29. 

"There i s no c a s u a l coming and going i n Dobu. A path l e a d s 
around the o u t s k i r t s of each v i l l a g e , and those who are p r i v -
i l e g e d to approach so near, s k i r t the settlement by t h i s path. 
As we s h a l l see, a f t e r t h e i r f a t h e r ' s death, the c h i l d r e n of 
the men of the v i l l a g e have not even t h i s p r i v i l e g e of ap-
proach. I f the f a t h e r i s s t i l l l i v i n g , o r i f i t i s the v i l l a g e 
of t h e i r spouse, they may enter by. i n v i t a t i o n . A l l others pass 
around by the path. They may not stop. Not even r e l i g i o u s c e r -
emonies,nor h a r v e s t f e a s t s , n o r t r i b a l i n i t i a t i o n s , c a l l the 



-95-
people together promiscuously, f o r Dobu does not s p e c i a l i z e 
i n such o c c a s i o n s . In the centre of the v i l l a g e a grave-
yard takes the p l a c e of the open communal dance-plaza of 
the T r o b r i a n d s " . 30. 

T h i s seems to p o i n t to the c e n t r a l agency of economic forms as 

determining the other v a l u e s of a s o c i a l group, while i n a s t a t e 

of c o n s i d e r a b l e a c t i v i t y w i t h them , as the modes of the econ-

omic l i f e become more complex. 

I t may w e l l be that, owing to our i n a d e q u a t e l y r e a l i z e d system 
of c o o p e r a t i o n ( i n our e x i s t i n g 'Dobuan' i n t e r n a t i o n a l condi-
t i o n ) , the f i n a l end of western c i v i l i z a t i o n w i l l not be the 
g r a d u a l w i t h e r i n g process i n r e a c t i o n to the g r a d u a l b i r t h of a 
world c i v i l i z a t i o n - p a t t e r n but that i t may come w i t h a c o n c l u -
s i v e e x p l o s i v e gesture, wiping the s l a t e c l e a n again f o r another 
long s t r u g g l i n g p e r i o d of c u l t u r a l beginnings, i f i t does not 
a n n h i l a t e a l l c u l t u r e and l i f e , but as Dewey has remarked t h i s 
e n t a i l s too g r e a t a degree of s o c i a l waste. In h i s "Human Nature 
and Conduct", he comments o n the phrase ' h i s t o r y as a process 
of r e - b a r b a r i z a t i o n ' as c u l t u r e s change, saying that today t h i s 
i s too expensive a process as there are fewer 'new' peoples l e f t 
to perform the f u n c t i o n of breaking-up what he c a l l s ' c u l t u r a l 
a r t e r i o - s c l e r o s i s ' , and e s p e c i a l l y so, s i n c e we possess the t o o l 
of c u l t u r a l l o n g e v i t y i n u n i v e r s a l e d u c a t i o n . But , Dewey c r i t -
i c i z e s . ... "The weight of a d u l t custom has been thrown upon r e -

t a i n i n g and s t r e n g t h e n i n g tendencies toward conformity, 
and a g a i n s t those which make f o r v a r i a t i o n and inde-
pendence ....And yet the i n t i m a t i o n never wholly d e s e r t s 
us that there i s i n the unformed a c t i v i t i e s of c h i l d -
hood and youth (those which work toward e x p l o r a t i o n , 
d i s c o v e r y , and c r e a t i o n , ) the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of a b e t t e r 
l i f e f o r the community as w e l l as f o r i n d i v i d u a l s here 
and t h e r e . " 

31. 
28,29,30...Ruth Benedict,op.cit.,pps.120-1,130-1,122-3. 
31.Dewey,op.cit.,pps.96-99. 



— 9.6--

There would seem to be more hope f o r the type of e d u c a t i o n -

a l process , whose p o s s i b i l i t y Dewey mentions, i n a s o c i e t y 

where i t i s not to the vested i n t e r e s t of a powerful group to 

r e t a i n unchanging c u l t u r e - p a t t e r n s . I t seems to me that i n a 

c o o p e r a t i v e s o c i e t y i n which adequate p r o v i s i o n had been made 

f o r the u t i l i z a t i o n of a l l the c a p a c i t i e s of a l l people there 

would be an enormous fund of a c t i v e c r e a t i v e a b i l i t y which c o u l d 

be c a l l e d upon f o r t h i s c o n t i n u a l improvement of the commun-

i t y ( the world) as a. whole. 

A planned economy of t h i s s o r t , i n which a l l the important 

resources of the country are owned by the country and operated 

i n i t s i n t e r e s t s as a whole e x i s t s today, at l e a s t i n embryo, 

i n Russia, France, Jugo-Slavia,Mexico, and England. In the ab-

sence o f reputable and o b j e c t i v e c r i t i c i s m of t h e i r progress 

i n the a r t s we can only hope that they do p r o g r e s s . 

However, a book p u b l i s h e d r e c e n t l y of some use i n t h i s r e s -

pect i s the 'Seven S o v i e t A r t s ' , w r i t t e n by a non-Russian who 

i s anything but s u b s e r v i e n t to what i s known as 'the p a r t y - l i n e ' 

s i n c e he does q u e s t i o n the' amount of i n t e l l e c t u a l c e n s o r s h i p , 

and i t does seem to be a r a t i o n a l e v a l u a t i o n of the o p p o r t u n i t y 

of the a r t i s t and the d i r e c t i o n which the a r t s are t a k i n g . I t 

does not present overwhelming evidence of genius but i t sket-

ches i n the extremely complex o r g a n i z a t i o n i n v o l v e d i n o f f e r i n g 

the e d u c a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s to students, i n s u p p o r t i n g journey-

men and a p p r e n t i c e a r t i s t s while they p r a c t i c e t h e i r a r t , and 

f o r employing the mature a r t i s t as a,major s o c i a l c o n t r i b u t o r , 

not a mere d e c o r a t o r or e n t e r t a i n e r . The book g i v e s some i d e a 



- 9 7 -
of the scope of the p o s s i b i l i t i e s i n government sponsored a r t -

i s t i c and s c i e n t i f i c a c t i v i t y , and i t i l l u m i n a t e s the reason 

why such a p r o j e c t as the U.S.A.-sponsored WPA was so i n e v i t -

a b l y w a s t e f u l , s i n c e the 1 consumer' of the a r t - o b j e c t s i t prod-

uced had not been i n t e r e s t e d i n them, and remained to a l a r g e 

degree untouched by t h i s work of s o c i a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n . 

The a r t s t y p i c a l l y a f f e c t e d by a process of change toward a 

a world c i v i l i z a t i o n are those of a r c h i t e c t u r e and communica-

t i o n . T h i s i s a f u n c t i o n a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s i n c e the new machines 

of the p e r i o d had to be s t o r e d or housed i n f a c t o r i e s , the new 

goods s o l d i n s t o r e s , the newly concentrated commerce c a r r i e d on 

i n huge o f f i c e b u i l d i n g s and banks, and the new c l a s s e s of i n d -

u s t r i a l workers housed i n p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g s and apartment b u i l d -

i n g s . Here, can be seen the b e a u t i f u l p o s s i b i l i t i e s and s o r d i d 

a c t u a l i t i e s of i n d u s t r i a l d e s i g n . The b e s t of t h i s new a r c h i t e c -

ture was, and i s , b u i l t to f u l f i l a s p e c i f i c need, and not to 

provide o u t l e t s f o r the e x p r e s s i o n of p u r e l y d e c o r a t i v e i d e a s . 

And i n t h i s we can see the s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e p o i n t e d out 

by Mumford i n h i s "Technics and C i v i l i z a t i o n * ' i n the s e c t i o n 

devoted to the " A e s t h e t i c A s s i m i l a t i o n of the Machine". The i n d -

u s t r i a l problems can be met i n terms of a e s t h e t i c a l l y p l e a s i n g 

design - the Van N e l l e F a c t o r y a t Rotterdam demonstrates that -

but no l o n g e r are the designs e x p r e s s i v e of the t r a i t o f c o n s p i c -

uous waste' e v i d e n t i n the l o v i n g l y e l a b o r a t e d hand-carved de-

t a i l s of the Gothic c a t h e d r a l s . These b u i l d i n g s are r a t h e r i l l u s -

t r a t i v e of the new and e q u a l l y t y p i c a l t r a i t of 'conspicuous ec-

onomy' e v i d e n t i n a l l good machine d e s i g n . 

We do see, t h e r e f o r e , today, that world c u l t u r e i s emerg-



-98-
i n g everywhere on the globe i n the new methods of machine-produc-

t i o n , and i n communication. The very technique of that p r o d u c t i o n 

imposes a c e r t a i n i d e a l upon i t , t h a t of uniform economy, and i t 

i s my purpose to see how w e l l t h a t i d e a l i s e x p r e s s i b l e i n terms 

of the a r t of c o l l e c t i v i s t and c o m p e t i t i v e economic o r g a n i z a -

t i o n s • 

Mumford says t h a t whether our p o l i t i c a l or economic org-

a n i z a t i o n admits the f a c t or not our machines i n t h e i r v e r y es-

sence are communist.They are made to produce goods or other ma-

chines whose t y p i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i s t h e i r standard u n i f o r m i t y . 

No l o n g e r , he m a i n t a i n s , i s i t p o s s i b l e w i t h a e s t h e t i c honesty, 

to produce goods i m i t a t i n g the 'unique' q u a l i t y of the hand-made. 

Today i t i s r a t h e r p o s s i b l e to produce beautiful as well as func-
tional o b j e c t s whose uniformity of d e s i g n makes possible t h e i r 
mass p r o d u c t i o n , as improved means of communication and distrib-

u t i o n make possible t h e i r mass consumption i n the markets of the 
world. 

A reasonable usage of t h i s p o t e n t i a l i t y would r e s u l t i n the 

r e l e a s e of enormous s t o r e s of human energy now devoted to the 

s t e r i l i t i e s of a d v e r t i s i n g the q u a l i t y - g r a d e d m a t e r i a l possess-

i o n s which denote f o r t h i e r owners membership i n c l a s s r e s p e c t -

a b i l i t y . . Everyone everywhere c o u l d have r e a d i l y a c c e s s i b l e 

every m a t e r i a l o b j e c t r e q u i r e d f o r an e n r i c h e d and g r a c i o u s l i v -

i n g . 

But t h i s i n v o l v e s the acceptance of a planned p r o d u c t i o n , 

to a v o i d waste , and planned d i s t r i b u t i o n to a v o i d shortages, 

and t h i s i n v o l v e s p r o d u c t i o n f o r use and not f o r p r o f i t . Such a 

theory i s v i s i b l y hot o p e r a t i n g on t h i s c o n t i n e n t . 
In t h i s connection, Mumford*s a n a l y s i s of the economic pro-



-99-
cess i s so c l e a r ^ a n d s i g n i f i c a n t that I g i v e i t a t some l e n g t h . . 

"The. permanent g a i n that emerges from the whole process i s i n 
the r e l a t i v e l y non-material elements of c u l t u r e , i n the s o c i a l 
h e r i t a g e i t s e l f , i n the a r t s and s c i e n c e s , i n the t r a d i t i o n s and 
processes of technology, or d i r e c t l y i n l i f e i t s e l f , i n those 
•real;-enrichments: that'- come fr.om.- e x p l o i t a t i o n . r of; organic; ener-
gy i n thought and a c t i o n and emotional experience,' i n ' p l a y 
and adventure and drama and p e r s o n a l development - g a i n s t h a t 
l a s t through memory and communication beyond the immediate mo-
ment i n which they are enjoyed. In s h o r t , as John Ruskin put 
i t , "There i s no wealth but l i f e " , and what we c a l l wealth i s 
i n f a c t wealth only when i t i s a s i g n of p o t e n t i a l or a c t u a l 
v i t a l i t y . " 32. 

In o u t l i n i n g what he c o n s i d e r s the e s s e n t i a l processes i n r e -

l a t i o n to l i f e and energy, Mumford i s r a t h e r more r a t i o n a l than 

I have found Spengler to be, and he names these elementary pro-

cesses : "Conversion, p r o d u c t i o n , consumption, and c r e a t i o n " , 

and analyses the d i r e c t i o n of each thus... 

"In the f i r s t two steps, the energy i s s e i z e d and prepared 
f o r use f o r the sustenance of l i f e ; i n the t h i r d stage, l i f e 
i s supported and renewed' i n order that i t may wind i t s e l f up 
onto h i g h e r l e v e l s of thought and c u l t u r e (fourth),, r a t h e r 
than being s h o r t - c i r c u i t e d back i n t o the f i r s t p r e p a r a t o r y 

stages.. The amount of energy a v a i l a b l e f o r the f i n a l process 
depends upon ( l ) how much energy i s converted by a g r i c u l t u r e 
and t e c h n i c s a t the b e g i n n i n g , and (2) how much energy i s 
e f f e c t i v e l y a p p l i e d and conserved i n t r a n s m i s s i o n . Even the 
Qrudest s o c i e t y has some s u r p l u s . But under the c a p i t a l i s t 
system the main use of the s u r p l u s i s to serve as p r o f i t s 
which are an i n c e n t i v e to c a p i t a l investments, which i n t u r n 
i n c r e a s e p r o d u c t i o n . Hence the two massive and r e c u r r i n g f a c t s 
i n modern c a p i t a l i s m , an enormous over-expansion of danfi and 
equipment; second,an e x c e s s i v e d i v e r s i o n of energy and man-
power i n t o sales-promotion and d i s t r i b u t i o n . Other means of 
u t i l i z i n g t h i s s u r p l u s , such as education and c u l t u r a l be-
quests of v a r i o u s p h i l a n t h r o p i s t s , r e l i e v e some of the bur-
den of our inane waste from both the i n d i v i d u a l and i n d u s t r i a l 
s o c i e t y ; but there i s no c a p i t a l i s t theory of n o n - p r o f i t mak-
i n g e n t e r p r i s e s and of non-consumable goods. These f u n c t i o n s 
e x i s t a c c i d e n t a l l y by the grace of the p h i l a n t h r o p i s t s ; they 
have no r e a l p l a c e i n the system... The problem of c a p i t a l i s m 
i s e s s e n t i a l l y not to s a t i s f y needs but to create demands." 33 

My t h e s i s , i s that machine-society of today has produced, 

from the attendant a c t i v i t i e s to which i t g i v e s r i s e , a new-minted 

v e r s i o n of the humanist-coneept, of man's c e n t r a l value as the de-



-100-
s i g n e r of the"machine, the consumer of the p r o d u c t i v e c a p a c i t y , 

and the c r e a t i v e maker or user of the l e i s u r e time i t a f f o r d s . 

In c a p i t a l i s m , as Mumford has shown, c o n c l u s i v e l y I f e e l , t h i s 

v a l u a t i o n of man i s not evident, n e i t h e r i n the o r g a n i z a t i o n , 

nor i n the ends,or d i r e c t i o n , o f the development. 

The l a c k of v a l u a b l e r e l a t i o n between a r t and the other as-

pects o f man's l i f e i n c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y i s shown by the s t e r -

i l e conceptions of an 1 a r t - f o r - a r t ' s - s a k e ' e l i t e , separated from 

the r e a l and f u n c t i o n a l aspects of modern l i f e by a r e v u l s i o n 

from the f r a u d u l e n t v a l u e s encouraged by c o m p e t i t i v e p r o d u c t i o n , 

and v i s i b l e i n the work of the d i f f e r e n t ' s c h o o l s ' or 'isms' of 

t h i s d i l l e t a n t i s t approach to the p l a s t i c a r t s , and poetry, esp-

e c i a l l y ; i n D a d a - i s t and S u r r e a l i s t focus on the sub-conscious 

p a r t of man's l i v i n g , i n the p o e t r y of the Symboliste school 

which devotes i t s e l f e x c l u s i v e l y to e x p l o r i n g p e r s o n a l experience 

as separably from the s o c i a l being of man. 

I f t h i s form of more or l e s s f u n c t i o n l e s s a r t seems waste-

f u l , there i s an even lower category i n t o which the a r t i s t f a l l s 

under the c a p i t a l i s t - p a t t e r n of l i v i n g ; he may become the s l a v e -

d e c o r a t o r o£ the l i v e s of t h e . ' i d l e r i c h ' and the almost e q u a l l y 

blank l i v e s of the c a p i t a l i s t - p o o r . T h i s form of s l a v i s h l y 'bad' 

a r t , i f i t can be c a l l e d a r t a t a l l , takes many forms, u s u a l l y 

known today as the 'business' of Entertainment, a l l of the forms 

e q u a l l y r e c o g n i z a b l e by a v u l g a r i t y of c o n c e p t i o n and execution 

considered necessary f o r commercial success. The art-forms of the 

f i l m and r a d i o , because of t h e i r wide popular b a s i s , and the com-

p l e t e divorcement which has occurred between the l i v e s of people ai 

'32: and 33. Mum.fofd, "Technics and C i v i l i z a t i o n " , p p s . 3 7 7 8 , 3 7 4 - 5 - 7 . 



- 1 0 1 -

any meaningful a r t , i s p e c u l i a r l y s u s c e p t i b l e to t h i s form of 

v u l g a r i z a t i o n , as has been p r e v i o u s l y noted. The magazine and 

other communication a r t s share i t . a l s o , and i t i s -sometimes 

a p p a l l i n g l y apparent i n the f i e l d s of c l o t h i n g and housing, 

though there a l a s t v e s t i g e of f u n c t i o n a l i s m does u s u a l l y d i c -

t a t e decorum i f not o r i g i n a l i t y or beauty. These l a s t two coming 

c l o s e r to the a c t u a l l i v i n g of people, though they may be d i s -

t o r t e d , are themselves i n f l u e n c e d by the use made of them,and, 

e s s e n t i a l l y u g l y , b a d l y designed and c o n s t r u c t e d homes and c l o t h -

i n g fused w i t h the l i v e s and p e r s o n a l i t i e s of l i v i n g people be-

come more bearable than the excesses of the l e s s - t i e d a r t i s t 

working completely outside the framework of v a l u e s of l i f e todajj 

I t i s s t i l l p o s s i b l e to produce good a r t w i t h i n t h i s frame-

work as i t always p o s s i b l e , but the c o n d i t i o n s do not make f o r 

the r e g u l a r or i n any sense f r e q u e n t p r o d u c t i o n of such a r t . For 

one f i l m l i k e "The Grapes of Wrath", made from l i v i n g i d e a s and 

a v i t a l problem, we have hundreds of p o i n t l e s s comedies; f o r one 

n o v e l l i k e " U l y s s e s " , which remains meaningful i n i t s most ex-

p e r i m e n t a l use of language, we have hundreds of inadequate copy-

i s t s ; f o r one m a g n i f i c e n t Prank L l o y d Wright home, too many cop-

i e s of a n a c h r o n i s t i c designs; f o r one Gershwin melody, express-

i n g the jazzrhythms of h i s time, too many s e n t i m e n t a l d i t t i e s ; 

f o r one f a c t o r y making f u r n i ture from c r e a t i v e machine-designs, 

too many m a i l - o r d e r houses m i s - u s i n g the aame techniques to pro-

duce c o p i e s of ' a n t i q u e 1 , and t h e r e f o r e ' r e s p e c t a b l e ' designs; 

and f o r one r a d i o s e r i e s l i k e Norman Corwin's "One world" r e p o r t 

on h i s world-trip,toomany p e u r i l e gag-shows and soap operas. 



- 1 0 2 -
And the r e a l l y p e r n i c i o u s t h i n g ahout a l l t h i s i s t h a t 

i t i s perpetuated hy b e i n g passed on ( i n the form of r e q u i r e d 

h a b i t u a l responses,inadequate education, and a r t - m i s i n f o r m a t i o n ) 

to the f u t u r e i n the l i v e s of our c h i l d r e n . 

We have p e r f e c t e d many e x q u i s i t e a r t - f o r m s capable of s i g -

n i f i c a n t use i n the l e i s u r e made i n c r e a s i n g l y p o s s i b l e by tech-

n o l o g i c a l advances. Knowledge of,and a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n , 

these a r t - a c t i v i t i e s must be made i n c r e a s i n g l y a v a i l a b l e to wider 

c i r c l e s i f these art-forms are not to d i e out. I t has been r e l e -

v a n t l y s t a t e d that the mechanization of a r t , and the spreading 

' s p e c t a t o r 1 group able to l i s t e n or watch t h i s mechanized process 

and the d e c r e a s i n g amount of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the process of a r t 

by amateurs,causes l e s s v i t a l and d i s c r i m i n a t i n g c r i t i c i s m of the 

c r e a t i v e processes, and may even l e a d to the c e s s a t i o n of the 

c r e a t i v e motive. 

T h i s danger can be seen i n almost every a r t which has be-

come more or l e s s a v a i l a b l e to a l e s s d i s c r i m i n a t i n g p u b l i c who 

have no knowledge of the t e c h n i c a l aspect of t h e i r pleasure,and 

i s making a r e a l l y a r t i s t i c a l l y aware p u b l i c a narrowing r a t h e r 

than a widening r e a l i t y . So that though we can see the i n c r e a s e d 

p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r s i g n i f i c a n t l i v i n g today, we can a l s o see the 

dangers of the process of mechanization. Can we c o n t r o l t h i s man-

i f e s t l y p o s s i b l e r i c h e s s e , or are we l i k e Dukas' ' s o r c e r e r ' s ap-

p r e n t i c e ' going to be completely deluged by i t s unleashed demonic 

power ? 

-The p h i l o s o p h i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of t h i s q u e s t i o n are r e a l -

i z e d by a r t i s t s today. There are always , i n a l l p e r i o d s , rare 

i n t e l l e c t s who use t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t i e s meaningfully.And 



- 1 0 3 -
i n many a r t i s t s working today these a r t i s t i c g i f t s are being used 

w i t h honesty and d i f f i c u l t y to express the p o s i t i v e v a l u e s of 

the p r e s e n t , and c r i t i c a l l y to assess our s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n , and 

i t ' i s i n t h e i r work that the new c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n I have been des-

c r i b i n g can be seen e v o l v i n g . Witness to t h i s there i s i n some 

p l e n t y . . . t h e p r e v i o u s l y mentioned "Grapes of Wrath" of Steinbeck; 

C l i f f o r d Odets' f i l m , "None But The L o n e l y Heart"; Diego R i v e r a ' s 

r e v o l u t i o n a r y use of f r e s c o e ; E n g l i s h a r c h i t e c t u r a l designs f o r 

new schools b u i l t d u r i n g recent bombardments; and the work of 

the Chinese l i t e r a r y a r t i s t s i n a i d of t h e i r country's enormous 

e d u c a t i o n a l needs. 

We can hope that some u n i v e r s a l l y adopted scheme of coop-

e r a t i v e l i v i n g w i l l outlaw war, by r e n d e r i n g i t unnecessary; w i l l 

a b o l i s h a d v e r t i s i n g by b a n i s h i n g want; and w i l l make p o s s i b l e 

the c r e a t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n l i v i n g by everyone everywhere which 

i s necessary i f we are to f u l l y r e a l i z e the i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r an 

e n r i c h e d l i v i n g we have seen to be p o s s i b l e i n our stage of t e c h -

n o l o g i c a l .advancement. 

I would l i k e to conclude w i t h an e n u n c i a t i o n from Diego 

R i v e r a ' s " P o r t r a i t of America" 

"The s o c i a l development of our time i s a continuous ac-
c e l e r a t e d march towards c o l l e c t i v i z a t i o n . . . T o m o r r o w , a r c h -
i t e c t u r e , the mother of a l l the p l a s t i c a r t s , w i l l be r a t i o n -
a l i z e d , w i l l slough o f f the l e p r o u s s c a l e s of i t s t r a d i t i o n -
a l •rnamentation and vomit the u s e l e s s trumpery and h o r r i b l e 
gingerbread adornments from i t s w a l l s , i n order to s u b s t i -
tute f o r these a d w e l l i n g whose b r i g h t w a l l s are s p l e n d i d -
l y i l l u m i n a t e d by great spaces of g l a s s and l i g h t - a d w e l l -
i n g s u i t a b l e to the c e r e b r a l f u n c t i o n i n g of c i v i l i z e d man 
who has conquered h i m s e l f by means of the machine he has 
b u i l t . " 



E p i l o g u e : 11 S o c i e t y i s indeed a c o n t r a c t . . .But the 

S t a t e ought not to be c o n s i d e r e d as 

n o t h i n g b e t t e r than a p a r t n e r s h i p agree-

ment... to be taken up f o r a l i t t l e temp-

o r a r y i n t e r e s t , and to be d i s s o l v e d by 

the fancy o f the p a r t i e s 

I t i s a p a r t n e r s h i p i n a l l s c i e n c e ; 

a p a r t n e r s h i p i n a l l a r t ; a p a r t n e r s h i p 

i n every v i r t u e , a n d i n a l l p e r f e c t i o n . 

And,as the ends o f such a p a r t n e r s h i p 

cannot be o b t a i n e d i n many g e n e r a t i o n s , 

i t becomes a p a r t n e r s i p not o n l y between 

those who are g i v i n g , but between those 

who are l i v i n g , t h o s e who are dead, and 

those who are to be born," 

Edmund Burke 



Appendix A, : B i b l i o g r a p h y , c o v e r i n g the f i e l d o f the 
primary sources, and c r i t i c a l s t u d i e s , 
o f which my r e a d i n g has c o n s i s t e d . 



BIbl-foeraphy 

General : 

I . Oswald Spengler,"The D e c l i n e o f %he West",New York, 
Knopf,1928,volumes one and two. 

2 , S.Reinach,"Apollo, an I l l u s t r a t e d manual o f the h i s t -
oj^y^of a r t through the ages",N.Y.?Scribner 

3. Sheldon Cheyney,"A World H i s t o r y o f A r t " , V i k i n g Pres3 
New York,19^5. 

P i t i r i m S o r o k i n , " S o c i a l and C u l t u r a l Dynamics",Vol . 1 
New York,American Book Co.,1937. 

5»Arisiotle's " P o e t i c s " , London,Macmillans,1 9 2 5 . 
6. "Encyyclopedia o f the Arts',' the P h i l o s o p h i c a l L i b . 

New York, 1 9 ^ . 
7. Ruth B e n e d i c t , "Patterns o f Culture",New York,Pen-

g u i n Books Inc., 1 9 ^ . 
8. J.H.Randall,"The Making o f the Modern Mind",Boston 

and N.Y.?Houghton,Mifflin Co.,1926. 
9. Henry S.Lucas,"A Short H i s t o r y o f C i v i l i z a t i o n " , 

N.Y. & London,McGraw-Hill,19^ 3 . 
10. Regina Schoolman and C h a r l e s S l o t k i n , " T h e S t o r y o f 

A r t " , N.Y.,Halcyon House,19^+0. 
I I , E r n s t P f u h l , " M a s t e r p e i e c e s o f Greek Drawing and 

P a i n t i n g " , London,Chatto & Windus, ' 2 6 . 
12. Sidney J a n i s , " A b s t r a c t and S u r r e a l i s t i c A r t i n 

America", N.Y.,Reynal&Hitchcock, 1 9 M + . 
13. John Dewey,"Human Nature and Conduct",N.Y.,The 

Modern Library,1 9 3 0 . 
lV. " A r t News Annual" pub.by the A r t News Magazine, 

a memorial i s s u e c e l e b r a t i n g t h e i r 75th 
a n n i v e r s a r y w i t h a "5000 Years of A r t 
E x h i b i t " . 

15. Plato,"She Republic",London,Macmillans,1 9 ^ 1;esp. 
Book X. 

16. V i r g i l ' s "Aeneid". 
17. C i c e r o ' s "De Senectute". 
18. Dante's " V i t a Natva " 
19. B o c c a c c i o 1 s " I I F i l o s t r a t o " 
20. Chaucer's"The Canterbury T a l e s " and "TRoilus and 

Criseyde",Robinson e d l . 
21. Da V i n c i , " T h e Notebooks",N.Y.,Garden C i t y Pub.Co., 

19^1-2. 
22. Thomas Aquinas,"The Summa Contra Gentlies",London, 

Burns,Oates,&Washburne Ltd. , 1 9 2 3 , sections 
. o f Vol.one and two and p o r t i o n s o f the 
"Summa T h e o l o g i c a " quoted i n secondary 
sources. 

23. M o n t a i g n e , " E s s a y e s " , F l o r i o trans.,Modern L i b r a r y Ed. 
2h.Rabelais,"The Adventures o f Gargantua and P a n t a g r u e l 
2 5 .Shakespeare 1 s "Plays',1 K i t t r e d g e e d i t i o n . 



Oi) 
2 6 . " G i o t t o " , C a r l o C a r r a , V e r l a g - V a l o r i Plastici-Rom.192 5 
2 7 . "Hans Memling",Maur GuillaumejMarion Press,Paris, 1 9 3 9 
2 8 . "The P a i n t i n g s o f Jan Vermeer"Phaidon Ed.London,'HO 
2 9 . " S e l e c t e d F a i n t i n g o f Rembrandt" ,Phaidon Ed.,London 

19^2. 
3 0 . "The P a i n t i n g s o f Raphael",Phaidon Ed.,London,*hl 
3 1 . "The P a i n t i n g s o f Michelangelo",Phaidon Ed.London 
3 2 . "Donatello",Phaidon E d i t i o n , London,19H-1 
3 3 . "Leondardo Da V i n c i " , P h a i d o n Ed.London,'hi. 
3M-. "Hogarth", from "The Studio",London, 1 9 2 6 . 
3 5 . "Toulouse-Lautrec",Gustave C o q u i o t j V e r l a g ErnstWasmuth 

A=G,Berlin. 
3 6 . "The L i f e and Work o f Edgar Degas",J.B.Manson;"The 

Studio",London,1 9 2 7 . 
3 7 . "The F i l m Sense",Sergei Eisenstein}Harcourt,Brace&Co 

N.Y. ,19*+2. 
3 8 . "Modern A r t : P i c a s s o " ; Knopf;New York,1 9 3 0 
3 9 . " A f t e r Picasso",J.T.SobyjN.Y.,Dodd,Mead & Co.,1935 
M O . " P a u l K l e e " par W i l l Grohmann,Editions "Cahiers 

D'Art",Rue du DragonmParis V I . 
H i . " P o r t r a i t o f America" Diego Rivera,London,GeorgeAllen 

& Unvin Ltd.,1 9 3 5 
H-2. "The New A r c h i t e c t u r e i n Mexico",Esther B 0 rn;The Ach-

i t e c t u r a l Record;Morrow & Co.,New York, ' 3 7 
H-3. "The I n t e r n a t i o n a l S t y l e : A r c h i t e c t u r e s i n c e 1 9 2 2 " 

Hitehcock& Johnson; W.W.Norton Inc,JM. Y.',193 2 
M+. " I n t r o d u c t i o n to Contemporary C i v i l i z a t i o n 3n the 

West", a source book,Col.U.Press,1 9 ^ 6 
^ 5 . Lewis Mumford,"The C u l t u r e of C i t i e s " 

"Technfci and C i v i l i z a t i o n " 
k6.Oscar Wilde,"The s o u l o f M a n Under S o c i a l i s m " 
M-7.Van G o g h , " L e t t e r s " , 
h8.Edmund W i l s o n , c r i t i c i s m i n "Axel's C a s t l e " , " T h e 

T r i p l e T h i n k e r s " and "The Wound and theBow" 
M-9.James Joyce, n o v e l s : "The P o r t r a i t o f the A r t i s t as 

a Young Man", "Stephen Hero","Ulysses" and 
"Finnegans Wage". 

5 0 . Herbert Read, "Phases of E n g l i s h Poetry",esp. the f i n all 
essay. 

5 1 . "The C o l l e c t e d Poetry o f Wystan Auden",Random House, 
New York,19H-5. 

5 2 . T . S . E l i o t , " T r a d i t i o n and Experiment", 
53 . " P r a t e r V i o l e t " , a n o v e l o f the making o f a f i l m , 

c o n t a i n i n g e x c e l l e n t c r i t i c i s m o f I t s s o c i a l 
f u n c t i o n , b y C h r i s t o p h e r IsherwoodjRandom 
House,New York,1 9 ^ 5 . 

5Lt-.Ralph F 0 x , "The Novel and the People", V i k i n g P r e s s , 
New Y o r k , 1 9 M 6 . 

5 5»Roger Fry,"Transformations",Brentano's,New York; 
" V i s i o n and Design",Penguin Books. 

5 6 .Yrjo Hirn,"The O r i g i n s o f Art",London,Macmillans, 1 9 0 0 



5 7 . Ogden,Richards,Wood, "The -foundations of A e s t h e t i c s " 
George ^ l l e n & Ihwin Ltd,London, 1 9 2 2 . 

5 8 . David Wyndham Lewis,"Men Without A r t " , C a s s e l &Co., 
London, 1 9 3 ^ 

5 9 . C h a r l e s Morris,"Foundations f o r a theory o f s i g n s " , 
I n t e r n a t i o n a l E n c y c l o p e d i a of U n i f i e d Science 
volume 1 . number 2 . -

6 0 . W.R.Letha;by, '[Medieval A r t " , London,Duckworth & CO. 
190*+, Chapters t h r e e and f o u r , 

6 1 . E l i e . F a u r e , " H i s t o r y of A r t " , V o l . 2 . " M e d i e v a l A r t " , 
London,Harpers, 1 9 2 3 
Byzantium,pps. 2 0 7 - 2 3 0 . 
Islam,pps. 2 3 1 - 2 6 0 . 
C h r i s t i a n i t y , p p s . 2 6 1 - 3 2 2 . 

6 2 . "Modern French P a i n t i n g " , H y p e r i o n P r e s s , P a r i s . 
6 3 . Ogden & Richards,"The Meaning of Meaning" and 
6 ^ . R i c h a r d s , " P r a c t i c a l Criticism",London,Kegan,Paul, * 3 0 

"a survey o f l i t e r a r y judgment". 
6£VAtlantic Monthly',', "Harper s", t'New Yorker", " A r t News 

Magazine", "The S t u d i o " , "The A r c h i t e c t u r a l 
Record", "Theatre A r t s " , " S t o r y " , and other 
magazines devoted to p r i n t i n g " the works of 
a r t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the present , or o f 
e v a l u a t i n g t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e . 



Appendix B. : Major Epochs i n Western A r t ; from Sheldon 
Cheyney's " A World H i s t o r y o f A r t " . 



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