Page 116 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 116
four critical essays on argumentation
- Catholic doctrine/mythology about the importance of people’s
hearts (especially heroes and martyrs).
But then, to justify his claim even more firmly, Leo Groarke gives this
quote from his brother Louis Groarke’s paper ‘David’s Marat: Beautiful
Falsity or False Beauty’4 that goes even deeper into detail and finesse of art
history [sic!]:
David likewise presents us with a homage to a revolution-
ary Christ. The treatment of the figure recalls traditional reli-
gious iconography. The idealized nude body is like a Renaissance
Christ. The recumbent pose with the extended, trailing arms re-
calls, in detail, depictions of the Dispositions of Christ (cf. Giroet,[5]
Caravaggio, Montagnea,[6] Pontormo, Fiorentino, van der Wyden,
etc.). The gaping wound with the stream of blood parallels the
wound in the Saviour’s side. The knife, smeared with blood, is the
instrument of his passion, comparable to the lance and thorns and
nails emphasized in many paintings of Christ’s passion. Even the
note clutched in his languishing hand might be compared to the
notice nailed to the cross above the Saviours’s head ...
When reading all this erudite and detailed thoughts and comparisons,
we should be aware that Louis Groarke specializes in ethics, aesthetics and
political history, this is (one of the reasons) why he was drawn to and fasci-
nated by David’s picture, and why he was able to see and discern all those
details. But, could just anybody do it? Could an ‘average’ person from the
street do it? Could a person with just an average education, without special
interest in art history, do it? Could a(ny) person from another (non-West-
ern) culture do it? Could a(ny) person belonging to another religious tradi-
tion than Christianity do it? I have serious doubts about that and my sur-
vey confirms them.
But after this quote and several other details coming (again) from art
history, Leo Groarke proposes a diagram of the extended argument sup-
posedly contained in and presented by David’s painting. In short, the argu-
ment goes like this:
P1 = Marat was a man of great dignity and composure;
4 The exact reference of the paper, marked as ‘forthcoming’, is unfortunately missing.
5 Supposedly Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767–1824).
6 Supposedly Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506).
116
- Catholic doctrine/mythology about the importance of people’s
hearts (especially heroes and martyrs).
But then, to justify his claim even more firmly, Leo Groarke gives this
quote from his brother Louis Groarke’s paper ‘David’s Marat: Beautiful
Falsity or False Beauty’4 that goes even deeper into detail and finesse of art
history [sic!]:
David likewise presents us with a homage to a revolution-
ary Christ. The treatment of the figure recalls traditional reli-
gious iconography. The idealized nude body is like a Renaissance
Christ. The recumbent pose with the extended, trailing arms re-
calls, in detail, depictions of the Dispositions of Christ (cf. Giroet,[5]
Caravaggio, Montagnea,[6] Pontormo, Fiorentino, van der Wyden,
etc.). The gaping wound with the stream of blood parallels the
wound in the Saviour’s side. The knife, smeared with blood, is the
instrument of his passion, comparable to the lance and thorns and
nails emphasized in many paintings of Christ’s passion. Even the
note clutched in his languishing hand might be compared to the
notice nailed to the cross above the Saviours’s head ...
When reading all this erudite and detailed thoughts and comparisons,
we should be aware that Louis Groarke specializes in ethics, aesthetics and
political history, this is (one of the reasons) why he was drawn to and fasci-
nated by David’s picture, and why he was able to see and discern all those
details. But, could just anybody do it? Could an ‘average’ person from the
street do it? Could a person with just an average education, without special
interest in art history, do it? Could a(ny) person from another (non-West-
ern) culture do it? Could a(ny) person belonging to another religious tradi-
tion than Christianity do it? I have serious doubts about that and my sur-
vey confirms them.
But after this quote and several other details coming (again) from art
history, Leo Groarke proposes a diagram of the extended argument sup-
posedly contained in and presented by David’s painting. In short, the argu-
ment goes like this:
P1 = Marat was a man of great dignity and composure;
4 The exact reference of the paper, marked as ‘forthcoming’, is unfortunately missing.
5 Supposedly Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767–1824).
6 Supposedly Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506).
116
