Inspiration : Bacchus and the cultural history of a creation myth / by John F. Moffitt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moffitt, John F. (John Francis), 1940-2008.

Series:

Philosophy of history and culture ; v. 22.

Philosophy of history and culture, 0922-6001 ; v. 22

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Inspiration--History.

Inspiration.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)--History.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Dionysus (Greek deity).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (426 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The purpose of this book is to reveal the antique pedigree of a now commonplace term, "Inspiration," an essential creation-myth now propelling notions of "self-expression" in modern art-making. Knowledge of the ancient sources of such supposedly "modernist" fixations will make a significant contribution to historical-cultural thinking, particularly by showing in detail the facts of an unrecognized evolutionary continuity. In order to personify "Inspiration," this study initially focuses upon Michelangelo's Bacchus of 1496, so revealing now-forgotten meanings once typically to be attached in a generic way to any "Bacchus." Then it demonstrates how these "Dionysiac" concepts arose in ancient Greece. Later developments--particularly from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance--are traced here for the first time. Due to further modifications by Friedrich Nietzsche, Dionysiac "expressionism" eventually became a staple of modern art theory and practice.

Contents:

Dedication & Epigraphs

List of Illustrations

Introduction: A Personification of "Inspiration"

PART I. "INSPIRATION": ANCIENT DIONYSUS TO THE HUMANISTS' BACCHUS

1. The Modern Condition of "Inspiration"

2. Michelangelo's Bacchus as a Historical Metaphor

3. The Classical Sources of "Inspiration"

4. Post-Classical and Christian "Inspiration"

5. The Neoplatonic Bacchus of the Renaissance

6. The Emblematic Bacchus and "Inspired" Art-Making

PART II. "INSPIRATION" FOR THE NEO-DIONYSIAC MODERNISTS

7. Post-Renaissance "Inspiration," from the Enlightenment to the Romantics

8. A Dionysus Reborn for the Symbolist Era

9. Dionysiac Ecstasy and Modernist Art-Worship

10. Surrealist Dionysian Myth and Gestural Performance Art

11. The Inspired Shaman-Artist: The Case of Joseph Beuys

12. Something Like a Post-Modernist Finale

Illustrations

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [357]-375) and index.

ISBN:

1-280-86766-3

9786610867660

1-4294-5276-5

90-474-0702-4

1-4337-0685-7

OCLC:

476024047

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789047407027 DOI