New Art History’ vs. ‘Old History’
Writing art history
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11933228 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robin Cormack (Courtauld Institute of Art, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Pages | 223-232 |
| Publication date | 1986-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0307-0131 • E-ISSN: 1749-625X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1179/030701386790203579 |
| OpenAlex | W2037697696 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 10 |
Readers of the judicious paper by John Haldon on ‘“Jargon” vs. “the Facts”?’ Byzantine History-Writing and Contemporary Debates’ will have looked in vain for comment on the status of visual evidence. It is not that art is entirely unmentioned — a reference is made to the history of art and of cultural production in general as belonging to the history of the human past. But no consideration is given to the role of the visual as communication in Byzantine society or as a particular kind of ‘unwritten’ figural evidence which might form a characteristic arena of expression separate from the discourses of texts. Yet it is clear that one outcome of the current theoretical debates on how to read texts and images has been a new questioning of the meanings of visual evidence and of its value in history writing. Contrary to the belief of some historians, methodological changes in history writing have a direct impact on art history writing too. The most obvious result has been an increasing emphasis on ways of understanding how images worked in Byzantine society in preference to an exclusive concentration on the categorization and arrangement of art in line with modern and often anachronistic notions. The inevitable outcome is that the study of art can no longer be considered the preserve of the traditional art historian
Art · Literature · Art History and Market Analysis · Art, Politics, and Modernism · History · Public Spaces through Art
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.03 |
| Citation span | 1990 - 1990 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |