Neuroarthistory: From Aristotle and Pliny to Baxandall and Zeki

by John Onians

This provocative book offers a fascinating account of neuroarthistory, one of the newest and most exciting fields in the human sciences. In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in our knowledge of the visual brain. Knowledge of phenomena such as neural plasticity and neural mirroring is making it possible to answer with a new level of precision some of the most challenging questions about both the creative process and the response to art. Exploring the writings of major thinkers (among them Montesquieu, Burke, Kant, Marx and Freud), and leading art historians (including Pliny, Winckelmann, Ruskin, Pater, Gombrich and Baxandall), as well as artists such as Alberti and Leonardo and scientists from Aristotle to Zeki, John Onians shows how an understanding of the neural basis of the mind contributes to an understanding of all human behaviors―including art.

Genres: Art, Neuroscience, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Art History

225 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2008

Reviews

[Edgar Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written book, but it ends up being a very vague introduction to the subject.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onians is a brilliant man, but I was disappointed at this recent effort. It's mostly a lit review/state of the field rehash of art historians and neuroscientists who have dealt with the mind/psychology and visual phenomena, as the title suggests. Hopefully more truly new scholarship will soon be published--if not authored by Onians, then by his student Lauren Golden and others. If you're new to this sub-field, however, it would be a good place to start.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a sort of 'love at first sight' one for me. From the title (a concept well developed by the author) to the end, it presents a new light to understand art history. The main question seems to be 'what happens to your brain when you look at a painture?'. Professor Onians answers it by looking back to some decisive points in art history and criticism.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

a couple of themes keep emerging, and I think pointing them out would not go against the author's reasoning:
- experiences of traveling to/living in different places, and accordingly in access to distinctive environment
- born illegitimate
- born to a father who is a lawyer, doctor, or craft-man.
- self-training in a rather integrative way
...