- 著者
-
津上 英輔
- 出版者
- 美学会
- 雑誌
- 美学 (ISSN:05200962)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.69, no.1, pp.13, 2018 (Released:2019-06-01)
In his letter to Pier Vettori written in 1560, Girolamo Mei gives a classification of the
arts in a pedigree-like diagram. It is a coherent system that contains, mutatis mutandis,
painting, sculpture, poetry, music and dance, resembling, or surpassing, that of Charles
Batteux. While this prima facie appears to be a mere graphic representation of
Aristotle’s discussion of the three means of poetry and their combinations in the Poetics,
Mei supplements it with modern theories and practices of art such as chiaroscuro and
casting. He is not merely elucidating Aristotle’s thought in a purely scholarly manner,
but presenting his reader(s) with a clear, complete picture of what the ancient theory is
about, in a form easy to understand and ready to use. Such an orientation is also found
in his description of ancient tragedy as an entirely musical drama, sung from beginning
to end, and in his interpretation of the ancient theory of the modes, based on which he
criticized his contemporaneous practice of polyphonic music. Yet, ancient theories are
for him not so much raw material (pace Palisca) for a new product, as an old garment to
be remade for a new use, utilizing as much part untouched as possible.