CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Russo, Eugen |
|---|---|
| Title | PHILOSOPHY OF PARADOX IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY: NICOLAUS CUSANUS' DE DOCTA IGNORANTIA AND MASACCIO'S TRINITY |
| Summary | Nicolaus Cusanus, canon lawyer, Catholic cardinal, and arguably the most innovative philosopher-theologian of the fifteenth century, remains a puzzling intellectual figure with his paradox-centered philosophical works which, after a century of focused scholarly attention, still divide commentators on the issue of how to place them in the intellectual context of his time. Given the closely-knit intellectual-artistic milieu of early Renaissance Italy, to which Cusanus has strong connections, scholars have recently taken up the task of connecting Cusanus’ thought with ideas expressed in contemporary Renaissance artworks. This thesis develops an argument for such a connection, focusing on Masaccio’s 1427/28 fresco The Trinity, itself most likely a collaborative work between an innovative artist (Masaccio), a painter and trained theologian (Alessio Strozzi) and an educated humanist and artist (Brunelleschi). First, Cusanus’ philosophical method in De Docta Ignorantia and contemporary writings is examined and a novel formulation of it is proposed, able to reconcile the seemingly contradictory features of this complex treatise by the systematization of multiple levels of paradox building upon each other. Then, the artistic technique of linear perspective, newly-invented at the time, is investigated and found to provide the crucial intellectual link, as uniquely suited for representing a systematic progression through levels of paradox. Finally, Masaccio’s Trinity is examined and the features of its systematic, perspectivally informed treatment of its subject matter (the same as Cusanus’ own subject: the doctrines of the Christian tradition) are investigated. The artwork and Cusanus’ treatise are found to have in common a fundamental paradox-centered method for systematizing the contents of the tradition, which places them both within a well established Christian tradition of thought about paradox. In accordance with recent developments in the literature, this is proposed as a solution to the long-standing issue of placing Cusanus within his intellectual context. |
| Supervisor | Gereby, Gyorgy |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/russo_eugen.pdf |
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