Speaking of the thought of Marcus Aurelius, Montesquieu said “Such is the effect that it produces that we have a better opinion of ourselves because we have a better opinion of men.” This idea provides a fine means of evaluating art.
When engaging art, your standard should be whether it gives you a better opinion of mankind; if it does not, don’t bother with it, life is short; if it does, then stop and contemplate it. Does it move you? How does it move you? Why does it move you? What truths does it consider?
Let’s consider two works using this standard. Does Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can give you a better opinion of mankind? Not so much. What about Michelangelo’s Pieta? Certainly. What is the difference? The image of a soup can is simply a juvenile and facile complaint; something any freshman could come up with. The Pieta? It contains visual, emotional and intellectual worlds whether the viewer is Christian or not (although of course it is a richer experience to a believer). A young male, the son lies dead in his mother’s lap. She is achingly beautiful, pure and anguished. Her God has allowed her son to be killed in the most horrible manner possible. How can one not feel that pathos of the moment? Whether she is actually the mother of God, or just the mother of a remarkably innocent and loving son, her heart breaks and we can feel her anguish.
How does the artist depict this awful moment? In the purest white polished marble–innocence in physical form. How is it composed? As a massive triangle, the most stable shape known. It intends to speak truth, not a simple gentle truth like God is love, but a complex truth at the intersection of life, death and love. If aliens were to come to earth and ask me to justify mankind, one of the things I would point to would be this great work. An image of a soup can? Probably not.
Blog No. 73: Having a better opinion of mankind
Speaking of the thought of Marcus Aurelius, Montesquieu said “Such is the effect that it produces that we have a better opinion of ourselves because we have a better opinion of men.” This idea provides a fine means of evaluating art.
When engaging art, your standard should be whether it gives you a better opinion of mankind; if it does not, don’t bother with it, life is short; if it does, then stop and contemplate it. Does it move you? How does it move you? Why does it move you? What truths does it consider?
Let’s consider two works using this standard. Does Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can give you a better opinion of mankind? Not so much. What about Michelangelo’s Pieta? Certainly. What is the difference? The image of a soup can is simply a juvenile and facile complaint; something any freshman could come up with. The Pieta? It contains visual, emotional and intellectual worlds whether the viewer is Christian or not (although of course it is a richer experience to a believer). A young male, the son lies dead in his mother’s lap. She is achingly beautiful, pure and anguished. Her God has allowed her son to be killed in the most horrible manner possible. How can one not feel that pathos of the moment? Whether she is actually the mother of God, or just the mother of a remarkably innocent and loving son, her heart breaks and we can feel her anguish.
How does the artist depict this awful moment? In the purest white polished marble–innocence in physical form. How is it composed? As a massive triangle, the most stable shape known. It intends to speak truth, not a simple gentle truth like God is love, but a complex truth at the intersection of life, death and love. If aliens were to come to earth and ask me to justify mankind, one of the things I would point to would be this great work. An image of a soup can? Probably not.