ARTH218

Ut pictura poesis

Ø The phrase is derived from the Ars poetica of Horace (65–8 bc). It has subsequently been used to suggest a general similarity between the arts of painting and poetry.

Ø By the 16th century the kinship of painting and poetry was a commonplace – art theorists, in particular, believed that both arts were alike committed to the imitation of nature, to the use of invention, design and colouring, and to the maintenance of decorum.

Ø One of the consequences of this association between painting and poetry was a renewed interest for Classical literature as inspiration for painting. In particular, painted scenes inspired in Ovid’s works were commonly referred to as the ‘poesie.’

Ø From an initial interest in using Classical literature and textual sources as inspiration for painting, many artists will move towards the creation of allegories and paintings that are not bound to particular text, but like poetry “describe” abstract concepts.

Ø Furthermore, many artists embraced Horace’s ideas, who admits the equal right of painters and poets to liberty of imagination.

Ø Horace, for instance, described a painting of grotesque hybrids and compared it to a book whose vain imaginings are fashioned like a sick man's dreams.

Required Readings

· Brown, p. 116-141

Important names and terms

· Ut pictura poesis

· Guidobaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino

· Niccolò Aurelio, vice-chancellor of Venice, and Laura Bagarotto

· Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara

· Philip II, King of Spain

· Federigo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua

· Grotesques

· Emperor Rudolf II