|
Links between art and science have been
actively forged in the West for many centuries, but have been stronger
at some periods in history than others. During the Italian Renaissance,
for example, it was artists who in fact pioneered myological and
osteological research. Artists’ curiosity at the time was driven by a
desire to render the human body as naturalistically as possible. The
Christian Church had advocated realism when depicting martyrdoms of the
saints, as such images were used to educate an illiterate public. Hence
it was necessary to have a clear understanding of the internal workings
of the human body in order not to mislead the viewer. By the 17th
century a rift between Art and Science developed due to the increasing
acceptance that scientific knowledge would lead mankind to absolute
truth. Science as the only provider of reliable, objective truth could
not accommodate Art’s manipulation of visual trickery and illusion in
order to enlighten. However, at the end of the 20th century
the division appeared to have manifested not just between the arts and
sciences, or the arts and the humanities, or literature and the
sciences, but within the sciences themselves resulting in not just two,
but rather a multiplicity of cultures. For some this fracturing is
indicative of pending dissolution, whereas others embrace such
opportunities to indulge in cross-disciplinary peregrinations in the
hope no doubt of furthering knowledge and establishing new truths.
<<<Back
More >>>
|
