Topia

Landscape before Linear Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID8375474
AuthorsVeronica Della Dora (0000-0002-7665-8998, University of Bristol, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume103
Issue3
Pages688-709
Publication date2013-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the Association of American Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-5608 • E-ISSN: 1467-8306
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00045608.2011.652882
OpenAlexW2118502525
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited59

Landscape is commonly deemed to be a western European Renaissance invention linked to the theorization of linear perspective as a distinctively “modern” way of looking at the world. Prompted by a resurging interest in premodern geographies, this article takes a step back and interrogates nonlinear perceptions and graphic representations of the environment in Roman antiquity (the so-called topia) and their development in the Byzantine world. Since the times of Alexander von Humboldt, these representations have been generally dismissed as “artificial” and “disregardful of perspective.” I propose a rereading of this perceived “lack of technique,” or “disinterest in nature” as a different “way of seeing” and making sense of the world, emphasizing the visual energheia and memorability of singular elements (or places) over their modern linear integration. Tracing the complex etymological and visual history of topia sheds light not only on “ways of seeing” and geographical traditions understudied in our discipline but also on a further aspect of landscape: that of a container of symbolic memory places

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Byzantine architecture · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Geography · Icon · Perception · Perspective (graphical) · Sociology · The Renaissance · Visual arts · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Byzantine Studies and History · Computer Science · History · Philosophy