Museum of Art, New York; Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, gift in honor of Everett Fahy, 1977 (1977.10)
The artist-scientist
Today, most artists and scientists live in distinct socio-economic worlds, but this was not always the case. It is of course impossible to know if the Stone Age artist was considered equal to the healer. The abundance of expertly executed cave paintings proves that some artists were highly skilled, and the mere fact that they were afforded the time and means to practice during the daily struggle for survival allows us to assume that the their role was important.
A clue to the artist’s social status in ancient times is contained in the Hammurabi code (c. 1750 B.C.), one of the oldest written law codes. The architect and the sculptor were considered equals to the butcher and the metal worker, whose functions were closely associated with ritual practices. Knowledge and art—architecture, sculpture and painting—came under the authority of priests. The major task of artists, whose names were not recorded, was to master materials in a strictly prescribed manner.
Creations bearing a signature first appeared in Ancient Greece; however, creativity in the contemporary sense was foreign to the Greeks, for whom arts and crafts were synonymous. The motivating force of self-expression was referred to as techne.
Greek vase painting representing a foundry, fifth century B.C.
The Greek god Hephaestus (Vulcan to the Romans) is said to have wrested fire from the earth’s bowels and used it to smelt metal. The union of the Prime Metallurgist with Aphrodite (Venus) symbolized the alliance of science with beauty. In Ancient Greece techne inspired art; the Greek verb tikein means to create.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Aristotle wrote: “The nature of all techne is to understand the genesis of a work of art, to research the technique and theory behind it, to find its principles in the person who gave birth to it, and not in the creation itself.” Originally, “technique” did not simply designate methods of fabrication; also it carried symbolic and spiritual connotations.
The Romans copied their Greek predecessors, and it is often thought that they excelled in feats of engineering rather than art. After the fall of Rome in the fifth century, interest in both art and science faded and their memory was obliterated by repeated invasions. Knowledge re-emerged slowly. During the Middle Ages, the building of cathedrals and the growth of cities allowed the artisans to gain their independence.
Pythagoras, Chartres Cathedral, late twelfth century
During the Middle Ages an important school of philosophy was established at Chartres where subjects such as optics were studied. The ancient thinker Pythagoras is shown here. Others found in the sculptures there include Aristotle (not visible on this image), represented with the symbols of dialectics; Euclid, accompanied by the geometer’s tools; and Ptolemy, by the astronomer’s.
In the fifteenth century, Lorenzo de Medici (1449–1492) founded a school for the most gifted in order to provide them with basic training in geometry, grammar, philosophy and history. The success of this organization was such that, within a few decades, more than 1,000 academies sprang up in Italy alone. Within these institutions, a grounding in art meant learning the rules of perspective and studying anatomy, just as it does in many art schools today.
Renaissance artisans gradually gained respect and repute. As interest in their work increased, so did the attention paid to the individual artist. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), the developer of one-point perspective and designer of the famous Florence Cathedral dome, was the first to bear the title of architect. Just one century later, Michelangelo (1475–1564) would be described as a “genius” by the public.
Painting Academy in Rome, Pierfrancesco Alberti, sixteenth century
Brunelleschi and Botticelli made decorative as well as functional objects. The academies functioned like modern research laboratories, with specialists working under the supervision of a coordinating director. Right, a human corpse is dissected.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Elisha Whittelsley Collection/Elisha Whittelsley Fund, 1949 (49.95.12)
While Renaissance artists dared to challenge popes, most of their scientific contemporaries had to pursue research secretly, and were viewed as enlightened amateurs. Yet they used measuring instruments similar to those used by artists, and they investigated analogous concerns. In fact, artists and scientists functioned in parallel.
By advancing a logical explanation of the world rather than a spiritual one, science would slowly erode religious dogma. Newton, the author of the theory of universal gravitation, became immensely famous while still alive; but most scientists would not benefit from any official status until the nineteenth century.
Isaac Newton, William Blake, 1795–1805
William Blake, the painter, engraver and visionary poet who made this ironic portrait, was a precursor of the Romantic artists.
Color print with ink and watercolor on paper, 181⁄8 × 235⁄8 in. (46 × 60 cm)
Tate Britain, London
The rupture in modern times
To explain the workings of the universe, scientists increasingly favored mechanical concepts, leaving emotional concerns to the purview of art. The more science progressed, the more artists rebelled against it. While the French Revolution destroyed artistic patronage, it spurred technical inventions such as printing and photography. The illustrator, until then an essential recorder of historic moments, suddenly felt threatened. His task could seemingly be carried out just as well, if not better, by machines!
The profusion of scientific inventions in the early nineteenth century gave rise to new terminology. The word “scientist,” coined by the British in 1863, and constructed according to the same logic as the word “artist,” slowly replaced the traditional designation “natural philosopher,” which was still in use.
Scientific developments were heavily dependent on industry and economics, and thus inextricably linked to power. In response to the public’s craving for knowledge, popularizing magazines such as Scientific American began appearing in the middle of the nineteenth century. From then on, science would play a central role in society and researchers would finally become paid professionals.
In the meantime, since artists were no longer needed to represent reality, many took upon themselves the challenge of interpreting that reality. In so doing, they unwittingly re-established conceptual links with science. Despite their role as “society’s conscience,” few artists today have attained the social status of scientists. For example, there is no Nobel prize in the visual arts.
Artists’ rewards are often unpredictable, whereas scientists generally receive salaries. Of course, although the market occasionally propels an artist to unimaginable heights of fame and fortune his earnings are generally meager. Yet he does enjoy a precious privilege: relative freedom in creation.
The role of museums
Throughout history, works of
