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The Degrees of Art


by Frithjof Schuon
Source:Studies in Comparative Religion,Vol.10,No.4. (Autumn,1976).WorldWisdom,Inc. www.studiesincomparativereligion.com Editors note: This essay has also appeared as a chapter in the book EsoterismasPrincipleandasWay(Perennial Books, 1981). Thefollowingisarecenttranslationoftheessay, approvedbytheestateofFrithjofSchuon. Traditional art derives from a creativity which combines heavenlyinspirationwithethnicgenius,andwhichdoessointhe manner of a science endowed with rules and not by way of individualimprovisation;ars sine scientia nihil. The work of the artist or craftsman comprises two perfections, namelyperfectionofsurfaceandperfectionofdepth.Atsurface level,theworkmustbewelldone,inconformitywiththelawsof theartandthedemandsofthestyle;indepth,itmustbeableto communicate the reality which it expresses. This explains why traditional art is related to esoterism as regards its form and to spiritualrealizationasregardsitspractice;fortheformexpresses theessence,andanunderstandingoftheformawakenstheneed totranscenditwithaviewtoitsessenceorarchetype.

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The artist, in fashioning the work the form fashions himself; and as the purpose of the form is to communicate the essence or celestial content, the artist sees this a priori in the formalcontainer;realizingtheformfromthestarting-pointofthe essence,hebecomestheessencebyrealizingtheform. *** Within the framework of a traditional civilization, there is without doubt a distinction to be made between sacred art and profane art. The purpose of the first is to communicate, on the one hand, spiritual truths and, on the other hand, a celestial presence; sacerdotal art has in principle a truly sacramental function.Thefunctionofprofaneartisobviouslymoremodest: it consists in providing what theologians call sensible consolations, with a view to an equilibrium that is helpful for spiritual life, rather in the manner of the flowers and birds in a garden. The purpose of art of every kind and this includes craftsmanshipistocreateaclimate andforgea mentality;it thus rejoins, directly or indirectly, the function of interiorizing contemplation,theHindudarshan: contemplationofaholyman, ofasacredplace,ofavenerableobject,ofadivineimage.[1] In principle, and in the absence of opposing factors capable of neutralizingthiseffect,theaestheticphenomenonisareceptacle thatattractsaspiritualpresence;ifthisappliesinthemostdirect way possible to sacred symbols, where this quality is superimposed on sacramental magic, it likewise holds good, though in a more diffuse manner, for all elements of harmony, thatistosaytruthinsensibleform. *** No art in itself is a human creation; but sacred art has this particularity, that its essential content is a revelation, that it manifestsaproperlysacramentalformofheavenlyreality,such

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astheiconoftheVirginand Child,painted byanangel,orthe iconoftheHolyFacewhichgoesbacktotheholyshroudandto StVeronica;orsuchasthestatueofShivadancingorthepainted orcarvedimagesoftheBuddhas,BodhisattvasandTaras.Tothe samecategoryinthewidestacceptationofthetermbelong ritual psalmodyin asacredlanguageamongothers Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic and, in certain cases, the calligraphic copyinglikewiseritualofthesacredBooks;architecture,or at least the decoration of sanctuaries, liturgical objects and sacerdotal vestments are in general of a less direct order. It wouldbedifficulttodojusticeinafewlinestoallpossibletypes of sacred expression, which comprises such diverse modes as recitation, writing, architecture, painting, sculpture, the dance, the art of gestures, clothing; in what follows we shall be concernedonlywiththeplasticarts,orevenonlywithpainting, thelatterbeingmoreoverthemostimmediatelytangibleandalso themostexplicitofthearts. Besides the icons of Christ and the Virgin, there are also a multitude of other hieratic images, relating the facts of sacred history and the lives of the saints; likewise in Buddhist iconography, after the central images come the numerous representations of secondary personifications; it is this more or lessperipheralcategorywhichmaybecalledindirectsacredart, even though there may not always be a rigorous line of demarcation between it and direct or central sacred art. The function of this ramification apart from its didactic significance is to enable the spirit of the central images to shine through a diverse imagery which rivets the movement of themind byinfusingintoit theradiance of theImmutable, and which, in so doing, imposes on the moving soul a tendency towardsinteriorization;thisfunctionisthusentirelyanalogousto that of hagiography or even to that of tales of chivalry, not forgetting fairy tales whose symbolism, as is well known, belongstotherealmofthespiritualandsotothatofthesacred. Sacred art is far from always being perfect, although it is

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necessarilysoinitsprinciplesandinthebestofitsproductions; nevertheless in the great majority of imperfect works, the principles compensate for the accidental weaknesses, rather as gold, from a certain point of view, can compensate for the but slightartisticvalueofagivenobject.Twopitfallslieinwaitfor sacredart and fortraditional art ingeneral: a virtuosity tending towards the outward and the superficial,and a conventionalism without intelligence and without soul; but this, it must be stressed,rarelydeprivessacredartofitsoverallefficacy,andin particular ofitscapacitytocreateastabilizing andinteriorizing atmosphere. As for imperfection, one of its causes can be the inexperience, if not the incompetence of the artist; the most primitiveworksarerarelythemostperfect,forinthehistoryof art there are periods of apprenticeship just as later there are periods of decadence, the latter often being due to virtuosity. Anothercauseofimperfectionisunintelligence,eitherindividual or collective: the image may be lacking in quality because the artist the word here having an approximate meaning is lackinginintelligenceorspirituality,butitmaylikewisebearthe imprintofacertaincollectiveunintelligencethatcomesfromthe sentimental conventionalization of the common religion; in this case,thecollectivepsychismclothesthespiritualelementwitha kind of pious stupidity, for if there is a navet that is charming,thereisalsoanaivetthatismoralisticandirritating. This must be said lest anyone should think that artistic expressions of the sacred dispense us from discernment and obligeustobeprejudiced,andsothatnooneshouldforgetthat in the traditional domain in general, there is on all planes a constantstrugglebetweenasolidifyingtendencyandatendency towards transparency which draws the psychic back to the spiritual.Allofthismaybesummedupbysayingthatsacredart is sacred in itself, but that it is not necessarily so in all its expressions. *** Sacred art is vertical and ascending, whereas profane art is

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horizontal and equilibrating. In the beginning, nothing was profane; each tool was a symbol, and even decoration was symbolistic and sacral. With the passage of time, however, the imagination increasingly spread itself on the earthly plane, and manfelttheneedforanartthatwasforhimandnotforHeaven alone;theearthtoo,whichinthebeginningwasexperiencedasa prolongationoranimageofHeaven,progressivelybecameearth pureandsimple,thatistosaythatthehumanbeingincreasingly felthimselftopossesstherighttobemerelyhuman.Ifreligion tolerates this art, it is because it nevertheless has its legitimate functionintheeconomyofspiritualmeans,withinthehorizontal or earthly dimension, and with the vertical or heavenly dimensioninview. Nevertheless, it must be reiterated here that the distinction between a sacred and a profane art is inadequate and too expeditious when one wishes to take account of all artistic possibilities; and it is therefore necessary to have recourse to a supplementary distinction, namely that between a liturgical and an extra-liturgical art: in the first, although in principle it coincideswithsacredart,theremaybemodalitiesthataremore or less profane, just as inversely, extra-liturgical art may comprisesomesacredmanifestations. Thetermsensibleconsolation,wronglyappliedbytheologians to sacred art itself, as also, moreover, to the beauties of virgin nature as if beauty had nothing to transmit other than consolation[2] best fits the simpler types of art and the secondary charms of nature. The purpose of such arts is to communicate a climate of holy childhood, which the culturistic poisoners always aggressive and megalomaniac will doubtless qualify as affectation, which is just a slanderous misuseoflanguage;inrealityarthasnorightinsofarasitis unpretentious, and even without this reservation to be grandiloquent and titanesque, the mission of the artist being to produceworkthatissaneandbalancedandnotanexpressionof uselessturmoil.

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Certainly the artist does not fashion his work with the sole intention of producing a spiritually or psychologically useful object; he also produces it for the joy of creating by imitating, andofimitatingbycreating,thatistosay,forthejoyofletting the existential intention of the model flow forth, or in other words,ofextractingfromthelatteritsveryquintessence;atleast thisissoinsomecases,whichitwouldbepretentiousandoutof proportion to generalize. In other cases, on the contrary, the workoftheartistisanextinctionthroughlove,theartistdying, so to speak, in creating: he performs an act of union by identifying himself with the admired or beloved object, by recreating it according to the music of his own soul. In other cases again and all these modes may or must combine with oneanothertodifferentdegreestheartistdedicateshimselfto adaptingtheobjecttoagivenmaterialoragiventechnique:the JapaneseengraversconferonFujiandotherviewsaqualitythat makes one think of the wood that they use, and the painters of screenspresentriversandthemoonagainstagildedbackground which enhances them by giving them in addition a paradisal perfume. At all events, the sensible consolation is in the work before being in the result; the sanctification of the religious artist precedesthatofthespectator.Everylegitimateartsatisfiesboth emotivityandintelligence,notonlyinthefinishedwork,butalso initsproduction. Thereislikewiseinartadesiretopindownthevisual,auditive orotherformswhichescapeus,andwhichwewishtoretainor possess; to this desire for fixation or possession there is added quite naturally a desire for assimilation, for a quality must not onlybebeautiful,itmustalsobeentirelyours,whichbrings us back directlyor indirectly,dependingon thecase, tothe theme ofunionandlove. ***

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TheHindu,ormoreparticularlytheVishnuiteminiature,isone of the most perfect extra-liturgical arts there is, and we do not hesitatetosaythatsomeofitsproductionsareatthesummitof all painting. Descended from the sacred painting of which the Ajanta frescoes affordus a final trace,the Hindu miniaturehas undergone Persian influences, but it remains essentially Hindu and isin nowisesyncretistic;[3] it has inany event achieved a nobility of draughtsmanship, of coloring, and of stylization in general, and over and above this, a climate of candor and holiness, which are unsurpassable and which, in the best of its examples, transport the viewer into an almost paradisiac atmosphere, a sort of earthly prolongation of heavenly childhood. TheHinduminiature,whethercenteredonKrishnaoronRama, renders visible those spiritual gardens which are the Mahabharata, theBhagavata-Purana, andtheRamayana, butit also conveys musical motifs in a romanticized style, as well as the contradictory sentiments to which love may give rise in diverse situations; most of these subjects hold us, willingly or not,underthespellofKrishnasflute.Someofthesepaintings, inwhichamaximumofrigorandmusicalityiscombinedwitha vivid spiritual expressiveness, unquestionably pertain to sacred artinasmuchastheepithetprofanecannolongerbeappliedto them; spiritus ubi vult spirat. This is a possibility that we also encounterinotherdomains,forexample,whenweareforcedto admit that the Bhagavad-Gita, which logically pertains to secondary inspiration, is in reality an Upanishad, and thus a revelation of a major kind, or when a particular saint, who socially belongs to a lower caste, is recognized as personally possessingtherankofbrahman. Alltheseremarkslikewiseapplytothatothersummitofpainting attained in the Japanese screen; apart from the fact that this genre,inmanyofitsproductions,consciouslyprolongstheZen or more or less Taoist painting of the kakemonos, with its

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contentoflandscapeorplants,aswellasothersubjectswhichdo not have to be taken into consideration here, it often attains a degreeofperfectionandprofunditywhichrendersitinseparable fromBuddhistorShintoistcontemplativity. Anothertypeofextra-liturgicalartthatcaptivatesbyitspowerful and candid originality is Balinese art, in which Hindu motifs combinewithformspropertotheMalaygenius;thefactthatthis geniusapartfromtheHinduinfluencehasexpresseditself principally in the sphere of craftsmanship and in that of architecture in wood, bamboo and straw, does not prevent one from seeing in it qualities which sometimes become great art; there can be no doubt that from the point of view of intrinsic values,andnotmerelyfromthatofaparticulartaste,afinebarn in Borneo or Sumatra has much more to offer than has the plaster-nightmareofabaroquechurch.[4] *** Inthecaseoftheexamplesjustmentioned,weareobviouslyat theantipodes,notperhapsofcertainmedievalminiaturesnorof thenoblestandmostspring-like worksoftheQuattrocento,but ofthedramatictitanism,andthefleshlyandvulgardelirium,of the megalomaniacs of the Renaissance and the 17th century, infatuatedwithanatomy,turmoil,marbleandgigantism. Non-traditionalart,aboutwhichafewwordsmustbesaidhere, embracestheclassicalartofantiquityandtheRenaissance,and Continues up to the 19th century which, reacting against academicism, gives rise toimpressionism and analogous styles; this reaction rapidly decomposes into all sorts of perversities, either abstract or surrealistic: in any case, it is really of subrealismthatoneoughttospeakhere.Itgoeswithoutsaying that worthwhile works are to be found incidentally both in impressionism and in classicism in which we include romanticism, since its technical principles are the same , for the cosmic qualities cannot but manifest themselves in this

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realm, and a given individual aptitude cannot but lend itself to this manifestation; but these exceptions, in which the positive elements succeed in neutralizing the erroneous or insufficient principles,arefarfrombeingabletocompensatefortheserious drawbacks of extra-traditional art, and we would gladly do withoutallitsproductionsifitwerepossibletodisencumberthe world from the heavy mortgage of Western culturism, with its vices of impiety, dispersion and poisonousness. The least that one cansayisthatitisnotthis kindofgrandeurthatbrings us closertoHeaven.Sufferthelittlechildrentocomeuntomeand forbidthemnot;forofsuchistheKingdomofHeaven. This culturism is practically synonymous with civilizationism, and thus with implicit racism; according to this prejudice, WesternhumanityprovesitssuperioritybytheGreekmiracle and all its consequences, and thus by the anthropolatry it is notfornothingthatonespeaksofhumanismandcosmolatry which characterize or rather constitute the classicist mentality. However,theGreekmiracleisfirstandforemostanabuseof the intelligence, which couldnot have occurredifawarenessof the sacred had not been depleted despite Orphism and Platonism in large sections of the ruling class under the pressureof anincreasinglyprofaneoutlook, thatistosayofan exteriorized and exteriorizing intelligence both unstable and adventuresome and infatuated with novelties; in keeping with thismentality,themodernsseeinthemostexteriorizedandmost enterprisingmindasuperiorintelligence orevenintelligenceas such. Aswebelievewehavementionedonotheroccasions,whatmust be blamed in artistic naturalism is not its exact observation of nature,butthefactthatthisobservationisnotcompensatedand disciplinedbyanequivalentawarenessofthatwhichtranscends nature,andsooftheessencesofthings,ashappensforexample inEgyptianart;inallsacredartsitisthestyle,whichindicatesa mode of inwardness, that corrects such outwardness, contingency and accidentality as the imitation of nature may

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involve; we would even say that an awareness of essences to a certain extent compromises or retards, if not a sufficient observation of outwardthings, atleast their exact expressionin graphicterms,althoughandonemustinsistonthisthereis no incompatibility in principle between exact draughtsmanship and contemplativity, the latter conferring on the former the imprint of inwardness and essentiality. Moreover, this combination is prefigured by the almost inward quality of normative forms, a quality that requires, precisely, an artistic treatment that is capable of giving it full expression in accordance with the laws of the fixative or crystallizing dimensionthatisfigurativeart. A perfect equilibrium between a noble naturalness and an interiorizing and essentializing stylization is a precarious, but always possible phenomenon. It goes without saying that essentialityortheideatakesprecedenceoverobservationand theimitationofnature;theintuitionandexpressionofarchetypal nature takes precedence over the observation and imitation of nature.Toeachthingitsrights,accordingtoitsplace. *** A naturalistic work of art of the most academic kind can be perfectlypleasing and nobly suggestive by virtue ofthe natural beautythatitcopies,butitisneverthelessalie,totheextentthat itisexact,thatistosay,totheextentthatitseekstopassoffa flat surface for three-dimensional space, or inert matter for a living body. In the case of painting, it is necessary to respect boththeflatsurfaceandimmobility:itisconsequentlynecessary that there should be neither perspective, nor shadows, nor movement, except in the case of a stylization which, precisely, permitstheintegrationofperspectiveandshadowsinthework, whileconferringonthemovementanessential,andsosymbolic and normative quality. In the case of sculpture, not only is it necessary to respect the immobility of matter by suppressing movementorbyreducingittoanessential,balancedandquasi-

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static type; it is also necessary to take account of theparticular substanceused.Whenexpressingthenatureofalivingbody,or some essential aspect of its nature and thus some underlying idea, it is important to take account of the nature of clay, of wood,ofstone,ofmetal;thuswoodpermitsdifferentmodalities from those permitted by mineral substances and, amongst the latter, metal enables different qualities of expression to be broughtintoreliefthandoesstone. Stylization,as wehaveseen, permitsa maximumofnaturalism where it is able to impose on it a maximum of essentiality; in other words, a summit of creative exteriorization calls for a summit of interiorizing power and consequently demands a masteryofthemeanswherebythispowermayberealized.Inthe majority of casesart stops half-way andthereisnothingwrong in this, since concretely there is no reason why it should go further; traditional art perfectly fulfils its role; art is not everything, and its productions do not have to be absolute. But this is independent of the principle that sacred art must satisfy everysincerebeliever;inotherwords,itfailsinitsmissionifits crudeness, or on the contrary its superficial virtuosity, leaves unsatisfiedoreventroublesbelieversofgoodwill,namelythose whom humility preserves from all intolerance and worldly acrimony. We have already remarked that there is a relative but not irremediable incompatibility an incompatibility of fact and notofprinciplebetweenthespiritualcontentortheradiance ofaworkofartandanimplacableandvirtuosicnaturalism:itis asifthescienceofthemechanismofthingskilledtheirspirit,or atleastranthegraveriskofkillingit.Ontheonehandwehavea treatmentthatisnaive,butchargedwithgracesanddiffusingan atmosphereofsecurity,happinessandholychildhood;whileon theotherhandinclassicalantiquityandfromtheCinquecento onwards we have on the contrary a treatment that is scientificallyexecutedbutthecontentishumanandnotheavenly or rather it is humanistic and the work suggests, not a

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childhood still close to Heaven, but an adulthood fallen into disgraceandexpelledfromParadise. When calling the art of exactly copying nature an abuse of intelligence,wehaveindicateditsanalogywithmodernscience: artistic naturalism and exact science both comprise some valid aspects since they are true in a certain respect, but in fact the average man is incapable of completing this wholly outward truth,ortheserespectivetruths,bymeansoftheirindispensable complements, without which science and art cannot realize the equilibrium that is in conformity with the total reality which logically determines them. Everyone, today is aware that the efficacyoftheexperimentalsciencesisnolongeranargumentin their favor, since the calamities they engender are precisely a functionof theirefficacy; likewise,itisnotenoughthatartistic naturalismshouldrepresentamaximumofadequation,sinceitis justforthisreason,giventheusethathasbeenmadeofitforall too long, that it has finished by depriving souls of a healthy nourishmentadaptedtotheirtrueneeds. Itmaybeaddedthatanelementwhichinonewayoranotherhas powerfullycontributedtotheruinationofartisambitionandthe search for originality; by and large and in spite of laudable exceptions, these are all that are necessary to, on average and despite some praiseworthy exceptions, deprive art of that atmosphereofcandorandcalmhappiness,orofsanctity,which isoneofthereasonsforitsexistence. *** The analogy between artistic naturalism and modern science permitsusatthispointtomakeadigression.Wedonotreproach modern science for being a fragmentary, analytical science, lacking inspeculative,metaphysicalandcosmologicalelements orforarisingfromtheresiduesordebrisofancientsciences;we reproachitforbeingsubjectivelyandobjectivelyatransgression and for leading subjectively and objectively to disequilibrium

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andsotodisaster. Conversely, we do not have for the traditional sciences an unmixed admiration; the ancients also had their scientific curiosity, they too operated by means of conjectures and, whatevertheirsenseofmetaphysicalormysticalsymbolismmay havebeen,theyweresometimesindeedoftenmistakenin fields in which they wished to acquire a knowledge, not of transcendentprinciples,butofphysicalfacts.Itisimpossibleto deny that on the level of phenomena, which nevertheless is an integralpartofthenaturalsciences,tosaytheleast,theancients ortheOrientalshavehadcertaininadequateconceptions, orthattheirconclusionswereoftenmostnave;wecertainlydo not reproach them for having believed that the earth is flat and that the sun and the firmament revolve around it, since this appearance is natural and providential for man; but one can reproach them for certain false conclusions drawn from certain appearances,intheillusorybeliefthattheywerepracticing,not symbolism and spiritual speculation, but phenomenal or indeed exact science. One cannot, after all, deny that the purpose of medicineistocure,nottospeculate,andthattheancientswere ignorant of many things in this field in spite of their great knowledge in certain others; in saying this, we are far from contesting that traditional medicine had, and has, the immense advantageofaperspectivewhichincludesthewholeman;thatit was, and is, effective in cases in which modern medicine is impotent; that modern medicine contributes to the degeneration of the human species and to over-population; and that an absolutemedicine is neitherpossible nor desirable, and this for obvious reasons. But let no one say that traditional medicine is superiorpurelyonaccount ofitscosmological speculationsand intheabsenceofparticulareffectiveremedies,andthatmodern medicine, which has these remedies, is merely a pitiful residue becauseitisignorantofthesespeculations;orthatthedoctorsof theRenaissance,suchasParacelsus,werewrongtodiscoverthe anatomical and other errors of Greco-Arab medicine; or, in an entirely general way, that traditional sciences arc marvelous in

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allrespectsandthatmodernsciences,chemistryforexample,are nomorethanfragmentsandresidues. Nopieceofknowledgeatthelevelofphenomenaisbadinitself; but the important question is that of knowing, firstly, whether this knowledge is reconcilable with the purpose of human intelligence, secondly, whether in the last analysis it is truly useful,andthirdly,whethermancansupportitspiritually;infact there is abundant proof that man cannot support a body of knowledge which breaks a certain natural and providential equilibrium, and that the objective consequences of this knowledgecorrespondexactlytoitssubjectiveanomaly.Modern science could not have developed except as the result of a forgetting of God, and of our duties towards God and towards ourselves; in an analogous manner, artistic naturalism, which firstmadeitsappearanceinantiquityandwasrediscoveredatthe beginnings of the modern era, can be explained only by the explosive birth of a passionately exteriorized and exteriorizing mentality. *** If the deviation of art is a possibility, the rejection of art is another. To speak of a great civilization which rejects, not one particularart,butallart,isacontradictioninterms;themoreor less iconoclastic point of view of a St Bernard or a Savonarola cannotbetheattitudeofawholecity-basedcivilization.Butthis point of view, or a point of view that is in practice analogous, can exist traditionally outside civilization of this type, for example in the nomadic or semi-nomadic world of the North AmericanIndians:theRedskinsproperlyso-callednotallthe aboriginal inhabitants of America are indeed more or less hostile to the plastic arts, as doubtless were also their distant congeners the ancient Mongols, and perhaps also the ancient Germans and Celts. According to the Indians, virgin nature, whichissacred,isofanunequalledbeauty,anditcontainsevery conceivablebeauty;itisthusvainandindeedimpossibletoseek

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toimitatetheworksoftheGreatSpirit.Itiscurioustonotethat the classical world, that of naturalism and anthropolatry, looks uponitselfasaconquerorasfarasnatureisconcerned;thecult of man involves contempt for surrounding nature, whereas for the Indian, as moreover for the Far-Easterners, nature is a mother,andalsoafatherland,ofwhichmanisindeedthecenter, butnottheabsoluteproprietor,stilllesstheenemy. ThereligiousnaturismoftheNorthAmericanIndians,envisaged here in connection with its exclusion of the plastic arts, results fromarealandthuslegitimateaspectofthings,itcouldthusnot fail to be affirmed in one or several parts of the globe; history proves that this perspective, while it obviously has nothing exclusive about it nevertheless has a solid basis; to understand this, it is enough to think of all the deviations of the creative genius and of all the evils from which the world of civilizationismsuffers. Moreover,thispointofviewisalsopresentintheancientworld, atleastpartially:theprohibitionofimagesbyJudaismandIslam proceeds in fact from an analogous or symbolically equivalent perspective, and it makes itself felt in the world as a sort of beneficentaerationorasafactorofequilibrium.Thedifference is that in the case of the Redskins, the motivation for the rejectionorabstentionliesintheinimitabilityofnatureapart frompracticalreasonswhichareinanycaserelativewhereas in the case of the monotheistic Semites it lies in the sins of luciferianism,magicandidolatry. ItmustneverthelessbeadmittedthattheIndiansofwhomweare speaking did not completely abstain from figurative drawings. They decorated their tents with a kind of pictography representingmenandanimals,andtheyalsohadthepracticeof sparingly carving their calumets, but in both cases the art is integrated into objects that are both useful and sacred, and it consequently conforms to the sobriety and holy poverty of a worldthatiscommittedtotakingnothoughtforthemorrow.

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Islam tolerates in certain countries and situations miniatures of a very decorative style, on condition that God never appears in them, and that the face of the Prophet is left blankoriscoveredbyaveil;paintingisaccepted,albeitwithout enthusiasm,becausethingsthatarepaintedprojectnoshadow, the miniatures having in addition the advantage of being small, andthusnotcumbersome. The Semites reproach the iconodules for worshipping wood, stoneandmetal,andimagesmadebyman;theyarerightwhen theyarespeakingeitheroftheirownpastorpresentpaganism,or thatoftheirhabitualpaganneighbors,butnotwhentheyinclude in their reproach Christian or Asiatic iconodules. The sacred imagesofthesecommunitiesare,precisely,notmadebyhuman hand; Christians express this by attributing the first icon to an angel, with or without the participation of St Luke. As for the inertmatterwhichtheidolatersseemtoworshipin realityit contains a magical power it ceases to be inert in sacred art because it is inhabited by a heavenly or divine presence; the sacred image is created by God, and it is sanctified and as if vivifiedbyhispresence. *** The de facto ambiguity of beauty, and consequently of art, comes from the ambiguity of Maya: just as the principle of manifestationandillusionbothseparatesfromthePrincipleand leads back to it, so earthly beauties, including those of art, can favor worldliness as well as spirituality, which explains the diametrically opposed attitudes of the saints towards art in general or a given art in particular. The arts reputed to be the most dangerous are those engaging hearing or movement, namelypoetry,musicanddancing;theyarelikewine,whichin Christianityservesasthevehicleforadeifyingsacrament,while inIslamitisprohibited,eachperspectivebeingrightdespitethe contradiction. That the intoxicating elementin the widest

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senseparticularly lends itself to sanctification, Islam recognizes in its esoterism, in which wine symbolizes ecstasy and in which poetry, music and dancing have become ritual meanswithaviewtoremembrance. Beauty, whatever use man may make of it, fundamentally belongstoitsCreator,whothroughitprojectsintotheworldof appearances something of his being. The cosmic, and more particularly the earthly function of beauty is to actualize in the intelligentandsensitivecreaturetherecollectionofessences,and thus to open the way to the luminous Night of the one and infiniteEssence. *** Thevocationsine qua non ofmanistobespiritual.Spirituality manifests itself on the planes which constitute man, namely intelligence, will, affectivity, production: human intelligence is capable of transcendence, of the absolute, of objectivity; the humanwilliscapableofliberty,andthusofconformitytowhat isgraspedbytheintelligence;humanfeeling(affectivity),which is joined to each of the preceding faculties, is capable of compassion and generosity, by reason of the objectivity of the human mind, which takes the soul out of its animal egoism. Finally, thereis the specificallyhumancapacityfor production, and it is because of this that man has been called homo faber, andnothomosapiens only:itisthecapacityforproducingtools and constructing dwellings and sanctuaries, and if need be for making clothes and creating works of art, and also for spontaneously combining in these creations symbolism and harmony. The language of harmony may be simple or rich, dependingonneeds,perspectivesandtemperaments;decoration too has its purpose, both from the point of view of symbolism, and from that of musicality. This amounts to saying that this fourthcapacitymustalsohaveaspiritualcontentonpainofnot being human; thus its role is simply to exteriorize the three preceding capacities by adapting them to material or cultural

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needs, or letussimplysay byprojectingthemintothesensible orderotherwisethanbyrationaldiscourseorwriting.Exiledon earthasweare,unlessweareabletocontentourselveswiththat shadow of Paradise that is virgin nature, we must create for ourselves surroundings which by their truth and their beauty recallourheavenlyoriginandtherebyalsoawakenourhope. Whencreating,manmustprojecthimselfintomatterinhisideal and spiritualpersonality, notin his state offall,sothat he may afterwards be able to repose his soul and his spirit in a frameworkthatremindshiminagentleandholymannerofwhat hemustbe. *** The two Hindu notions of darshan and satsanga sum up, by extension,thequestionofhumanambienceassuch,andsoalso that of art or craftsmanship. Darshan, is above all the contemplationofasaint,orofa maninvestedwithapriestlyor princelyauthority,andrecognizablebythevestimentaryorother symbolswhichmanifestit;satsanga isthefrequentationofholy men, or simply men of spiritual tendency. What is true for our living surroundings is likewise true for our inanimate surroundings, whose message or perfume we unconsciously assimilate to some degree or another. Tell me whom thou frequentestandIshalltelltheewhothouart. Artrefersessentiallytothemysteryoftheveil:itisaveilmade oftheworldandourselvesanditisthusplacedbetweenusand God,butitistransparentinthemeasureinwhichitisperfectand communicatestouswhatatthesametimeitdissimulates.Artis true,thatistosayatransmitterofEssence,totheextentthatitis sacred, and it is sacred, and thus a means of recollection and interiorization,totheextentthatitistrue.

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NOTES [1] When one compares the blustering and heavily carnal paintings of a Rubens with noble, correct and profound works such as the profile of Giovanna Tornabuoni by Ghirlandaio or thescreenswithplum-treesbyKorin,onemaywonderwhether the term profane art can serve as a common denominator for productions that are so fundamentally unequal. In the case of noble works that bear the stamp of a contemplative spirit one wouldprefertospeakofextra-liturgicalart,withouthavingto specify whether it is profane or not, or to what extent it is. Moreoveronemustdistinguishbetweennormalprofaneartanda profaneartwhichisdeviatedandwhichhastherebyceasedtobe atermofcomparison. [2]Itistruethatthisnotionofconsolationhasadeeperimport inthemysticalrealm. [3]Whetheritbeacaseofart,doctrineoranythingelse,thereis syncretism when there is an assemblage of disparate elements, butnotwhenthereisaunitywhichhasassimilatedelementsof diverseprovenance. [4]OnecansaythesameofShintosanctuaries,whichhavebeen describedasbarns,especiallythoseatIse. Originaleditorialinclusionthatfollowed theessayinStudies: All that we are by nature is in full contrariety to this divine love, nor can it be otherwise; a death to itself is its only cure

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and nothing else can make it subservient to good; just as darkness cannot be altered or made better in itself or transmuted into light, it can only be subservient to the light by being lost in it and swallowed up by it WilliamLaw.

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