Project Details
Projekt
Herrschernatur(en). Der 'Fürst der Sinne' in der Frühen Neuzeit
Applicant
Professor Dr. Ulrich Pfisterer
Subject Area
Art History
German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
Term
from 2013 to 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 228265259
The project asks how the new possibilities of lifelike depiction that developed during the course of the 15th century affected the forms of representation and the spectrum of perception of what has been called the 'body natural' and the 'body politic' of rulers (male as well as female). The second project phase turns inward, from questions regarding the external phenotype to queries regarding the senses. Here the project will focus on the senses as a natural interface between the external world and the human soul - a precarious relation in early modern eyes, which had to be disciplined and governed by intellect and will. How did this process inform the education of rulers, and did images and artefacts play a vital role in its operations (for example the education in amateurish draftsmanship)? Especially the sense of sight - the 'king of senses' in early modern opinion - perfectly symbolised the recognitional acuity and extraordinary foresight of rulers. For this reason, the expertise of the ruler in all questions of optics, of right and false perspective, and (not least) his knowledge about and contact with all kinds of instruments, machines und models that supported and intensified vision will be a prime topic of our research. In each case, the senses perform a complex intermediary function, negotiating between the two poles of 'nature' and 'mind/culture/art', whilst their natural virtue of delight and enjoyment, their fundamental blend of prodesse and delectare was in no way deactivated, but played a key role in the many-faceted and cardinal struggle to ensure the ruler's well-being.
DFG Programme
Research Units
