PLATO:
PLATONIC ART - AN OXYMORON?
| Old Masters | Recent Works - EKU |
| Peplos Kore, 530 BCE | Republic Pastiche |
| Hieronymous Bosch, 1500 | The Three Goods |
| Peter Paul Rubens, 1602 | The Soul |
| Jan Saenredam, 1604 | The Ship |
| Pietro Testa, 1648 | The Huge Beast |
| Richard Aquila Poem, 1981 | The Cave |
| The Telos (a dialogue) | |
| Republic Poem | |
| The Myth of Er | |
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| Plato has long been considered
the arch-enemy of art both literary and visual. Allegedly, Book X of his
Republic shows that he considered art to be so far removed from
life's realities as to be downright dangerous! Yet Plato's philosophical
dialogues display extraordinary literary artistry, and they are replete
with vivid verbal images suitable for creative visual representation.
There are a good many busts and paintings of Plato and Socrates, but, curiously, hardly any works of art based on the verbal images in Plato's dialogues; I've found only a few. But I regularly invite beginning philosophy students to try their hand at doing Platonic visual images and Platonic literature, and this site is mainly dedicated to displaying their work. The works should make it obvious that "Platonic Art" is no oxymoron! |
If
there's other Platonic art, please let me know! frank.williams@eku.edu