Editing Paragone

{{short description|Debate during the Italian Renaissance}}
[[Image:Benedetto varchi tiziano.jpg|right|thumbnail|[[Benedetto Varchi]], by [[Titian]]]]

'''Paragone''' ({{langx|it|paragone}}, meaning ''comparison''), was a debate during the [[Italian Renaissance]] in which painting and sculpture (and to a degree, architecture) were each championed as forms of art superior and distinct to each other.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Baroque and Rococo|last=A.|first=Bailey, Gauvin|isbn=9780714857428|location=London|pages=9|oclc=804911527|date = 2012-08-20}}</ref> While other art forms, such as architecture and poetry existed in the context of the debate, painting and sculpture were the primary focus of the debate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/thir/paragone_comparison/0|title=Paragone ('comparison') {{!}} Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance, The – Credo Reference|website=search.credoreference.com|access-date=2019-02-27}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" />

The debate extended beyond the fifteenth century and even influences the discussion and interpretation of artworks that may or may not have been influenced by the debate itself.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Land|first=Norman|date=October 1999|journal=Source: Notes in the History of Art|volume=19|issue=1|pages=1–8|doi=10.1086/sou.19.1.23206710|issn=0737-4453|title=Giovanni Bellini, Jan van Eyck, and the "paragone" of Painting and Sculpture|s2cid=191389078}}</ref>

A comparable question, generally posed less competitively, was known as ''[[ut pictura poesis]]'' (a quote from [[Horace]]), comparing the qualities of painting and poetry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thisisparagon.co.uk/|title=Home|website=This is Paragon|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-26}}</ref>

== The debate ==
The debate began around the 15th century.<ref name=":5" /> [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s [[A Treatise on Painting|treatise on painting]], observing the difficulty of painting and supremacy of sight, is a notable example of literature on the subject.

[[Benedetto Varchi|Bendetto Varchi]] further sparked the conversation between artists in 1546 by sending out letters inviting opinions.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Hecht|first=Peter|date=1984|title=The paragone Debate: Ten Illustrations and a Comment|journal=Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art|volume=14|issue=2|pages=125–136|doi=10.2307/3780590|issn=0037-5411|jstor=3780590}}</ref> Painters and sculptors each vied for their respective side in the debate.<ref name=":1" /> [[Michelangelo]] was the only artist who offered support for both mediums.<ref name=":1" /> However, he was also found to be less invested in the discussion despite his contributions.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Dundas|first=Judith|date=1990|title=The Paragone and the Art of Michelangelo|journal=Sixteenth Century Journal|volume=21|issue=1|pages=87–92|doi=10.2307/2541134|issn=0361-0160|jstor=2541134}}</ref>

The essence of the debate had many facets. Comparisons of the two mediums ranged from conceptual themes to practices, underscoring the intellectual role of the artist in the era.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo 004.jpg|thumb|left|Geralamo Salvado's Gaston de la Foix]]

Each medium had multiple points in support of it. Much of the debate lacked specific examples of supporting work, though the ideas were extensively discussed.<ref name=":1" /> [[Giorgio Vasari]] argued that drawing is the father of all arts, and as such, the most important one.<ref name=":3">{{cite book|title=Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects|last1=Vasari|first1=Giorgio|date=1550}}</ref> Sculpture was typically claimed to be the only method of having several different and faithful views of the same figure by those who found it to be the more superior medium.<ref name=":1" /> A counterpoint to this argument was made in paintings which feature reflective objects or surfaces, such as the ''Portrait of Gaston de la Foix'' by [[Gerolamo Savoldo]], which featured mirrors surrounding the key figure.<ref name=":1" /> This allowed figures not only to be viewed at multiple angles, but for these to be seen at the same time, which is an ability that sculpture is incapable of providing. Many paintings with this concept are brought into the discussion of paragone, but it is unclear how many were actually made as a response to the debate itself.<ref name=":5" />

A large portion of the discussion was centered on the idea of imitation of the natural world.<ref name=":2" /> Painting was seen to create an inferior imitation because it lacked form.<ref name=":1" /> This argument was later championed by the example of a blind man experiencing art. Theoretically, he could gather how a sculpture was structured through touch, but were he to touch a painting he would not be able to construct an image of the work, thus rendering painting an illusionary form of art.<ref name=":1" />

Another side of the debate that arose is one of technical skill. [[Michelangelo]] did not take a clear side in the debates, but did underscore a component which he believed to be essential to both painting and sculpture, called disegno.<ref name=":2" /> Disegno in Renaissance times largely referred to "the conception of a work."<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/that/disegno_italian_design_drawing/0|title=disegno (Italian 'design, drawing') {{!}} The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms – Credo Reference|website=search.credoreference.com|access-date=2019-04-09}}</ref> The understanding and use of the term was also, however, influenced by the idea of drawing as the foundation of art.<ref name=":4" /> [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]] and with him    [[Benvenuto Cellini]], also asserted that the ability to render an accurate contour line were technical skills that benefited both painting and sculpture.<ref name=":2" />

== Notable contributors ==
Many notable artists and other public figures during the fifteenth century and onward contributed to the discussion of paragone, such as:

*[[Benvenuto Cellini]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Leonardo da Vinci]]<ref name=":2" />
* [[Michelangelo]]<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
* [[Pontormo]]<ref name=":0" />
*[[Benedetto Varchi|Bendetto Varchi]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[Giorgio Vasari]]<ref name=":3" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}
;Secondary sources
*[http://www.uni-due.de/anglistik/centre_for_rhetoric_and_renaissance_studies/plett_heinrich.shtml Heinrich F. Plett], ''Rhetoric and Renaissance Culture'' (De Gruyter, 2004, esp. pp.&nbsp;297–364). {{ISBN|3-11-017461-8}}

==External links==
*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-59784 Leonardo da Vinci:Science of Painting] at [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] online

[[Category:Aesthetics]]
[[Category:Italian Renaissance]]