The Art of Observation

What stood out to me throughout all of the modules this week was not just the immense knowledge or innovation that was required of artists of the Middle Ages, it was not the dedication to the learned skills or the sense of responsibility to follow that which God had called them to. What I came to realize was that all of these aspects of making art were really not that different than any scientific endeavour. Whether the artist was addressing matters within a sacramental world view, about humanity and it’s relationship to the divine, or about creating and perfecting the materials and tools used to create these works, the bigger picture was that the process was really about asking questions, about seeking out answers through observation, experimentation and the sharing of knowledge. In the context of previous weeks where we questioned the relationship between art and science and truth, one could argue that at this time there was ver little difference between these things. Beyond just the alchemy used to discover different pigments and material used  by artists or the engineering used, for example by Brunelleschi, to create these masterpieces  the very heart of science was at the root of the driving forces of art at the time. Science by definition is the pursuit of knowledge, the study of things through observation and experimentation. For me art in the Middle Ages falls far more closely to a science than to any form of individual expression or creative impulse that we associate with contemporary art.