The Painting that Captivates US: Caravaggio and the Art of Disclosure 3700-AL-PCC-OG

Experiencing Caravaggio means that we get engaged in a mysterious positioning and repositioning ourselves with the artist and the artwork. His painting captivates us by inviting us to enter the canvas and search together with him for our home. This homeseeking is the fundamental experience in our being in the world with others. Painting, like other great expressions of art, is predominantly a communally constituted event (Eregnis). Participation in this event always has a formative and transformative character.
Reading Caravaggio’s paintings reminds us that every interpretation is an application (Anwendung) of the work of art to the uniqueness of the hermeneutic situation of the viewer. However, as the German word, Anwendung emphasizes, this application is the turning toward that (Wendung) which calls for understanding (die Sache des Denkens). Thus, the reception of a work of art is always a form of practice. It is an enactment (Vollzug) of the work of art in the sense of bringing it to completion. The work of art exists to be completed in the interpreter’s reception. The interpreter does not decrease the alterity of the other. On the contrary, to be captivated by the work of art means that it questions me while simultaneously promising me the possibility of transformation by participating in the unfolding of the event of art.
The work of art has the ability to build bridges that reach beyond the enclosure and space in which it originated. Reading Caravaggio discloses new horizons of understanding ourselves in the world with others that creates a community of learners willing to appropriate (in the sense of Anwendung) what is meaningful and insightful about the condition of aesthetic experience.

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

Fluency in English (B2)

Course coordinators

Andrzej Wierciński

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
o student is familiar with new literature on the literature as indicated in the bibliography
o is familiar with philosophical hermeneutics and hermeneutic philosophy
o knows the state of research in the hermeneutics of painting and is able to design an innovative research project
Skills:
o can identify philosophical aspects of art
o can address the importance of feelings (curiosity, patience, courage, uncertainty, self-esteem) and validates them in the process of learning
o has skills in presenting aspects of philosophical hermeneutics in discussing issues in painiting in an international setting
o can effectively communicate with other scholars in hermeneutic philosophy and liberal arts
o a creative and insightful student shows depth in thinking of and elaborating on original and novel ideas
Social competences:
o appreciates the need to learn to understand one’s life
o can set measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals and ways to achieve them in the context of academic, professional, and social activity
o sees the need for a dialogue between different academic disciplines and schools of thought

Assessment criteria

Students must attend classes, actively participate in discussions, and write a research paper of ca. 2500 words. The grade will be based on the paper 50%. Students should clear their topic with the instructor before writing. Final revised paper due Friday, January 26, 2024. Attendance/ Active in-class participation (50%). Along with the final paper, students are required to submit a detailed report about their attendance and self-evaluation of their activity in the class.

Bibliography

Andrew Graham-Dixon and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2011).
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, trans. Alphonso Lingis (Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press, 1968).
Felix Witting and M.L. Patrizi, Caravaggio, trans. Andrew Byrd and Marlena Metcalf (New York: Parkstone Press, 2007).

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3700-AL-PCC-OG in USOSweb