The Functions of Ornament in the Farnese Hours of Giulio Clovio
Fonctions de l'ornement dans les Heures Farnèse de Giulio Clovio
Résumé
This essay discusses the functions of ornament within the decorative system of the Farnese Hours, a manuscript decorated by the Croatian artist Giulio Clovio for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Employing elements of visual semiotics, phenomenology of reading as well as aesthetics of reception, the author explores and attempts to interpret and contextualize its decorative syntax. Reputed for his ability to imitate and skillfully combine an array of visual sources and artistic traditions, Clovio combined long-standing manuscript mechanisms and themes with the decorative principles (or enunciative modalities) of monumental painting. While the role of the imagination as a guide is more or less evident, Clovio also exploits visual paradox and citation in order to challenge the status of representation and enrich the reading experience. A veritable propaedeutic instrument in the hands of the artist, ornament draws the viewer into an imaginary structure and plays with gaze and spirit throughout the meditative experience; it entraps, distracts and at the same time instructs the viewer/reader, in the reflexive, ironic and playful way of the mannerist idiom.
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