Too close to nature: on the representational problems of death masks and life casts

Berryman, J. (2024) Too close to nature: on the representational problems of death masks and life casts. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, (doi: 10.1093/jaac/kpae009) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

While historians of art have found death masks and life casts conceptually problematic, it is also noteworthy that these objects have received scant attention from philosophers of art. In this paper, I begin to redress this omission by offering examples of how the philosophy of art can help us understand these images. Two problems stand out: the problem of representation – e.g., what type of representation a death mask is; and the problem of style and historicity – e.g., whether images imprinted from nature can indicate styles, and whether these images can evolve and transform along art-historical lines. After considering these problems, I conclude these images are constrained in what they can and cannot represent. While there is a long tradition of imprinting from nature, this practice shows little discernible change over time. An unchanging tradition cannot claim to exhibit a history, a least in a narrative sense familiar to art history. The following investigation opens a dialog between Arthur Danto’s philosophy of art and practitioners of theoretical art history, including Ernst Gombrich and Georges Didi-Huberman, both of whom offer differing views on how these images can be treated.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Berryman, Dr Jim
• Authors: Berryman, J.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BH Aesthetics; N Fine Arts > NB Sculpture
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Information Studies
• Journal Name: Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0021-8529
• ISSN (Online): 1540-6245
• Published Online: 16 March 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author
• First Published: First published in Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 2024
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License