The engraved argument. |
'In the beginning is the word' we learn by viewing the first of the twelve pairs of the sequence of engravings Natürliche und affectirte Handlungen des Lebens by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, published in 1779/80. In each of the engravings, an instructor teaches his students. Each opposing pair juxtaposes conspicuously divergent approaches to instruction. This is achieved by the special characterisation of each instructor. Accordingly the students respond in different ways. The remaining engravings of this sequence illustrate the result of the specific methods of teaching.
Thus the first word in the beginning is a pedagogical word, which is conveyed pictorially. The opposing pictures assign a different meaning to the identical subtitles. The question arises, what relationship exists between 'word', 'picture', and 'formation (education)'? The concept of formation (education) in the late eighteenth century is based on the credo that works of art are capable of forming the mind. This is also an amplification of the general concept of 'image'.
It shall be argued that this amplification is based on a changing relation between the viewer and the picture. Although this change, or inner movement, is subtle, it could be a main criteria for the art of enlightenment. In order to demonstrate its fundamental importance, other phenomena of enlightenment involved in this shift shall be identified and taken into consideration as well.
Of particular interest is the correlation between a certain dissolution of religious dimensions of art and an increasing importance of sentiment. The concept of nature also plays a role in this context concerning the artist in his characteristic style (as to his approach towards nature). Another subject in this respect is the tension between the developing notions of art connoisseurship and of taste as a general characteristic faculty of the human mind.
The sequence of engravings by Chodowiecki shall be the point de départ and focal point of this study, which aims to locate Chodowiecki's art in the international exchange of ideas in the Enlightenment.