You are on page 1of 53

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A

Global History, Volume I Fred S. Kleiner


Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/gardners-art-through-the-ages-a-global-history-volum
e-i-fred-s-kleiner/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Gardner s Art Through the Ages A Global History Volume


II Fred S. Kleiner

https://textbookfull.com/product/gardner-s-art-through-the-ages-
a-global-history-volume-ii-fred-s-kleiner/

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History,


Volume I Fred S. Kleiner

https://textbookfull.com/product/gardners-art-through-the-ages-a-
global-history-volume-i-fred-s-kleiner/

Gardner s Art Through the Ages The Western Perspective


Volume I Fred S. Kleiner

https://textbookfull.com/product/gardner-s-art-through-the-ages-
the-western-perspective-volume-i-fred-s-kleiner/

Biota Grow 2C gather 2C cook Loucas

https://textbookfull.com/product/biota-grow-2c-gather-2c-cook-
loucas/
The ShortTube 80 Telescope A User s Guide Neil T.
English

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-shorttube-80-telescope-a-
user-s-guide-neil-t-english/

A Short History of the Middle Ages Barbara H. Rosenwein

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-short-history-of-the-middle-
ages-barbara-h-rosenwein/

The Art of the Bird: The History of Ornithological Art


through Forty Artists 1st Edition Roger J. Lederer

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-art-of-the-bird-the-history-
of-ornithological-art-through-forty-artists-1st-edition-roger-j-
lederer/

Resisting Neoliberalism in Higher Education Volume I:


Seeing Through the Cracks Dorothy Bottrell

https://textbookfull.com/product/resisting-neoliberalism-in-
higher-education-volume-i-seeing-through-the-cracks-dorothy-
bottrell/

Merenstein & Gardner’s Handbook of Neonatal Intensive


Care Sandra Lee Gardner & Brian S. Carter & Mary I
Enzman-Hines & Jacinto A. Hernandez

https://textbookfull.com/product/merenstein-gardners-handbook-of-
neonatal-intensive-care-sandra-lee-gardner-brian-s-carter-mary-i-
enzman-hines-jacinto-a-hernandez/
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
Gardner’s

Art 16th Edition

through
the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner

Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

696593_cvr_se_ptg01.indd 2 08/08/18 11:38 am


G a r d n e r’ s

Art
Thro u g h th e
Ages
A Gl oba l H is tory
VOLUME I

sixteenth edition

fred s. kleiner

Australia • Brazil • Mexico • Singapore • United Kingdom • United States

Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 1 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Gardner’s Art through the Ages: © 2020, 2016, 2013 Cengage Learning, Inc.
A Global H
­ istory, Sixteenth Edition, Volume I
Unless otherwise noted, all content is © Cengage
Fred S. Kleiner
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein
Product Director: Marta Lee-Perriard may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, except as
Senior Product Manager: Vanessa Manter permitted by U.S. copyright law, without the prior written permission of the
Marketing Manager: Laura Kuhlman copyright owner.
Senior Content Managers: Lianne Ames,
For product information and technology assistance, contact us at
Laura Hildebrand
Cengage Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706
IP Analyst: Ann Hoffman or support.cengage.com.
Senior IP Project Manager: Betsy Hathaway For permission to use material from this text or product,
submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions.
Production Service and Layout: Joan Keyes,
Dovetail Publishing Services
Compositor: Cenveo® Publisher Services Library of Congress Control Number: 2018948547
Text and Cover Designer: Alisha Webber
Student Edition:
Cover Image: The Morgan Library & Museum/ ISBN: 978-1-337-69659-3
Art Resource, NY
Loose-leaf Edition:
ISBN: 978-1-337-69673-9

Cengage Learning
20 Channel Center Street
Boston, MA 02210
USA

Cengage is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with


employees residing in nearly 40 different countries and sales in more
than 125 countries around the world. Find your local representative at
www.cengage.com.

Cengage products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd.

To learn more about Cengage platforms and services, register or access


your online learning solution, or purchase materials for your course, visit
www.cengage.com.

Printed in the United States of America


Print Number: 01   Print Year: 2018

Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 2 13/08/18 12:44 pm


about the cover art

Blanche of Castile, Louis IX, a monk, and a lay scribe, dedication page (folio 8 recto) of a moralized Bible,
from Paris, France, 1226–1234. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum, 1′ 3″ × 10 12 ″. Pierpont Morgan
Library, New York.

The Florentine poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) referred to Paris in his Divine Comedy (ca. 1310–1320) as
the city famed for the art of illumination. During the 13th century, book production shifted from monasteries to
urban workshops of professional artists—and Paris boasted the most and best. These new for-profit secular
businesses sold their products to the royal family, scholars, and prosperous merchants. The Parisian shops
were the forerunners of modern publishing houses.
Not surprisingly, some of the finest extant Gothic books belonged to the French monarchy. One of the
many books the royal family commissioned is a moralized Bible now in the Pierpont Morgan Library. Moralized
Bibles are heavily illustrated, each page pairing paintings of Old and New Testament episodes with explana-
tions of their moral significance. Louis’s mother, Blanche of Castile, ordered the Morgan Bible during her
regency (1226–1234) for her teenage son. The dedication page has a costly gold background and depicts
Blanche and Louis enthroned beneath triple-lobed arches and miniature cityscapes. With vivid gestures,
Blanche instructs the young Louis, underscoring her superior position. Below Blanche and Louis are a monk
and a professional lay scribe. The older clergyman instructs the scribe, who already has divided his page into
two columns of four roundels each, a format often used for the paired illustrations of moralized Bibles.
The identity of the painter of this royal moralized Bible is unknown, but that is the norm in the history
of Western art before the Renaissance of the 14th century, when the modern notion of individual artistic genius
took root. Art through the Ages surveys the art of all periods from prehistory to the present, and worldwide,
and examines how artworks of all kinds have always reflected the historical contexts in which they were
created.

Contents  iii
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 3 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Brief Contents

Preface  xi Chapter 11
Early Medieval Europe   319
Introduction
What Is Art History?   1 Chapter 12
Romanesque Europe  347
Chapter 1
Art in the Stone Age   15 Chapter 13
Gothic Europe North of the Alps   381
Chapter 2
Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia   31 Chapter 14
Late Medieval Italy   419
Chapter 3
Egypt from Narmer to Cleopatra   57 Chapter 15
South and Southeast Asia before 1200   443
Chapter 4
Chapter 16
The Prehistoric Aegean   85
China and Korea to 1279   471
Chapter 5
Chapter 17
Ancient Greece  105
Japan before 1333   501
Chapter 6
Chapter 18
The Etruscans  165
Native American Cultures before 1300   519
Chapter 7
Chapter 19
The Roman Empire   181
Africa before 1800   551
Chapter 8
Late Antiquity  237 Notes  566
Chapter 9 Glossary  567
Byzantium  263 Bibliography  582
Chapter 10 Credits  595
The Islamic World   293 Index  599

iv  
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 4 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Contents

Preface  xi Mesopotamia  32
Persia  50
Introduction ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Gods and Goddesses
of Mesopotamia  34
What Is Art History?  1
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Sumerian Votive Statuary   35
Art History in the 21st Century   2
■ materials and techniques: Mesopotamian Seals   37
Different Ways of Seeing   13 ■ a second opinion: The Standard of Ur  38

■ art and society: Enheduanna, Priestess and Poet   42

1 Art in the Stone Age   15 ■ the patron’s voice: Gudea of Lagash   43

■ art and society: Hammurabi’s Laws   45


FRAMING THE ERA The Dawn of Art   15
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: How Many Legs Does
Timeline 16
a Lamassu Have?   47
Paleolithic Art  16 ■ written sources: Babylon, City of Wonders   50

Neolithic Art  23 Map 2-1 Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia   32

■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: How to Represent an


THE BIG PICTURE   5 5
Animal  17

■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Painting in the Dark   20

■ a second opinion: The Meaning of Paleolithic Art   21


3 Egypt from Narmer
■ art and society: The Neolithic Temple at Göbekli Tepe   24
to Cleopatra  57
Map 1-1 Stone Age sites in Europe   16 FRAMING THE ERA Life after Death in
Map 1-2 Neolithic sites in Anatolia and Mesopotamia   24 Ancient Egypt  57
Timeline 58
THE BIG PICTURE   2 9
Egypt and Egyptology   58
Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods   58
2 Ancient Mesopotamia
Old Kingdom  62
and Persia   31
Middle Kingdom  69
FRAMING THE ERA Pictorial Narration
in Ancient Sumer   31 New Kingdom  71
Timeline 32 First Millennium bce  81

  v
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 5 13/08/18 12:44 pm


■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Gods and Goddesses ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Gods and Goddesses
of Egypt  60 of Mount Olympus   107
■ art and society: Mummification and Immortality   61 ■ materials and techniques: Greek Vase Painting   110
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Building the Pyramids ■ Architectural basics: Greek Temple Plans   115
of Gizeh  64
■ Architectural basics: Doric and Ionic Orders   116
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: How to Portray a God-King   66
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: The Invention of Red-Figure
■ art and society: Hatshepsut, the Woman Who Would Painting  121
Be King  72
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Herakles, the Greatest Greek
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Illuminating Buildings Hero  126
before Lightbulbs  75
■ materials and techniques: Hollow-Casting Life-Size
■ a second opinion: Akhenaton  77 Bronze Statues  129
Map 3-1 Ancient Egypt  58 ■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Polykleitos’s Prescription
for the Perfect Statue   131
THE BIG PICTURE   8 3
■ art and society: The Hegeso Stele   141

■ materials and techniques: White-Ground Painting   142

4 The Prehistoric Aegean   85 ■ a second opinion: The Alexander Mosaic  150

■ Architectural basics: The Corinthian Capital   152


FRAMING THE ERA Greece in the Age of Heroes   85
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Hippodamos’s Plan for the
Timeline 86
Ideal City  154
Greece before Homer   86 Map 5-1 The Greek world   106

Cycladic Art  87 THE BIG PICTURE   1 6 3


Minoan Art  88
Mycenaean Art  97 6 The Etruscans   165
■ a second opinion: Cycladic Statuettes   87
FRAMING THE ERA The Portal to the Etruscan
■ art and society: The Theran Eruption and the Chronology ­Afterlife  165
of Aegean Art  92
Timeline 166
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Fortified Palaces for a Hostile
World  96 Etruria and the Etruscans   166
■ Architectural basics: Corbeled Arches, Vaults, and Early Etruscan Art   166
Domes  97

Map 4-1 The prehistoric Aegean   86 Later Etruscan Art   173


■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Etruscan Counterparts
THE BIG PICTURE   1 0 3 of Greco-Roman Gods and Heroes   167

■ written sources: Etruscan Artists in Rome   168

■ art and society: The “Audacity” of Etruscan Women   169


5 Ancient Greece   105
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Houses of the Dead in a City
FRAMING THE ERA The Perfect Temple   105 of the Dead   170

Timeline 106 ■ a second opinion: The Capitoline Wolf  174

Map 6-1 Italy in Etruscan times   166


The Greeks and Their Gods   106
Geometric and Orientalizing Periods   108 THE BIG PICTURE   1 7 9

Archaic Period  111
7 The Roman Empire   181
Early and High Classical Periods   125
Late Classical Period   144 FRAMING THE ERA The Roman Emperor as World
Conqueror  181
Hellenistic Period  153
Timeline 182

vi  Contents
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 6 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Rome, Caput Mundi  182 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Life of Jesus in
Art  244
Republic  183
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Early Christian Saints and
Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius   189 Their Attributes  246

■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: What Should a Church


Early Empire  201 Look Like?  249
High Empire  211 ■ materials and techniques: Manuscript
Illumination  252
Late Empire  223
■ materials and techniques: Ivory Carving   253
■ art and society: Who’s Who in the Roman World   183
■ materials and techniques: Mosaics  256
■ Architectural basics: Roman Concrete Construction   186
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Picturing the Spiritual
■ art and society: Roman Ancestor Portraits   187 World  260
■ art and society: Art for Freed Slaves   190 Map 8-1 The Mediterranean world in Late Antiquity   238
■ written sources: An Eyewitness Account of the Eruption of
Mount Vesuvius  191 THE BIG PICTURE   2 6 1

■ art and society: The Roman House   193

■ art and society: Role Playing in Roman Portraiture   200


9 Byzantium  263
■ the patron’s voice: The Res Gestae of Augustus   202
FRAMING THE ERA Church and State United   263
■ written sources: Vitruvius’s Ten Books on
Architecture  204 Timeline 264
■ written sources: The Golden House of Nero   206 The Christian Roman Empire   264
■ art and society: Spectacles in the Colosseum   207
Early Byzantine Art   265
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: The Ancient World’s Largest
Dome  216 Middle Byzantine Art   279
■ written sources: Hadrian and Apollodorus of Late Byzantine Art   287
Damascus  217
■ written sources: The Emperors of New Rome   267
■ materials and techniques: Iaia of Cyzicus and the Art
of Encaustic Painting   223 ■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Placing a Dome over a
Square  270
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Tetrarchic Portraiture   229
■ a second opinion: The Vienna Genesis  276
■ a second opinion: The Arch of Constantine   233
■ art and society: Icons and Iconoclasm   278
Map 7-1 The Roman Empire at the death of Trajan in
117 ce  182 ■ art and society: Born to the Purple: Empress Zoe   282

Map 9-1 The Byzantine Empire at the death of Justinian


THE BIG PICTURE   2 3 5 in 565  264

THE BIG PICTURE   2 9 1


8 Late Antiquity   237
FRAMING THE ERA Polytheism and Monotheism 10 The Islamic World   293
at Dura-Europos  237
FRAMING THE ERA The Rise and Spread
Timeline 238
of Islam  293
The Late Antique World   238 Timeline 294
From the Soldier Emperors to the Sack Early Islamic Art   294
of Rome  238
Later Islamic Art   306
From the Sack of Rome to Justinian   254
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Muhammad and Islam   295
■ a second opinion: The Via Latina Catacomb   240
■ a second opinion: The Rock of the Dome of the Rock   296
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Old Testament Subjects in
­Christian Art  242 ■ art and society: Major Muslim Dynasties   297

Contents  vii
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 7 13/08/18 12:44 pm


■ Architectural basics: The Mosque   299 Timeline 348
■ written sources: A Venetian Visitor to the Alhambra   307 European Culture in the New Millennium   348
■ written sources: Sinan the Great and the Mosque
of Selim II  310
France and Northern Spain   348
■ materials and techniques: Islamic Tilework   311 Holy Roman Empire   364
■ art and society: Christian Patronage of Islamic Art   316 Italy  370
Map 10-1 The Islamic world around 1500   294 Normandy and England   372
THE BIG PICTURE   3 1 7 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Veneration of Relics   349

■ art and society: Pilgrimage Roads in France and Spain   350

■ written sources: The Burning of Canterbury Cathedral   353


11 Early Medieval Europe   319
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Stone Vaulting in Romanesque
FRAMING THE ERA Missionaries and the Beauty Churches  354
of God’s Words  319 ■ a second opinion: The Rebirth of Large-Scale Sculpture
in Romanesque Europe   355
Timeline 320
■ written sources: Bernard of Clairvaux on Cloister
Europe After the Fall of Rome   320 ­Sculpture  356

Merovingians and Anglo-Saxons   320 ■ Architectural basics: The Romanesque Church Portal   358

Vikings  323 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Crusades   360

■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: How to Illuminate a Nave   365


Hiberno-Saxon Monasteries  324
■ art and society: Romanesque Countesses, Queens, and
Visigothic and Mozarabic Art   327 Nuns  367

Carolingian Empire  328 ■ materials and techniques: Embroidery and Tapestry   377

Map 12-1 Western Europe around 1100   350


Ottonian Empire  337
■ materials and techniques: Cloisonné  321 THE BIG PICTURE   3 7 9
■ art and society: Early Medieval Ship Burials   322

■ art and society: Medieval Books   324

■ a second opinion: The Lindisfarne Saint Matthew   326


13 Gothic Europe North
■ art and society: Charlemagne’s Renovatio Imperii
of the Alps   381
­Romani  329
FRAMING THE ERA The Birth of Gothic   381
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Four Evangelists   331
Timeline 382
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: How to Illustrate a Psalm   332
“Gothic”  382
■ written sources: Charlemagne’s Palatine Chapel at
Aachen  334 France  382
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Medieval Monasteries and
Opus Francigenum outside France   407
­Benedictine Rule  336
■ the patron’s voice: Abbot Suger and the Rebuilding
■ art and society: Theophanu, a Byzantine Princess at the
of Saint-Denis  383
­Ottonian Court  342
■ Architectural basics: The Gothic Rib Vault   387
Map 11-1 The Carolingian Empire at the death of Charlemagne
in 814  328 ■ art and society: Paris, the New Center of Medieval
Learning  388
THE BIG PICTURE   3 4 5
■ Architectural basics: High Gothic Cathedrals   389

■ materials and techniques: Stained-Glass Windows   392


12 Romanesque Europe   347 ■ art and society: Louis IX, the Saintly King   398

■ a second opinion: Gothic Cathedrals and Gothic Cities   400


FRAMING THE ERA The Blessed and the Damned
on Judgment Day   347 ■ art and society: Gothic Book Production   402

viii  Contents
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 8 13/08/18 12:44 pm


■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: The Scissors Arches of Wells ■ Architectural basics: Hindu Temples   460
­Cathedral  409
Map 15-1 South and Southeast Asian sites before 1200   444
Map 13-1 Europe around 1200   382
THE BIG PICTURE   4 6 9
THE BIG PICTURE   4 1 7

16 China and Korea to 1279   471


14 Late Medieval Italy   419
FRAMING THE ERA China’s First Emperor   471
FRAMING THE ERA Duccio di Buoninsegna   419 Timeline 472
Timeline 420
China  472
Duecento (13th Century)   420
Korea  496
Trecento (14th Century)   424 ■ materials and techniques: Chinese Earthenwares
■ art and society: Italian Artists’ Names   421 and Stonewares  473

■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Great Schism, Mendicant ■ materials and techniques: Shang Bronze-Casting   474
­Orders, and Confraternities   423 ■ a second opinion: Sanxingdui  475
■ a second opinion: Pietro Cavallini   425 ■ materials and techniques: Chinese Jade   476
■ materials and techniques: Fresco Painting   428 ■ materials and techniques: Silk and the Silk Road   477
■ the patron’s voice: Artists’ Guilds, Artistic Commissions, ■ Architectural basics: Chinese Wood Construction   480
and Artists’ Contracts   430
■ artists on aRT: Xie He’s Six Canons   482
■ art and society: Artistic Training in Renaissance
Italy  434 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Daoism and Confucianism   486
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: Cityscapes and Landscapes as ■ materials and techniques: Chinese Painting Materials
­Allegories  436 and Formats  489
Map 14-1 Italy around 1400   420 ■ the patron’s voice: Emperor Huizong’s Auspicious
Cranes  491
THE BIG PICTURE   4 4 1 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Chan Buddhism   495

Map 16-1 China during the Tang dynasty   472

15 South and Southeast THE BIG PICTURE   4 9 9


Asia before 1200   443
FRAMING THE ERA The Great Stupa at Sanchi   443 17 Japan before 1333   501
Timeline 444
FRAMING THE ERA Horyuji, Japan’s Oldest Buddhist
South Asia  444 Temple  501
Timeline 502
Southeast Asia  462
■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: The Buddha, Buddhism, Japan Before Buddhism   502
and ­Buddhist Iconography   447
Buddhist Japan  506
■ the patron’s voice: Ashoka’s Sponsorship
of Buddhism  448 ■ a second opinion: Kofun Haniwa   504

■ Architectural basics: The Stupa   450 ■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Shinto  505

■ materials and techniques: The Painted Caves ■ written sources: Woman Writers and Calligraphers at the
of Ajanta  455 ­Heian Imperial Court   511

■ RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY: Hinduism and Hindu ■ art and society: Heian and Kamakura Artistic ­Workshops   514
­Iconography  456 Map 17-1 Japan before 1333   502
■ a second opinion: The Ganges River or the Penance
of ­Arjuna?  459 THE BIG PICTURE   5 1 7

Contents  ix
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 9 13/08/18 12:44 pm


18 Native American 19 Africa before 1800   551
Cultures before 1300   519 FRAMING THE ERA The Art of the Benin
FRAMING THE ERA Ancient Cities in a ­Kingdom  551
New World  519 Timeline 552

Timeline 520 African Peoples and Art Forms   552


The Ancient Americas   520 Prehistory and Early Cultures   553
Mesoamerica  520 11th to 18th Centuries   556
Central America and Northern Andes   536 ■ art and society: Dating African Art and Identifying African
Artists  554
South America  536
■ art and society: Art and Leadership in Africa   557
North America  544 ■ art and society: Ife Ruler Portraiture   558
■ materials and techniques: Mural Painting at
■ a second opinion: The Seated Man from Tada   559
­Teotihuacán  526
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: King Lalibela’s New Jerusalem
■ art and society: The Mesoamerican Ball Game   528
in Ethiopia  561
■ art and society: Human Sacrifice at Bonampak   531
Map 19-1 Precolonial African peoples and sites   552
■ PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: The Underworld, the Sun,
and Mesoamerican Pyramid Design   533 THE BIG PICTURE   5 6 5
■ materials and techniques: Andean Weaving   539

■ art and society: Nasca Lines   540 Notes  566


■ a second opinion: Serpent Mound   546
Glossary  567
Map 18-1 Early sites in Mesoamerica   521
Bibliography  582
Map 18-2 Early sites in Andean South America   537

Map 18-3 Early Native American sites in North America   544 Credits  595

THE BIG PICTURE   5 4 9 Index  599

x  Contents
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 10 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Preface

I take great pleasure in introducing the extensively revised and (­following similar forays into France, Tuscany, Rome, and Germany
expanded 16th edition of Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global for the 14th and 15th editions). MindTap also includes custom vid-
History, which, like the 15th edition, is a hybrid art history eos made on these occasions at each site by Sharon Adams Poore.
textbook—the first, and still the only, introductory survey of the This extraordinary proprietary Cengage archive of visual material
history of art of its kind. This innovative new kind of “Gardner” ranges from ancient temples and aqueducts in Rome and France; to
retains all of the best features of traditional books on paper while medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque churches in England, France,
harnessing 21st-century technology to increase by 25% the number Germany, and Italy and 18th-century landscape architecture in
of works examined—without increasing the size or weight of the England; to such postmodern masterpieces as the Pompidou Center
book itself and at only nominal additional cost to students. and the Louvre Pyramide in Paris, the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stutt-
When Helen Gardner published the first edition of Art through gart, and the Gherkin in London. The 16th edition also features the
the Ages in 1926, she could not have imagined that nearly a century highly acclaimed architectural drawings of John Burge prepared
later, instructors all over the world would still be using her textbook exclusively for Cengage, as well as Google Earth coordinates for all
(available even in a new Chinese edition, the third time this clas- buildings and sites and all known provenances of portal objects.
sic textbook has been translated into Chinese) in their classrooms. Together, these exclusive photographs, videos, and drawings pro-
Indeed, if she were alive today, she would not recognize the book vide readers with a visual feast unavailable anywhere else.
that, even in its traditional form, long ago became—and remains— Once again, scales accompany the photograph of every paint-
the world’s most widely read introduction to the history of art and ing, statue, or other artwork discussed—another innovative feature
architecture. I hope that instructors and students alike will agree of the Gardner text. The scales provide students with a quick and
that this new edition lives up to the venerable Gardner tradition and effective way to visualize how big or small a given artwork is and its
even exceeds their high expectations. relative size compared with other objects in the same chapter and
The 16th edition follows the 15th in incorporating an innova- throughout the book—especially important given that the illus-
tive new online component called MindTaptm, which includes, in trated works vary in size from tiny to colossal.
addition to a host of other features (enumerated below), MindTap Also retained in this edition are the Quick-Review Captions
Bonus Images (with zoom capability) and descriptions of more than (brief synopses of the most significant aspects of each artwork or
300 additional important works of all eras, from prehistory to the building illustrated) that students have found invaluable when pre-
present and worldwide. The printed and online components of the paring for examinations. These extended captions accompany not
hybrid 16th edition are very closely integrated. For example, each only every image in the printed book but also all the digital images
MindTap Bonus Image appears as a thumbnail in the traditional in MindTap, where they are also included in a set of interactive
textbook, with abbreviated caption, to direct readers to MindTap electronic flashcards. Each chapter also again ends with the highly
for additional content, including an in-depth discussion of each popular full-page feature called The Big Picture, which sets forth
image. The integration extends also to the maps, index, glossary, in bullet-point format the most important characteristics of each
and chapter summaries, which seamlessly merge the printed and period or artistic movement discussed in the chapter. Also retained
online information. from the 15th edition are the timelines summarizing the major
artistic and architectural developments during the era treated (again
in bullet-point format for easy review) and a chapter-opening essay
Key Features of called Framing the Era, which discusses a characteristic painting,
sculpture, or building and is illustrated by four photographs.
the 16th Edition Another pedagogical tool not found in any other introductory
In this new edition, in addition to revising the text of every chapter art history textbook is the Before 1300 section that appears at the
to incorporate the latest research and methodological developments beginning of the second volume of the paperbound version of the
and dividing the former chapter on European and American art book. Because many students taking the second half of a survey
from 1900 to 1945 into two chapters, I have added several important course will not have access to Volume I, I have provided a special
features while retaining the basic format and scope of the previous (expanded) set of concise primers on architectural terminology
edition. Once again, the hybrid Gardner boasts roughly 1,700 pho- and construction methods in the ancient and medieval worlds,
tographs, plans, and drawings, nearly all in color and reproduced and on mythology and religion—information that is essential for
according to the highest standards of clarity and color fidelity, understanding the history of art after 1300 in both the West and
including hundreds of new images, among them a new series of the East. The subjects of these special essays are Greco-Roman
superb photos taken by Jonathan Poore exclusively for Art through Temple Design and the Classical Orders; Arches and Vaults; Basili-
the Ages during a photographic campaign in England in 2016 can Churches; Central-Plan Churches; the Gods and Goddesses

  xi
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 11 13/08/18 12:44 pm


of Mount Olympus; the Life of Jesus in Art; Early Christian Saints ensure that the text lives up to the Gardner reputation for accuracy
and Their Attributes; Buddhism and Buddhist Iconography; and as well as readability. I take great pleasure in acknowledging here
Hinduism and Hindu Iconography. Before 1300 also is included in the important contributions to the 16th edition made by the follow-
MindTap for all courses. ing: Bradley Bailey, Saint Louis University; Amy Bloch, University
Feature boxes once again appear throughout the book as well. at Albany; Anne-Marie Bouché, Florida Gulf Coast University;
These features fall under nine broad categories, one of which is new Betty Brownlee, Macomb Community College; Caroline Bruzelius,
to the 16th edition: Duke University; Petra Chu, Seton Hall University; Kathy Curnow,
Architectural Basics boxes provide students with a sound foun- Cleveland State University; Paola Demattè, Rhode Island School of
dation for the understanding of architecture. These discussions are Design; Sarah Dillon, Kingsborough City College, City University of
concise explanations, with drawings and diagrams, of the major New York; Eduardo de Jesús Douglas, University of North Carolina-
aspects of design and construction. The information included is essen- Chapel Hill; Sonja Drimmer, University of Massachusetts Amherst;
tial to an understanding of architectural technology and ­terminology. Ingrid Furniss, Lafayette College; Karen Hope Goodchild, Wofford
Materials and Techniques essays explain the various media that College; Christopher Gregg, George Mason University; Melinda
artists have employed from prehistoric to modern times. Because Hartwig, Emory University; Joe Hawkins, Hagley Park; Peter Hol-
materials and techniques often influence the character of artworks, liday, California State University, Long Beach; Craig Houser, City
these discussions contain essential information on why many mon- College of New York/City University of New York; Margaret Jack-
uments appear as they do. son, University of New Mexico; Mark J. Johnson, Brigham Young
Religion and Mythology boxes introduce students to the princi- University; Lynn Jones, Florida State University; Tanja L. Jones,
pal elements of the world’s great religions, past and present, and to University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; Nancy Klein, Texas A&M;
the representation of religious and mythological themes in painting Peri Klemm, California State University, Northridge; Yu Bong Ko,
and sculpture of all periods and places. These discussions of belief Dominican College; Paul Lavy, University of Hawai’i at Manoa; John
systems and iconography give readers a richer understanding of Listopad, California State University, Sacramento; Gary Liu Jr., Uni-
some of the greatest artworks ever created. versity of Hawaii at Manoa; Nancy Bea Miller, Montgomery County
Art and Society essays treat the historical, social, political, cul- Community College; Michelle Moseley-Christian, Virginia Tech
tural, and religious context of art and architecture. In some instances, University; Evan Neely, Pratt Institute; Huiping Pang, University of
specific monuments are the basis for a discussion of broader themes. Iowa; Benjamin Paul, Rutgers University; Julie-Anne Plax, Univer-
Written Sources boxes present and discuss key historical docu- sity of Arizona; Stephanie Porras, Tulane University; Sharon Pruitts,
ments illuminating important monuments of art and architecture East Carolina University; Kurt Rahmlow, University of North Texas;
throughout the world. The passages quoted permit voices from the Julie Risser, Minneapolis College of Art and Design; Robyn Roslak,
past to speak directly to the reader, providing vivid and unique University of Minnesota-Duluth; Susan Elizabeth Ryan, Louisiana
insights into the creation of artworks in all media. State University; Nicholas Sawicki, Lehigh University; Nancy Ser-
In the Artists on Art boxes, artists and architects throughout wint, Arizona State University; Kerri Cox Sullivan, University of
history discuss both their theories and individual works. Texas, Austin; James R. Swensen, Brigham Young University; David
The Patron’s Voice essays underscore the important roles played S. Whitley, University of California, Los Angeles/ASM Affiliates;
by the individuals and groups who paid for the artworks and build- Margaret L. Woodhull, University of Colorado Denver.
ings in determining the character of those monuments. I am especially indebted to the following for creating the
Problems and Solutions essays are designed to make students instructor and student materials for the 16th edition: Anne
think critically about the decisions that went into the making of Mc­Clanan, Portland State University; Kerri Cox Sullivan, Univer-
every painting, sculpture, and building from the Old Stone Age to sity of Texas, Austin.
the present. These discussions address questions of how and why I am also happy to have this opportunity to express my grat-
various forms developed; the problems that painters, sculptors, and itude to the extraordinary group of people at Cengage involved
architects confronted; and the solutions they devised to resolve them. with the editing, production, and distribution of Art through the
New to the 16th edition are boxes titled A Second Opinion, in Ages. Some of them I have now worked with on various projects
which an individual work of art that is the subject of current debate for two decades and feel privileged to count among my friends.
or has recently been reinterpreted is discussed. These essays under- The success of the Gardner series in all of its various permutations
score for students that the history of art and architecture is not a static depends in no small part on the expertise and unflagging commit-
discipline and that scholars are constantly questioning and rethinking ment of these dedicated professionals, especially Vanessa Manter,
traditional interpretations of paintings, sculptures, and buildings. senior product manager; Laura Hildebrand, senior content man-
Other noteworthy features retained from the 15th edition are ager; Lianne Ames, senior content manager; Paula Dohnal,
the extensive (updated) bibliography of books in English; a glos- learning designer; Ann Hoffman, intellectual property analyst;
sary containing definitions of all italicized terms introduced in both Betsy Hathaway, senior intellectual property project manager;
the printed and online texts; and a complete museum index listing Laura Kuhlman, marketing manager; Sarah Cole, senior designer;
all illustrated artworks by their present location. The host of state- as well as Sharon Adams Poore, former product manager for art;
of-the-art resources in the 16th edition version of MindTap for Art Cate Barr, former senior art director; Jillian Borden, former senior
through the Ages are enumerated on page xxix). marketing manager; and Sayaka Kawano, former product assis-
tant. I also express my deep gratitude to the incomparable group
of learning consultants who have passed on to me the welcome
Acknowledgments advice offered by the hundreds of instructors they speak to daily.
A work as extensive as a global history of art could not be undertaken It is a special pleasure also to acknowledge my debt to the fol-
or completed without the counsel of experts in all areas of world lowing out-of-house contributors to the 16th edition: the peerless
art. As with previous editions, Cengage has enlisted dozens of art quarterback of the entire production process, Joan Keyes, Dovetail
­historians to review every chapter of Art through the Ages in order to Publishing Services; Michele Jones, copy editor extraordinaire; Susan

xii  Preface
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 12 13/08/18 12:44 pm


Gall, eagle-eyed proofreader; Alisha Webber, text and cover designer; thenaic procession frieze of the Parthenon; the Temple of Athena
Lumina Datamatics, photo researchers; Jay and John Crowley, Jay’s Nike and the caryatids of the Erechtheion on the Athenian Acrop-
Publisher Services; Cenveo Publisher Services; and Jonathan Poore olis; the Tomb of the Diver, Paestum; the Farnese Hercules; and the
and John Burge, for their superb photos and architectural drawings. Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian agora.
I conclude this long (but no doubt incomplete) list of acknowl- 6: The Etruscans. New Framing the Era essay “The Portal to the Etrus-
edgments with an expression of gratitude to my colleagues at Boston can Afterlife.” New A Second Opinion essay “The Capitoline Wolf.”
University and to the thousands of students and hundreds of teach- New photographs of the Tomb of the Augurs and the Capitoline Wolf.
ing fellows in my art history courses since I began teaching in 1975.
From them I have learned much that has helped determine the form 7: The Roman Empire. Added the portraits of a Republican priest
and content of Art through the Ages and made it a much better book in the Vatican Museums and of Pompey the Great in Venice.
than it otherwise might have been. New Framing the Era essay “The Roman Emperor as World Con-
Fred S. Kleiner queror.” New A Second Opinion essay “The Arch of Constantine.”
New photographs of the Temple of Portunus, Rome; the Temple of
Vesta, Tivoli; the funerary relief of the Gessii in Boston; the funer-
ary procession relief from Amiternum; the gardenscape from the
Chapter-by-Chapter Changes Villa of Livia at Primaporta; the Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (gen-
in the 16th Edition eral view and Tellus panel); the Pont-du-Gard, Nîmes; the Porta
Maggiore, Rome; the facade of the Colosseum, Rome; the portrait
The 16th edition is extensively revised and expanded, as detailed of a Flavian woman in the Museo Capitolino; the spoils relief of
below. Instructors will find a very helpful figure number transition the Arch of Titus, Rome; four details of the spiral frieze of the
guide on the online instructor companion site. Column of Trajan, Rome; the portrait of Hadrian in the Palazzo
Introduction: What Is Art History? Added the head of the portrait Massimo; the exterior of the Pantheon, Rome; the apotheosis and
of Augustus as pontifex maximus from the Via Labicana, Rome. decursio reliefs of the Column of Antoninus Pius, Rome; the por-
1: Art in the Stone Age. Revised and expanded discussion of trait of Caracalla in Berlin; the portrait of Trajan Decius in the
chronology and current theories about Paleolithic art, includ- Museo Capitolino; the portrait of Philip the Arabian in the Vatican
ing a new A Second Opinion essay “The Meaning of Paleolithic Museums; the Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus; the Temple of Venus,
Art.” New Art and Society essay “The Neolithic Temple at Göbekli Baalbek; and the Arch of Constantine, Rome.
Tepe.” New photographs of the passage grave at Newgrange and 8: Late Antiquity. Added the baptistery of the Christian commu-
the circles of trilithons at Stonehenge. nity house at Dura-Europos, the Anastasis Rotunda of the Church
2: Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia. Added the Babylonian of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the mosaics of the chan-
Queen of the Night, the Kalhu panel of Assyrians besieging a cita- cel arch of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. New Framing the Era
del, and a bull protome capital from Achaemenid Susa. Revised essay “Polytheism and Monotheism at Dura-Europos.” New A Sec-
chronology of Sumerian art and expanded discussion of the Royal ond Opinion essay “The Via Latina Catacomb.” New photographs
Cemetery at Ur with a new A Second Opinion essay “The Stan- of the Dura-Europos baptistery, the Santa Maria Antiqua sarcoph-
dard of Ur.” Revised discussion and dating of the Sasanian palace agus, two details of the Catacomb of Commodilla in Rome, and
at Ctesiphon. New photographs of the cylinder seal of Puabi, the the ivory diptych of the Symmachi.
portrait head of an Akkadian ruler, the lamassu from the palace of 9: Byzantium. Added the pedestal of the Theodosian obelisk in
Sargon II, and the Nineveh panel of Ashurbanipal hunting lions. the Constantinople hippodrome. New A Second Opinion essay
3: Egypt from Narmer to Cleopatra. Added the colossal head “The Vienna Genesis.” New photographs of the apse of San Vitale
of Senusret III in Kansas City. New A Second Opinion essay at Ravenna, the interior of the Cappella Palatina at Palermo, and
“­Akhenaton.” New photographs of the columnar entrance corri- the exterior of the church of Saint Catherine at Thessaloniki.
dor of the funerary precinct of Djoser at Saqqara, the exterior and 10: The Islamic World. New A Second Opinion essay “The Rock
interior of the Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, the Temple of of the Dome of the Rock.” New photographs of the exterior and
Amen-Re and the hypostyle hall at Karnak, Thutmose’s portrait of interior of the Dome of the Rock, the Umayyad palace at Mshatta,
Nefertiti, the sunken relief in Berlin of the family of Akhenaton, and the pyxis of al-Mughira.
and the sphinx of Taharqo in the British Museum. 11: Early Medieval Europe. New Framing the Era essay “Mis-
4: The Prehistoric Aegean. New A Second Opinion essay “Cycladic sionaries and the Beauty of God’s Words.” New A Second Opinion
Statuettes.” New photographs of the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, the essay “The Lindisfarne Saint Matthew.” New Problems and Solu-
Akrotiri Spring Fresco, the corbel-vaulted gallery in the fortifica- tions essay “How to Illustrate a Psalm.” New photographs of the
tion walls of Tiryns, the Lion Gate and the interior of the Treasury Oseberg ship, San Juan Bautista at Baños de Cerrato, and the
of Atreus at Mycenae, and the Mycenaean painted female head in bronze doors of St. Michael’s at Hildesheim.
the Athens National Archaeological Museum. 12: Romanesque Europe. New Framing the Era essay “The Blessed
5: Ancient Greece. Added a second centauromachy metope, the and the Damned on Judgment Day.” New Written Sources essay
horse of Selene from the east pediment, the river god Ilissos and “The Burning of Canterbury Cathedral.” Two new Problems and
Iris from the west pediment, and the peplos ceremony of the east Solutions essays “Stone Vaulting in Romanesque Churches” and
frieze of the Parthenon; and the lion hunt pebble mosaic from “How to Illuminate a Nave.” New A Second Opinion essay “The
Pella. New A Second Opinion essay “The Alexander Mosaic.” Rebirth of Large-Scale Sculpture in Romanesque Europe.” New
New photographs of the west pediment of the Temple of Arte- photographs of the west tympanum Last Judgment at Autun (three
mis, Corfu; the Charioteer of Delphi; the herm of Pericles in the new details), the Tower of Babel on the nave vault of Saint-Savin-sur-
­Vatican; metope 28, Helios and Dionysos and the three goddesses Gartempe, the interior and atrium of Sant’Ambrogio at Milan, and
of the east pediment, and the horsemen and maidens of the Pana- the nave of Durham Cathedral.
Preface  xiii
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 13 13/08/18 12:44 pm


13: Gothic Europe North of the Alps. Added the head of Moses 16: China and Korea to 1279. Extensive text revisions. Added
from the west facade of Saint-Denis; Wells and Exeter Cathedrals; the Nanchan Temple on Mount Wutai. New A Second Opinion
and a discussion of the Decorated style of English Gothic architec- essay “Sanxingdui.” New photographs of the terracotta army of
ture. New Framing the Era essay “The Birth of Gothic.” New Art and Shi Huangdi (general view and three details), the Vairocana Bud-
Society essay “Louis IX, the Saintly King.” New A Second Opinion dha of the Fengxian Temple at Luoyang, the Fogong Si Pagoda at
essay “Gothic Cathedrals and Gothic Cities.” New photographs of Yingxian, and the United Silla cave temple at Seokguram.
Chartres Cathedral (aerial view and nave), Reims Cathedral (west 17: Japan before 1333. Revised Framing the Era essay “Horyuji,
facade), Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (interior), Salisbury Cathedral Japan’s Oldest Buddhist Temple.” New A Second Opinion essay
(west facade, statue of Bishop Poore, and nave), Gloucester Cathe- “Kofun Haniwa.” New photographs of a haniwa warrior from
dral (choir and tomb of Edward II), the exterior of the Chapel of Gunma Prefecture, the honden of the Ise Jingu, the kondo and
Henry VII in Westminster Abbey, Nicholas of Verdun’s Shrine of Amida triad mural at Horyuji, the Daibutsuden and Unkei’s Agyo
the Three Kings, and the choir of Cologne Cathedral. at Todaiji, and the Phoenix Hall of the Byodoin at Uji.
14: Late Medieval Italy. New Framing the Era essay “Duccio di 18: Native American Cultures before 1300. Added a Moche
Buoninsegna.” New A Second Opinion essay “Pietro Cavallini.” portrait-head vessel in Houston and Lintel 25 of Structure 23,
New Problems and Solutions essay “Cityscapes and Landscapes as Yaxchilán. New Framing the Era essay “Ancient Cities in a New
Allegories.” Two new photographs of Pietro Cavallini’s Last Judg- World.” New Art and Society essay “Human Sacrifice at Bonam-
ment in Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. pak.” New photographs of the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of
15: South and Southeast Asia before 1200. Extensively revised text the Feathered Serpent at Teotihuacán, the ball court at Copán, and
with expansion of the section on Southeast Asia, especially Borobu- the Castillo, Caracol, and ball court at Chichén Itzá.
dur. New A Second Opinion essay “The Ganges River or the Penance 19: Africa before 1800. Added a Nok culture fragmentary figure
of Arjuna?” New photographs of the Great Stupa at Sanchi (general of a woman in Houston. Revised Framing the Era essay “The Art
view and yakshi of the east torana), the Bodhisattva Padmapani of the Benin Kingdom.” New A Second Opinion essay “The Seated
mural painting in cave 1 at Ajanta, Borobudur (aerial view, relief of Man from Tada.” New photographs of the copper statuette from
Sudhana visiting Manjushri, and seated Buddha and hollow stupas of Tada, Beta Giorghis at Lalibela, and the circuit walls and bird-and-
the highest circular terrace), and Angkor Wat (aerial view). crocodile monolith of Great Zimbabwe.

about the author

Fred S. Kleiner
Fred S. Kleiner (Ph.D., Columbia University) has been the author or coauthor of Gardner’s Art through the
Ages beginning with the 10th edition in 1995. He has also published more than a hundred books, articles,
and reviews on Greek and Roman art and architecture, including A History of Roman Art, also published by
Cengage Learning. Both Art through the Ages and the book on Roman art have been awarded Texty prizes as the
outstanding college textbook of the year in the humanities and social sciences, in 2001 and 2007, respectively. Pro-
fessor Kleiner has taught the art history survey course since 1975, first at the University of Virginia and, since 1978,
at Boston University, where he is currently professor of the history of art and architecture and classical archaeology
and has served as department chair for five terms, most recently from 2005 to 2014. From 1985 to 1998, he was
editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Archaeology.
Long acclaimed for his inspiring lectures and devotion to students, Professor Kleiner won Boston University’s
Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the College Prize for Undergraduate Advising in the Humanities
in 2002, and he is a two-time winner of the Distinguished Teaching Prize in the College of Arts & Sciences Honors
Program. In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and, in 2009, in recognition of
lifetime achievement in publication and teaching, a Fellow of the Text and Academic Authors Association.

Also by Fred Kleiner: A History of Roman Art, Second Edition (Cengage Learning 2018; ISBN
9781337279505), winner of the 2007 Texty Prize for a new college textbook in the humanities and social sciences.
In this authoritative and lavishly illustrated volume, Professor Kleiner traces the development of Roman art and
architecture from Romulus’s foundation of Rome in the eighth century bce to the death of Constantine in the fourth
century ce, with special chapters devoted to Pompeii and Herculaneum, Ostia, funerary and provincial art and
architecture, and the earliest Christian art, with an introductory chapter on the art and architecture of the Etruscans
and of the Greeks of South Italy and Sicily.

xiv  Preface
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 14 13/08/18 12:44 pm


RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
AND INSTRUCTORS

MindTap for MindTap Mobile


Art through the Ages Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History, 16th edition, is
now more accessible than ever with the MindTap Mobile App,
MindTap for Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History, 16th
empowering students to learn on their terms—anytime, anywhere,
edition, helps students engage with course content and achieve
online or off.
greater comprehension. Highly personalized, fully online, and com-
pletely mobile-optimized, the MindTap learning platform presents •• The MindTap eReader provides convenience as students can
authoritative Cengage content, assignments, and services. read or listen to their eBook on their smartphone, take notes,
and highlight important passages.
Students
•• Flashcards and quizzing cultivate confidence. Students have in-
MindTap guides you through your course via a learning path where stant access to readymade flashcards, study games, and quizzes
you can annotate readings and take quizzes. Concepts are brought to engage key concepts and confidently prepare for exams.
to life with zoomable versions of close to 1,700 images; videos to •• Notifications keep students connected. Due dates are never for-
reinforce concepts and expand knowledge of particular works or art gotten with MindTap Mobile course notifications, which push
trends; numerous study tools, including mobile-optimized image assignment reminders, score updates, and instructor messages
flashcards; a glossary complete with an audio pronunciation guide; directly to students’ smartphones.
and more!

Instructors Lecture Notes & Study Guides


You can easily tailor the presentation of each MindTap course The Lecture Notes & Study Guide for each chapter is a lecture
and integrate activities into a learning management system. The companion that allows students to take notes alongside the images
Resources for Teaching folder in MindTap and the Instructor Com- shown in class. This resource includes reproductions of the images
panion Site hold resources such as instructions on how to use the from the reading, with full captions and space for note-taking either
online test bank; Microsoft PowerPoint slides with high-resolution on a computer or on a printout. It also includes a chapter summary,
images, which can be used as is or customized by importing per- key terms list, and learning objectives checklist.
sonal lecture slides or other material; YouTube playlists organized
by chapter; course learning objectives; and more. Google Earth
Take a virtual tour of art through the ages! Resources for the 16th
edition include Google Earth coordinates for all works, monu-
ments, and sites discussed in the reading, encouraging students to
make geographical connections between places and sites. Instruc-
tors can use these coordinates to start lectures with a virtual journey
to locations all over the globe or take aerial screenshots of important
sites to incorporate into lecture materials.

  xv
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

96593_fm_rev02_i-xv.indd 15 13/08/18 12:44 pm


 I-1a Art historians seek to understand not only why artworks
appear as they do but also why those works exist at all. Who paid
this African artist to make this altar? Can the figures represented
provide the answer?

1 in.

I-1 Altar to the Hand (ikegobo), from Benin, Nigeria,


ca. 1735–1750. Bronze, 19 5 21 0 high. British Museum,
London (gift of Sir William Ingram).

 I-1b What tools and techniques did this sculptor employ to transform molten
bronze into this altar representing a Benin king and his attendants projecting in
high relief from the background plane?

 I-1c At the bottom of the altar is a band


with hands and other symbols, but no art-
ist’s signature or date. How can art historians
determine when an unlabeled work such as
this one was made and by and for whom?

Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 32 12/06/18 12:38 pm


introduction

WHAT IS ART HISTORY?


What is art history? Except when referring to the modern academic discipline, people do not often
­juxtapose the words art and history. They tend to think of history as the record and interpretation of
past human events, particularly social and political events. By contrast, most think of art, quite cor-
rectly, as part of the present—as something people can see and touch. Of course, people cannot see or
touch history’s vanished human events, but a visible, tangible artwork is a kind of persisting event. One
or more artists made it at a certain time and in a specific place, even if no one now knows who, when,
where, or why. Although created in the past, an artwork continues to exist in the present, long surviv-
ing its times. The earliest known paintings and sculptures were created almost 40,000 years ago, but
they can be viewed today, often in glass cases in museums built only during the past few years.
Modern museum visitors can admire these objects from the remote past and countless others pro-
duced over the millennia—whether a large painting on canvas by a 17th-century French artist (fig. I-12),
a wood portrait from an ancient Egyptian tomb (fig. I-15), an illustrated book by a medieval German
monk (fig. I-8), or an 18th-century bronze altar glorifying an African king (fig. I-1)—without any
knowledge of the circumstances leading to the creation of those works. The beauty or sheer size of an
object can impress people, the artist’s virtuosity in the handling of ordinary or costly materials can
dazzle them, or the subject depicted can move them emotionally. Viewers can react to what they see,
interpret the work in the light of their own experience, and judge it a success or a failure. These are all
valid aesthetic responses. (Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that addresses the nature of beauty,
especially in art.) But the enjoyment and appreciation of artworks in museum settings are relatively
recent phenomena, as is the creation of artworks solely for museum-going audiences to view.
Today, it is common for artists to work in private studios and to create paintings, sculptures, and
other objects to be offered for sale by commercial art galleries. This is what American artist Clyfford
Still (1904–1980) did when he created his series of paintings (fig. I-2) of pure color titled simply with
the year of their creation. Usually, someone whom the artist has never met will purchase the artwork
and display it in a setting that the artist has never seen. This practice is not a new phenomenon in
the history of art—an ancient potter decorating a vase for sale at a village market stall probably did
not know who would buy the pot or where it would be housed—but it is not at all typical. In fact, it is
exceptional. Throughout history, most artists created paintings, sculptures, and other objects for specific
patrons and settings and to fulfill a specific purpose, even if today no one knows the original contexts
of those artworks. A museum visitor can appreciate the visual and tactile qualities of these objects, but
without knowing the circumstances of their creation, that modern viewer cannot understand why they
were made or why they appear as they do. Art appreciation and aesthetic judgments in general do not
require knowledge of the historical context of an artwork (or a building). Art history does.

1
Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 1 12/06/18 12:38 pm


ART HISTORY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Art historians study the visual and tangible objects that humans
make and the structures they build. Scholars traditionally have
classified these works as architecture, sculpture, the pictorial arts
(painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography), and the craft
arts, or arts of design. The craft arts comprise utilitarian objects,
such as ceramics, metalwork, textiles, jewelry, and similar acces-
sories of ordinary living—but the fact that these objects were used
does not mean that they are not works of art. In fact, in some times
and places, these so-called minor arts were the most prestigious
artworks of all. Artists of every age have blurred the boundaries
among these categories, but this is especially true today, when mul-
timedia works abound.
Beginning with the earliest Greco-Roman art critics, scholars
have studied objects that their makers consciously manufactured as
“art” and to which the artists assigned formal titles. But today’s art
historians also study a multitude of objects that their creators and
owners almost certainly did not consider to be “works of art”—for
example, the African altar illustrated on the opening page of this
introductory chapter (fig. I-1). Likewise, few ancient Romans
1 ft.
would have regarded a coin bearing their emperor’s portrait as any-
thing but money. Today, an art museum may exhibit that coin in
a locked case in a climate-controlled room, and scholars may sub-
ject it to the same kind of art historical analysis as a portrait by an
acclaimed Renaissance or modern sculptor or painter.
The range of objects that art historians study is constantly
I-2 Clyfford Still, 1948-C, 1948. Oil on canvas, 6′ 8 78 ″ × 5′ 8 34 ″. expanding and now includes, for example, computer-generated
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, images, whereas in the past almost anything produced using a
Washington, D.C. (purchased with funds of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, machine would not have been regarded as art. Most people still
1992). consider the performing arts—music, drama, and dance—as out-
Clyfford Still painted this abstract composition without knowing who would
side art history’s realm because these arts are fleeting, imperma-
purchase it or where it would be displayed, but throughout history, most art- nent media. But during the past few decades, even this distinction
ists created works for specific patrons and settings. between “fine art” and “performance art” has become blurred. Art
historians, however, generally ask the same kinds of questions
about what they study, whether they employ a restrictive or expan-
sive definition of art.
Thus a central aim of art history is to determine the original
context of artworks. Art historians seek to achieve a full under-
standing not only of why these “persisting events” of human history
The Questions Art Historians Ask
look the way they do but also of why the artistic events happened How Old Is It? Before art historians can write a history of art,
at all. What unique set of circumstances gave rise to the construc- they must be sure that they know the date of each work they study.
tion of a particular building or led an individual patron to com- Thus an indispensable subject of art historical inquiry is chronology,
mission a certain artist to fashion a singular artwork for a specific the dating of art objects and buildings. If researchers cannot deter-
place? The study of history is therefore vital to art history. And art mine a monument’s age, they cannot place the work in its historical
history is often indispensable for a thorough understanding of his- context. Art historians have developed many ways to establish, or at
tory. In ways that other historical documents may not, art objects least approximate, the date of an artwork.
and buildings can shed light on the peoples who made them and Physical evidence often reliably indicates an object’s age. The
on the times of their creation. Furthermore, artists and architects material used for a statue or painting—bronze, plastic, or oil-based
can affect history by reinforcing or challenging cultural values and pigment, to name only a few—may not have been invented before a
practices through the objects they create and the structures they certain time, indicating the earliest possible date (the terminus post
build. Although the two disciplines are not the same, the analysis of quem: Latin, “point after which”) that someone could have fash-
art and architecture is inseparable from the study of history. ioned the work. Or artists may have ceased using certain materi-
The following pages introduce some of the distinctive subjects als—such as specific kinds of inks and papers for drawings—at a
that art historians address and the kinds of questions they ask, and known time, providing the latest possible date (the terminus ante
explain some of the basic terminology they use when answering quem: Latin, “point before which”) for objects made of those mate-
these questions. Readers armed with this arsenal of questions and rials. Sometimes the material (or the manufacturing technique) of
terms will be ready to explore the multifaceted world of art through an object or a building can establish a very precise date of produc-
the ages—and to form their own opinions and write knowledgably tion or construction. The study of tree rings, for instance, usually
about artworks and buildings in all places and at all times. This is can determine within a narrow range the date of a wood statue or a
the central aim of this book. timber roof beam.

2 introduction What Is Art History?


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 2 12/06/18 12:38 pm


I-4 Interior of Santa Croce (looking east), Florence, Italy, begun 1294.

In contrast to Beauvais Cathedral (fig. I-3), this contemporaneous Florentine


church conforms to the quite different regional style of Italy. The building has
a low timber roof and small windows.

I-3 Choir of Beauvais Cathedral (looking east), Beauvais, France,


“Archaic Greek” or “High Renaissance.” But many periods do not
rebuilt after 1284.
display any stylistic unity at all. How would someone define the
The style of an object or building often varies from region to region. This artistic style of the second or third decade of the new millennium in
cathedral has towering stone vaults and large colored-glass windows North America? Far too many crosscurrents exist in contemporary
typical of 13th-century French architecture. art for anyone to describe a period style of the early 21st century—
even in a single city such as New York.
Documentary evidence can help pinpoint the date of an object Regional style is the term that art historians use to describe
or building when a dated written document mentions the work. For variations in style tied to geography. Like an object’s date, its prov-
example, official records may note when church officials commis- enance, or place of origin, can significantly determine its character.
sioned a new altarpiece—and how much they paid to which artist. Very often two artworks from the same place made centuries apart
Internal evidence can play a significant role in dating an art- are more similar than contemporaneous works from two different
work. A painter or sculptor might have depicted an identifiable per- regions. To cite one example, usually only an expert can distinguish
son or a kind of hairstyle or garment fashionable only at a certain between an Egyptian statue carved in 2500 bce (fig. 3-13) and one
time. If so, the art historian can assign a more accurate date to that created 2,000 years later (fig. 3-37). But no one would mistake an
painting or sculpture. Egyptian statue of 500 bce for one of the same date made in Greece
Stylistic evidence is also very important. The analysis of style— (fig. 5-35) or Africa (fig. 19-4).
an artist’s distinctive manner of producing an object—is the art Considerable variations in a given area’s style are possible, how-
historian’s special sphere. Unfortunately, because it is a subjective ever, even during a single historical period. In late medieval Europe,
assessment, an artwork’s style is by far the most unreliable chrono- French architecture differed significantly from Italian architecture.
logical criterion. Still, art historians find stylistic evidence a very The interiors of Beauvais Cathedral (fig. I-3) and the church of
useful tool for establishing chronology. Santa Croce (Holy Cross, fig. I-4) in Florence typify the architec-
tural styles of France and Italy, respectively, at the end of the 13th
What Is Its Style? Defining artistic style is one of the key ele- century. The rebuilding of the east end of Beauvais Cathedral began
ments of art historical inquiry, although the analysis of artworks in 1284. Construction commenced on Santa Croce only 10 years
solely in terms of style no longer dominates the field the way it once later. Both structures employ the pointed arch characteristic of this
did. Art historians speak of several different kinds of artistic styles. era, yet the two churches differ strikingly. The French church has
Period style refers to the characteristic artistic manner of a spe- towering stone ceilings and large expanses of colored-glass win-
cific era or span of years, usually within a distinct culture, such as dows, whereas the Italian building has a low timber roof and small,

Art History in the 21st Century  3


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 3 12/06/18 12:38 pm


1 ft.

I-5 Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 4, 1930. Oil on canvas,


3′ 4″ × 2′ 6″. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Alfred Stieg-
1 ft.
litz Collection, bequest of Georgia O’Keeffe).

O’Keeffe’s paintings feature close-up views of petals and leaves in which


the organic forms become powerful abstract compositions. This approach
to painting typifies the artist’s distinctive personal style.

widely separated clear windows. Because the two contemporaneous


churches served similar purposes, regional style mainly explains I-6 Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1931–1932. Tem-
their differing appearance. pera on canvas, 7′ 12″ × 4′. Whitney Museum of American Art, New
Personal style, the distinctive manner of individual artists or York (gift of Edith and Milton Lowenthal in memory of Juliana Force).
architects, often decisively explains stylistic discrepancies among O’Keeffe’s contemporary, Shahn developed a style markedly different from
paintings, sculptures, and buildings of the same time and place. For hers. His paintings are often social commentaries on recent events and
example, in 1930, American painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) incorporate readily identifiable people.
produced a series of paintings of flowering plants. One of them—
Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 4 (fig. I-5)—is a sharply focused close-up
view of petals and leaves. O’Keeffe captured the growing plant’s wearing academic cap and gown) who declared that the original
slow, controlled motion while converting the plant into a power- trial was fair and cleared the way for the executions. Behind, on the
ful abstract composition of lines, forms, and colors (see the discus- wall of a stately government building, hangs the framed portrait of
sion of art historical vocabulary in the next section). Only a year the judge who pronounced the initial sentence. Personal style, not
later, another American artist, Ben Shahn (1898–1969), painted period or regional style, sets Shahn’s canvas apart from O’Keeffe’s.
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (fig. I-6), a stinging commentary The contrast is extreme here because of the very different subjects
on social injustice inspired by the trial and execution of two Ital- that the artists chose. But even when two artists depict the same
ian anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Many people subject, the results can vary widely. The way that O’Keeffe painted
believed that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unjustly convicted of flowers and the way that Shahn painted faces are distinctive and
killing two men in a robbery in 1920. Shahn’s painting compresses unlike the styles of their contemporaries. (See the “Who Made It?”
time in a symbolic representation of the trial and its aftermath. The discussion on page 6.)
two executed men lie in their coffins. Presiding over them are the The different kinds of artistic styles are not mutually exclusive.
three members of the commission (headed by a college president For example, an artist’s personal style may change dramatically

4 introduction What Is Art History?


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 4 12/06/18 12:38 pm


I-7 Gislebertus, weighing of souls, detail of Last Judgment
(fig. 12-1), west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France,
ca. 1120–1135.

In this high relief portraying the weighing of souls on Judgment


Day, Gislebertus used disproportion and distortion to dehumanize
the devilish figure yanking on the scales of justice.

during a long career. Art historians then must distinguish


among the different period styles of a particular artist,
such as the “Rose Period” (fig. 29-10A) and the “Cub-
ist Period” (fig. 29-14) of the prolific 20th-century artist
Pablo Picasso.

What Is Its Subject? Another major concern of art


historians is, of course, subject matter, encompassing the
story or narrative; the scene presented; the action’s time
and place; the persons involved; and the environment and
its details. Some artworks, such as modern abstract paint-
ings (fig. I-2), have neither traditional subjects nor even
settings. The “subject” is the artwork itself—its colors,
textures, composition, and size. But when artists repre-
sent people, places, or actions, viewers must identify these
features to achieve a complete understanding of the work.
Art historians traditionally separate pictorial subjects into
various categories, such as religious, historical, mythologi-
cal, genre (daily life), portraiture, landscape (a depiction of
a place), still life (an arrangement of inanimate objects),
and their numerous subdivisions and combinations.
Iconography—literally, the “writing of images”—
refers both to the content, or subject, of an artwork, and
to the study of content in art. By extension, it also includes
the study of symbols, images that stand for other images or
encapsulate ideas. In Christian art, two intersecting lines
of unequal length or a simple geometric cross can serve
as an emblem of the religion as a whole, symbolizing the
cross of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. A symbol also can be
a familiar object that an artist has imbued with greater
meaning. A balance or scale, for example, may symbolize
justice or the weighing of souls on Judgment Day (fig. I-7).
Artists may depict figures with unique attributes
identifying them. In Christian art, for example, each of the
authors of the biblical Gospel books, the four evangelists
(fig. I-8), has a distinctive attribute. People can recognize
Saint Matthew by the winged man associated with him,
John by his eagle, Mark by his lion, and Luke by his ox.
Throughout the history of art, artists have used
personifications—abstract ideas codified in human form.
Because of the fame of the colossal statue set up in New
York City’s harbor in 1886, people everywhere visualize
Liberty as a robed woman wearing a rayed crown and
holding a torch. Four different personifications appear

I-8 The four evangelists, folio 14 verso of the Aachen


Gospels, ca. 810. Ink and tempera on vellum, 1′ × 9 12″.
Domschatzkammer, Aachen.
1 in. Artists depict figures with attributes in order to identify them
for viewers. The authors of the four Gospels have distinctive
attributes—winged man (Matthew), eagle (John), lion (Mark),
and ox (Luke).

Art History in the 21st Century  5


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 5 12/06/18 12:38 pm


common (but by no means universal) today, in the history of art,
countless works exist whose artists remain unknown. Because per-
sonal style can play a major role in determining the character of
an artwork, art historians often try to attribute anonymous works
to known artists. Sometimes they assemble a group of works all
thought to be by the same person, even though none of the objects
in the group is the known work of an artist with a recorded name.
Art historians thus reconstruct the careers of artists such as the
“Achilles Painter” (fig. 5-58), the anonymous ancient Greek artist
whose masterwork is a depiction of the hero Achilles. Scholars base
their attributions on internal evidence, such as the distinctive way
that an artist draws or carves drapery folds, earlobes, or flowers. It
requires a keen, highly trained eye and long experience to become
a connoisseur, an expert in assigning artworks to “the hand” of one
artist rather than another. Attribution is subjective, of course, and
ever open to doubt. For example, for a half-century through 2014,
scholars involved with the Rembrandt Research Project debated
attributions to the famous 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt
van Rijn (fig. 25-15)—and the debate continues today.
Sometimes a group of artists works in the same style at the
same time and place. Art historians designate such a group as a
school. “School” in this sense does not mean an educational insti-
tution or art academy. The term connotes only shared chronol-
ogy, style, and geography. Art historians speak, for example, of the
Dutch school of the 17th century and, within it, of subschools such
as those of the cities of Haarlem, Utrecht, and Leyden.

1 in. Who Paid for It? The interest that many art historians show
in attribution reflects their conviction that the identity of an art-
work’s maker is the major reason why the object looks the way it
does. For them, personal style is of paramount importance. But
I-9 Albrecht Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,
in many times and places, artists had little to say about what form
ca. 1498. Woodcut, 1′ 3 14″ × 11″. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
their work would take. They toiled in obscurity, doing the bidding
New York (gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1919).
of their patrons, those who paid them to make individual works or
Personifications are abstract ideas codified in human form. Here, Albrecht employed them on a continuing basis. The role of patrons in dictat-
Dürer represented Death, Famine, War, and Pestilence as four men on ing the content and shaping the form of artworks is also an impor-
charging horses, each one carrying an identifying attribute. tant subject of art historical inquiry.
In the art of portraiture, to name only one category of painting
in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (fig. I-9) by German art- and sculpture, the patron has often played a dominant role in decid-
ist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). The late-15th-century print is ing how the artist represented the subject, whether that person was
a terrifying depiction of the fateful day at the end of time when, the patron or another individual, such as a spouse, son, or mother.
according to the Bible’s last book, Death, Famine, War, and Pesti- Many Egyptian pharaohs (for example, fig. 3-13) and some Roman
lence will annihilate the human race. Dürer personified Death as an emperors insisted that artists depict them with unlined faces and per-
emaciated old man with a pitchfork. Famine swings the scales for fect youthful bodies no matter how old they were when portrayed. In
weighing human souls (compare fig. I-7). War wields a sword, and these cases, the state employed the sculptors and painters, and the
Pestilence draws a bow. artists had no choice but to portray their patrons in the officially
Even without considering style and without knowing a work’s approved manner. This is why Augustus, who lived to age 76, looks
maker, informed viewers can determine much about the work’s so young in his portraits (fig. I-10; compare fig. 7-27). Although
period and provenance by iconographical and subject analysis alone. Roman emperor for more than 40 years, Augustus demanded that
In The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (fig. I-6), for example, the two artists always represent him as a young, godlike head of state.
coffins, the trio headed by an academic, and the robed judge in the All modes of artistic production reveal the impact of patron-
background are all pictorial clues revealing the painting’s subject. The age. Learned monks provided the themes for the sculptural decora-
work’s date must be after the trial and execution (the terminus post tion of medieval church portals (fig. I-7). Renaissance princes and
quem), probably while the event was still newsworthy. And because popes dictated the subject, size, and materials of artworks destined
the two men’s deaths caused the greatest outrage in the United States, for display in buildings also constructed according to their specifica-
the painter–social critic was probably an American. tions. An art historian could make a very long list of commissioned
works, and it would indicate that patrons have had diverse tastes
Who Made It? If Ben Shahn had not signed his painting of Sacco and needs throughout history and consequently have demanded
and Vanzetti, an art historian could still assign, or attribute (make different kinds of art. Whenever a patron contracts with an artist or
an attribution of), the work to him based on knowledge of the art- architect to paint, sculpt, or build in a prescribed manner, personal
ist’s personal style. Although signing (and dating) works is quite style often becomes a very minor factor in the ultimate appearance

6 introduction What Is Art History?


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 6 12/06/18 12:38 pm


Form and Composition. Form refers to an object’s shape and
structure, either in two dimensions (for example, a portrait painted
on canvas) or in three dimensions (such as a statue carved from a
marble block). Two forms may take the same shape but differ in
their color, texture, and other qualities. Composition refers to how
an artist composes (organizes) forms in an artwork, either by plac-
ing shapes on a flat surface or by arranging forms in space.

Material and Technique. To create art forms, artists shape


materials (pigment, clay, marble, gold, and many more) with tools
(pens, brushes, chisels, and so forth). Each of the materials and
tools available has its own potentialities and limitations. Part of all
artists’ creative activity is to select the medium and instrument most
suitable to the purpose—or to develop new media and tools, such
as bronze and concrete in antiquity and cameras and computers in
modern times. The processes that artists employ, such as applying
paint to canvas with a brush, and the distinctive, personal ways that
they handle materials constitute their technique. Form, material, and
technique interrelate and are central to analyzing any work of art.

Line. Among the most important elements defining an artwork’s


shape or form is line. A line can be understood as the path of a point
moving in space, an invisible line of sight. More commonly, however,
artists and architects make a line visible by drawing (or chiseling)
it on a plane, a flat surface. A line may be very thin, wirelike, and
delicate. It may be thick and heavy. Or it may alternate quickly from
1 in.
broad to narrow, the strokes jagged or the outline broken. When a
continuous line defines an object’s outer shape, art historians call it
a contour line. All of these line qualities are present in Dürer’s Four
I-10 Head of the statue of Augustus as pontifex maximus, from Horsemen of the Apocalypse (fig. I-9). Contour lines define the basic
Via Labicana, Rome, Italy, late first century bce. Marble, statue shapes of clouds, human and animal limbs, and weapons. Within the
6′ 10″ high; detail 1′ 4 12″. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Museo forms, series of short broken lines create shadows and textures. An
Nazionale Romano, Rome. overall pattern of long parallel strokes suggests the dark sky on the
frightening day when the world is about to end.
Patrons frequently dictate the form that their portraits will take. Emperor
Augustus demanded that he always be portrayed as a young, godlike head
Color. Light reveals all colors. Light in the world of the painter
of state even though he lived to age 76.
and other artists differs from natural light. Natural light, or sun-
light, is whole or additive light. As the sum of all the wavelengths
of the painting, statue, or building. In these cases, the identity of composing the visible spectrum, it may be disassembled or frag-
the patron reveals more to art historians than does the identity mented into the individual colors of the spectral band. The paint-
of the artist or school. The portrait of Augustus illustrated here er’s light in art—the light reflected from pigments and objects—is
(fig. I-10)—showing the emperor wearing a hooded toga in his offi- subtractive light. Paint pigments produce their individual colors by
cial capacity as pontifex maximus (chief priest of the Roman state reflecting a segment of the spectrum while absorbing all the rest.
religion)—was the work of a virtuoso sculptor, a master wielder of Green pigment, for example, subtracts or absorbs all the light in the
hammer and chisel. But scores of similar portraits of this Roman spectrum except that seen as green.
emperor also exist today. They differ in quality but not in kind from Hue is the property giving a color its name. Although the spec-
this one. The patron, not the artist, determined the character of trum colors merge into each other, artists usually conceive of their
these artworks. Augustus’s public image never varied. Art through hues as distinct from one another. Color has two basic variables—
the Ages highlights the involvement of patrons in the design and the apparent amount of light reflected and the apparent purity. A
production of sculptures, paintings, and buildings throughout the change in one must produce a change in the other. Some terms for
text and in a series of boxed essays called The Patron’s Voice. these variables are value or tonality (the degree of lightness or dark-
ness) and intensity or saturation (the purity of a color, its brightness
or dullness).
The Words Art Historians Use Artists call the three basic colors—red, yellow, and blue—the
As in all fields of study, art history has its own specialized vocab- primary colors. The secondary colors result from mixing pairs of pri-
ulary consisting of hundreds of words, but certain basic terms maries: orange (red and yellow), purple (red and blue), and green
are indispensable for describing artworks and buildings of any (yellow and blue). Complementary colors represent the pairing of
time and place. They make up the essential vocabulary of formal a primary color and the secondary color created from mixing the
analysis, the visual analysis of artistic form, and are used whenever two other primary colors—red and green, yellow and purple, and
one talks or writes about art and architecture. Definitions and dis- blue and orange. They “complement,” or complete, each other, one
cussions of the most important art historical terms follow. absorbing the colors that the other reflects.

Art History in the 21st Century  7


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 7 12/06/18 12:38 pm


as when painters depict an object as having a certain texture even
though the pigment is the true texture. Sometimes artists combine
different materials of different textures on a single surface, juxta-
posing paint with pieces of wood, newspaper, fabric, and so forth.
Art historians refer to this mixed-media technique as collage. Tex-
ture is, of course, a key determinant of any sculpture’s character.
People’s first impulse is usually to handle a work of sculpture—even
though museum signs often warn “Do not touch!” Sculptors plan
for this natural human response, using surfaces varying in texture
from rugged coarseness to polished smoothness. Textures are often
intrinsic to a material, influencing the type of stone, wood, plastic,
clay, or metal that a sculptor selects.

Space, Mass, and Volume. Space is the bounded or bound-


less “container” of objects. For art historians, space can be the real
1 ft. three-dimensional space occupied by a statue or a vase or contained
within a room or courtyard. Or space can be illusionistic, as when
painters depict an image (or illusion) of the three-dimensional spa-
tial world on a two-dimensional surface.
Mass and volume describe three-dimensional objects and
space. In both architecture and sculpture, mass is the bulk, den-
sity, and weight of matter in space. Yet the mass need not be solid.
It can be the exterior form of enclosed space. Mass can apply to a
I-11 Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: “Ascending,” 1953. Oil on
solid Egyptian pyramid or stone statue; to a church, synagogue, or
composition board, 3′ 7 12″ × 3′ 7 12″. Whitney Museum of American
mosque (architectural shells enclosing sometimes vast spaces); and
Art, New York.
to a hollow metal statue or baked clay pot. Volume is the space that
Albers created hundreds of paintings using the same composition but mass organizes, divides, or encloses. It may be a building’s interior
employing variations in hue, saturation, and value in order to reveal the spaces, the intervals between a structure’s masses, or the amount of
relativity and instability of color perception. space occupied by a three-dimensional object such as a statue, pot,
or chair. Volume and mass describe both the exterior and interior
forms of a work of art—the forms of the matter of which it is com-
Artists can manipulate the appearance of colors, however. One posed and the spaces immediately around the work and interacting
artist who made a systematic investigation of the formal aspects of with it.
art, especially color, was Josef Albers (1888–1976), a German-
born artist who emigrated to the United States in 1933. In con- Perspective and Foreshortening. Perspective is one of the
nection with his studies, Albers created the series Homage to the most important pictorial devices for organizing forms in space.
Square—hundreds of paintings, most of which are color variations Throughout history, artists have used various types of perspective
on the same composition of concentric squares, as in the illus- to create an illusion of depth or space on a two-dimensional sur-
trated example (fig. I-11). The series reflected Albers’s belief that face. The French painter Claude Lorrain (1600–1682) employed
art originates in “the discrepancy between physical fact and psy- several perspective devices in Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba
chic effect.”1 Because the composition in most of these paintings (fig. I-12), a painting of a biblical episode set in a 17th-century
remains constant, the works succeed in revealing the relativity European harbor with an ancient Roman ruin in the left fore-
and instability of color perception. Albers varied the hue, satura- ground—an irrationally anachronistic combination that the art his-
tion, and value of each square in the paintings in this series. As a torian can explain only in the context of the cultural values of the
result, the sizes of the squares from painting to painting appear to artist’s time and place. In Claude’s painting, the figures and boats on
vary (although they remain the same), and the sensations emanat- the shoreline are much larger than those in the distance, because
ing from the paintings range from clashing dissonance to delicate decreasing the size of an object makes it appear farther away. The
serenity. Albers explained his motivation for focusing on color top and bottom of the port building at the painting’s right side are
juxtapositions: not parallel horizontal lines, as they are in a real building. Instead,
the lines converge beyond the structure, leading the viewer’s eye
They [the colors] are juxtaposed for various and changing visual toward the hazy, indistinct sun on the horizon. These three per-
effects. . . . Such action, reaction, interaction . . . is sought in order spective devices—the reduction of figure size, the convergence of
to make obvious how colors influence and change each other; that diagonal lines, and the blurring of distant forms—have been famil-
the same color, for instance—with different grounds or neighbors— iar features of Western art since they were first employed by the
looks different. . . . Such color deceptions prove that we see colors ancient Greeks. It is important to state, however, that all kinds of
almost never unrelated to each other.2 perspective are only pictorial conventions, even when one or more
types of perspective may be so common in a given culture that peo-
ple accept them as “natural” or as “true” means of representing the
Texture. The term texture refers to the quality of a surface, such natural world.
as rough or shiny. Art historians distinguish between true texture— These perspective conventions are by no means universal. In
that is, the tactile quality of the surface—and represented texture, Waves at Matsushima (fig. I-13), a Japanese seascape painting on

8 introduction What Is Art History?


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 8 12/06/18 12:38 pm


I-12 Claude Lorrain, Embarka-
tion of the Queen of Sheba, 1648.
Oil on canvas, 4′ 10″ × 6′ 4″.
National Gallery, London.

To create the illusion of a deep land-


scape, Claude Lorrain employed
perspective, reducing the size of and
blurring the most distant forms. All
diagonal lines converge on a single
point.

1 ft.

a six-part folding screen, Ogata Korin (1658–1716) ignored these less concerned with locating the boulders and waves and clouds in
Western “tricks” for representing deep space on a flat surface. A space than with composing shapes on a surface, playing the swell-
Western viewer might interpret the left half of Korin’s composi- ing curves of waves and clouds against the jagged contours of the
tion as depicting the distant horizon, as in the French painting, but rocks. Neither the French nor the Japanese painting can be said to
the sky is an unnatural gold, and the clouds filling that unnaturally project “correctly” what viewers “in fact” see. One painting is not
colored sky are almost indistinguishable from the waves below. a “better” picture of the world than the other. The European and
The rocky outcroppings decrease in size with distance, but all are Asian artists simply approached the problem of picture making
in sharp focus, and there are no shadows. The Japanese artist was differently.

1 ft.

I-13 Ogata Korin, Waves at Matsushima, Edo period, Japan, ca. 1700–1716. Six-panel folding screen, ink, colors,
and gold leaf on paper, 4′ 11 18″ × 12′ 78″. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Fenollosa-Weld Collection).

Asian artists rarely employed Western perspective (fig. I-12). Korin was more concerned with creating an intriguing composition
of shapes on a surface than with locating boulders, waves, and clouds in space.

Art History in the 21st Century  9


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 9 12/06/18 12:38 pm


I-14 Peter Paul Rubens, Lion
Hunt, 1617–1618. Oil on canvas,
8′ 2″ × 12′ 5″. Alte Pinakothek,
Munich.

Foreshortening—the representation
of a figure or object at an angle to the
picture plane—is a common device
in Western art for creating the illusion
of depth. Foreshortening is a type of
perspective.

Artists also represent single


figures in space in varying ways.
When Flemish artist Peter Paul
Rubens (1577–1640) painted Lion 1 ft.

Hunt (fig. I-14), he used fore-


shortening for all the hunters and
animals—that is, he represented
their bodies at angles to the pic-
ture plane. When in life one views
a figure at an angle, the body appears to contract as it extends back in figures, constituent parts of buildings, and so forth. In ancient Greece,
space. Foreshortening is a kind of perspective. It produces the illusion many sculptors formulated canons of proportions so strict and all-
that one part of the body is farther away than another, even though encompassing that they calculated the size of every body part in
all the painted forms are on the same plane. Especially noteworthy advance, even the fingers and toes, according to mathematical ratios.
in Lion Hunt are the gray horse at the left, seen from behind with the Proportional systems can differ sharply from period to period,
bottom of its left rear hoof facing viewers and most of its head hidden culture to culture, and artist to artist. Part of the task that art history
by its rider’s shield, and the fallen hunter at the painting’s lower right
corner, whose barely visible legs and feet recede into the distance. I-15 Hesire, relief
The artist who carved the portrait of the ancient Egyptian official from his tomb at
Hesire (fig. I-15) for display in Hesire’s tomb did not employ fore- Saqqara, Egypt,
shortening. That artist’s purpose was to present the various human Dynasty III, ca.
body parts as clearly as possible, without overlapping. The lower part 2650 bce. Wood,
of Hesire’s body is in profile to give the most complete view of the 3′ 9″ high. Egyptian
legs, with both the heel and toes of each foot visible. The frontal torso, Museum, Cairo.
however, enables viewers to see its full shape, including both shoul-
Egyptian artists
ders, equal in size, as in nature. (Compare the shoulders of the hunter
combined frontal and
on the gray horse or those of the fallen hunter in Lion Hunt’s left fore-
profile views to give a
ground.) The result—an “unnatural” 90-degree twist at the waist— precise picture of the
provides a precise picture of human body parts, if not an accurate parts of the human
picture of how a standing human figure really looks. Rubens and the body, as opposed
Egyptian sculptor used very different means of depicting forms in to depicting how
space. Once again, neither is the “correct” manner. an individual body
appears from a spe-
Proportion and Scale. Proportion concerns the relationships (in cific viewpoint.
terms of size) of the parts of persons, buildings, or objects. People
can judge “correct proportions” intuitively (“that statue’s head seems
the right size for the body”). Or proportion can be a mathematical
relationship between the size of one part of an artwork or building
and the other parts within the work. Proportion in art implies using 1 ft.

a module, or basic unit of measure. When an artist or architect uses


a formal system of proportions, all parts of a building, body, or other
entity will be fractions or multiples of the module. A module might
be the diameter of a column, the height of a human head, or any other
component whose dimensions can be multiplied or divided to deter-
mine the size of the artwork’s or building’s other parts.
In certain times and places, artists have devised canons, or sys-
tems, of “correct” or “ideal” proportions for representing human

10 introduction What Is Art History?


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 10 12/06/18 12:38 pm


students face is to perceive and adjust to these differences. In fact, at approximately the same size on the page. Readers of Art through
many artists have used disproportion and distortion deliberately for the Ages can learn the exact size of all artworks from the dimensions
expressive effect. In the medieval French depiction of the weigh- given in the captions and, more intuitively, from the scales positioned
ing of souls on Judgment Day (fig. I-7), the devilish figure yanking at the lower left or right corner of each illustration.
down on the scale has distorted facial features and stretched, lined
limbs with animal-like paws for feet. Disproportion and distortion Carving and Casting. Sculptural technique falls into two basic
make him appear “inhuman,” precisely as the sculptor intended. categories, subtractive and additive. Carving is a subtractive tech-
In other cases, artists have used disproportion to focus attention nique. The final form is a reduction of the original mass of a
on one body part (often the head) or to single out a group member block of stone, a piece of wood, or another material. Wood stat-
(usually the leader). These intentional “unnatural” discrepancies in ues were once tree trunks, and stone statues began as blocks pried
proportion constitute what art historians call hierarchy of scale, the from mountains. The unfinished marble statue illustrated here
enlarging of elements considered the most important. On the bronze (fig. I-16) by renowned Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti
altar from Nigeria illustrated here (fig. I-1), the sculptor varied the (1475–1564) clearly reveals the original shape of the stone block.
size of each figure according to the person’s social status. Largest, and Michelangelo thought of sculpture as a process of “liberating” the
therefore most important, is the Benin king, depicted twice, each statue within the block. All sculptors of stone or wood cut away
time flanked by two smaller attendant figures and shown wearing a (subtract) “excess material.” When they finish, they “leave behind”
multistrand coral necklace emblematic of his high office. The king’s the statue—in this example, a twisting nude male form whose head
head is also disproportionately large compared to his body, consis- Michelangelo never freed from the stone block.
tent with one of the Benin ruler’s praise names: Great Head. In additive sculpture, the artist builds up the forms, usually in
One problem that students of art history—and professional art clay around a framework, or armature. Or a sculptor may fashion a
historians too—confront when studying illustrations in art history mold, a hollow form for shaping, or casting, a fluid substance such as
books is that although the relative sizes of figures and objects in a bronze or plaster. The ancient Greek sculptor who made the bronze
painting or sculpture are easy to discern, it is impossible to determine statue of a warrior found in the sea near Riace, Italy, cast the head
the absolute size of the work reproduced because they all are printed (fig. I-17) as well as the limbs, torso, hands, and feet (fig. 5-36)

1 in.
1 ft.

I-17 Head of a warrior, detail of a statue (fig. 5-36) from the sea off
I-16 Michelangelo Buonarroti, unfinished statue, 1527–1528. Riace, Italy, ca. 460–450 bce. Bronze, full statue 6′ 6″ high. Museo
Marble, 8′ 7 12″ high. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence. Archeologico Nazionale, Reggio Calabria.

Carving a freestanding figure from stone or wood is a subtractive process. The sculptor of this life-size statue of a bearded Greek warrior cast the
Michelangelo thought of sculpture as a process of “liberating” the statue head, limbs, torso, hands, and feet in separate molds, then welded the
contained within the block of marble. pieces together and added the eyes in a different material.

Art History in the 21st Century  11


Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203

30702_intro_rev03_xxxii-013.indd 11 12/06/18 12:38 pm


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
the structural, condition of the optic nerve. That such an influence
may be exerted is shown by cases of transverse myelitis low down in
the cord, which, according to Erb and Seguin, were complicated by
double optic-nerve atrophy. The second theory is that the involved
part of the cord and the optic nerve present a similar vulnerability to
the same morbid influences. This is illustrated in some cases of
chronic alcoholic and nicotine poisoning, in ergotism, and in the
spinal affections due to hereditary influences and developmental
defects.

To discuss the nature of the disturbing influence which is responsible


for the most characteristic evidence of the disease, the ataxia, would
be equivalent to reviewing almost every mooted question in spinal
physiology. It is to be borne in mind that ataxia is a collective term
designating any inco-ordination of movement which is independent
of motor paralysis. It may be due to abolition or impairment of tactile
perception; it may be due to loss of the muscular sense; it may be
due to hampered motor co-ordination; and, finally, it may be due to a
disturbance of the space-sense. In my opinion it is only in
exceptional cases that any one of these factors can be positively
excluded. Occasionally, one has been noted when the ataxia was
grave but the tactile sense was unimpaired, or where the muscular
sense was perfect but ataxia was well developed. The difficulty with
most such records is that no discrimination is made as to the kind of
ataxia present. That loss of skill which the patient shows when he
shuts his eyes and attempts to perform certain movements without
their aid is undoubtedly due to diminished sensation, either tactile or
muscular, and usually both. The inability to stand with the eyes
closed is probably a cerebellar phenomenon, and in this respect we
are on the way to return to Duchenne's opinion. It is true that the
cerebellar organ is healthy in most tabic subjects, but its centripetal
informer, the direct cerebellar tract, is either itself involved or affected
in its origin in the columns of Clarke. But, besides the static ataxia
and that motor ataxia which can be neutralized by the use of the eye,
there is another disturbance, which, as Erb and his followers hold,
cannot be accounted for on the strength of any sensory disturbance.
It consists in an interference with the proper succession and rhythm
of movement. It seems as if that automatic mechanism by which the
individual or grouped muscular contractions engaged in locomotion
follow each other with the smoothness of the action of perfectly-
fitting cog-wheels were disturbed; the correct after-movement is
hesitated over or skipped, or even takes place at the wrong moment,
neutralizing some other step in the co-ordination required. The
tendency of physiologists and pathologists is to attribute this form of
ataxia to the disease of the intrinsic co-ordinating apparatus of the
cord itself. The experiments of Tarchanoff on a headless duck, and
the determination of the existence of cursorial co-ordinating tracts
uniting the brachial and lumbar nuclei in mammals, as well as the
observations made on automatic co-ordinate movement in
decapitated criminals, demonstrate the existence in the cord of such
an apparatus. The combination of the ganglionic centres which
underlies this co-ordination is affected by the so-called short tracts of
the cord,48 and it is precisely a portion of these which are involved in
the lesion of the column of Burdach. A number of arguments have
been advanced against regarding the lesion of this column, or
indeed any of the lesions of the posterior column, as explaining the
ataxia-producing effect of tabes. Westphal has interposed some
potent objections. He holds that lesion of these columns will be
found more frequently when examinations shall no longer be limited
to those cases where disease is suspected because ataxia was
observed during life. He found extensive disease of the posterior
columns in sufferers from paretic dementia who did not exhibit the
characteristic ataxic gait of tabes. I believe this objection can be met
by the very cases cited by Westphal in its support. Where the spinal
disorder preceded the cerebral—that is, where paretic dementia
occurred as a complication of tabes dorsalis—true locomotor and
static ataxia had been present before the insanity exploded. On the
other hand, where the spinal disease followed the cerebral, typical
ataxia did not ensue. This would seem to indicate that the
destruction of cortical control is inimical to the development of typical
tabes. Leyden has made a suggestion in the same direction when he
attributes the lesser manifestness of locomotor ataxia in tabic
females to their inferior cerebral organization.49 A more convincing
proof of the correctness of this conclusion is furnished by the fact
that if the pathological process, after destroying the posterior
columns and producing ataxia, invades the voluntary motor tract, the
ataxic symptom becomes less palpable.50 This antagonism between
lateral-column and posterior-column lesion is frequently exemplified
in the combined forms of sclerosis. It would seem, then, that where
the brain is healthy and the controlling voluntary tracts are
unimpaired, the ataxia is aggravated, supporting the beautiful theory
of Adamkiewicz, which assumes that the locomotor ataxia is due to a
disturbance of the balance normally existing between the psycho-
motor centres and those controlling the muscular tone as well as
those mediating reflex excitability.51
48 Intersegmental tracts.

49 In one out of three female eases I found the active disturbance of gait as severe as
in males, but Leyden's observation is supported by all who have seen a sufficiently
large number of female cases.

50 Not because of paresis altogether, for it diminishes materially out of proportion to


the paresis.

51 Archiv für Psychiatrie, x. p. 545. There is another observation which bears in this
direction: James of Boston observed that absolute deaf-mutes in a large percentage
of cases are insusceptible to vertigo or to the allied phenomenon of sea-sickness.
Certainly, the auditory nerve is a space-sense nerve; its physiological elimination is,
however, accompanied by an immunity against a symptom which may be an evidence
of disturbed space-sense transmission. In like manner, the destruction of the central
perceptive and voluntary centres in the paretic dement inhibits the legitimate results of
posterior spinal sclerosis.

The degeneration of the crossed-pyramid tracts in typical tabes seem to be strictly an


atrophy from disuse, perhaps facilitated by the general malnutrition of the cord. It is
limited to that part supplying the most or solely affected extremities. Thus, where the
lower extremities are alone grossly involved it is totally degenerated in the lumbar
area, and only in its outer parts in higher levels. As if to fortify this comparison by
analogous observations from every great segment of the nervous axis, a similar
inhibiting influence of pyramid lesion on co-ordinating disturbance (muscular sense) is
noted in secondary degeneration of the interolivary layer; when uncomplicated with
pyramid lesion (Meyer and my own case,) ataxia is present; when so complicated
(Schrader, Homén) it is not observed, even if determinable.

Lissauer52 has recently determined the existence of a degeneration


of certain fine nerve-fibres, apparently derived from the outermost of
the radicles into which the posterior nerve-roots divide on entry. They
are situated on that border of the apex of the posterior horn which is
in contact with the lateral column, and were found degenerated in all
cases except such as were in the initial period. No symptomatic
relation has been claimed for this lesion.
52 Neurologisches Centralblatt, 1885, No. 11.

One of the most important questions which have grown out of the
pathological studies of tabes is the relationship between the lesions
and the not infrequently observed restoration of functions which had
been more or less seriously impaired in an earlier period of the
disease. Even those symptoms which ordinarily comprise the
continuous and essential clinical background of tabes may exhibit
remarkable changes in this direction. I have two well-established
observations—one of tabes of eight years' standing, the other of
more recent date—in which that symptom which, once established,
is the most constant, the reflex iridoplegia, disappeared, to reappear
in two months in one case where it had been associated with
myosis, and to reappear in eight months in the other, repeating this
oscillation the following year. I have now under observation a tabic
patient in the sixth year of his illness who two years ago had a return
of both knee-phenomena to a nearly normal extent, to lose them in
two months, and to regain the reflex on the left side four months ago,
retaining it up to the present. These three cases were of syphilitic
subjects. In a fourth advanced non-syphilitic tabic patient, whose
ataxia had reached a maximal degree, I found a return of both knee-
phenomena for three days after its absence had been established by
medical examiners for over a year, and had probably been a feature
for a much longer period. Hammond the younger and Eulenburg
have reported similar cases. Nothing is more surprising to those
unfamiliar with the progress of this disease than to find gross ataxia
or the electrical pains and anæsthesia to disappear or nearly so; and
the alleged success of more than one remedial measure is based on
the fallacious attributing to the remedy what was really due to the
natural remittence of the disease-process or of its manifestations.
The financial success of quacks and the temporary but rapidly
evanescent popularity of static electricity, Wilsonia belts, and like
contrivances are owing to the hopefulness inspired in the credulous
patient by the mere coincidence of spontaneous improvement and
the administration of a new remedy, supplemented, it may be, by the
influence of mind on body in his sanguine condition. It is to be
assumed that the influences which are at work in provoking the
trophic and visceral episodes of tabes are of an impalpable
character, and that all theorizing regarding the reason of their
preponderance in one and their absence in another case are as
premature as would be any speculation regarding their rapid
development and subsidence in the history of one and the same
case. But we have better grounds for explaining the remissions of
the ataxia and anæsthesia.

It is only in the most advanced stages of tabes that the destruction of


the axis-cylinder becomes absolute or nearly so. Contrary to the
opinion of Leyden,53 who held that the tabic sclerosis differs from
disseminated sclerosis in the fact that the axis-cylinder does not
survive the myelin disappearance, it is now generally admitted that a
certain number of exposed or practically denuded axis-cylinders may
be preserved in the sclerotic fields.54 It is on the theory that these
delicate channels may be oppressed at one time, perhaps by
inflammatory or congestive pressure, and relieved at another by its
subsidence, that we may assume them to be the channels through
which the now limited, now liberated, functions are mediated. It is
also reasonable to suppose that vicarious action may supplement
the impaired function, and to some extent overcome the disturbing
factors. This is illustrated by the controlling influence of the visual
function—yea, even of the unconscious and ineffectual co-operation
of completely amaurotic eyes—in neutralizing both locomotor and
static ataxia. One patient who was well advanced in the initial period
of tabes, and who had been encouraged to consider the medical
opinion to that effect as the result of an exaggerated refinement of
diagnosis, made repeated tests of the Romberg symptom in his own
case, and deluded himself into the belief that the physician was
mistaken because he succeeded in practically overcoming it with an
effort that too plainly told its own story; but still he overcame it.
Certain peripheral influences have the power of stimulating the
dormant activity of potentially vicarious tracts, and perhaps also the
blunted activity of those whose function is impaired. The outside
temperature, certain barometric conditions, all may exert an
influence in this direction for good or evil.
53 Op. cit., p. 328, vol. ii.

54 Babinski (Neurologisches Centralblatt, 1885, p. 324) notes this feature, and,


consistently with the findings of most modern observers, discovers much more
resemblance to disseminated sclerosis than to the systemic sclerosis with which
Strümpell and Westphal (in part) incline to classify tabes. Similar objections to the
system-disease theory are advanced by Zacher (Archiv für Psychiatrie, xv. p. 340). I
may not pass over in silence the fact that Babinski considers his observations to
militate also against regarding any phase of the tabic sclerosis as a secondary
process. But while it may fairly be asked that a sclerosis to be regarded as systemic
must be shown to be total, this is not necessary for a secondary process, unless the
primary involvement be total also; and that is not the case in tabes.

ETIOLOGY.—Authorities are now agreed that no single cause can be


regarded as the sole responsible factor in all cases of tabes, and that
a number of etiological influences are combined in the provocation of
this disease in most instances. When the distinctiveness of the
affection was first recognized it was customary to attribute it to
sexual excesses, and the unfortunate sufferer had frequently to bear
the implied reproach of having brought his misery on himself, in
addition to the hopeless prospect which those who followed
Romberg and other authorities of the day held out to him.55
55 This opinion survives in a large portion of the German laity and in French novels.
About the time that the poet Heine was dying from an organic spinal affection two
other prominent literary characters of Paris were affected with tabes. It so happened
that all three were popularly regarded as libidinous, and one of their leading
contemporaries, whose name escapes me, took occasion to issue a manifesto
addressed to the jeunesse dorée which closed with the apostrophe, “Gardons à nos
moelles.”

Heredity plays a very slight part in the etiology of tabes. Writers of


ten and fifteen years ago attributed a greater importance to it than is
now done. But this was due to the incorporation with tabes of the so-
called family form of locomotor ataxia—a disease which is now
regarded as a distinct affection.56
56 There is but one record of direct heredity (the father and son being affected nearly
at the same time), to my knowledge. It was observed at the Berlin Hospital by Remak
(Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1885, No. 7). Both father and son were syphilitic.

More importance may be attached to individual predisposition, but


thus far no distinct formulation of this factor has been attempted
except by Schmeichler,57 who offers the suggestion that there are
persons with a predisposition to the development of connective-
tissue proliferation in various organs of the body, and that in them
tabes and other sclerotic affections are consequently more frequent
than in others. This suggestion appears plausible, but it is
unconfirmed by positive observations.
57 Op. cit.

Sex appears on a superficial view to be one of the most important


elements. It is generally admitted that at most one female becomes
tabic for every ten males who do so. Of 81 cases in private practice,
I observed but 3 females. Rockwell, Seguin, Birdsall, and Putnam
give similar figures. This comparative immunity is probably due to
the fact that the female is less exposed to over-exertion, to surface
chilling of the feet, to the injurious consequences of sexual excess,
and to syphilis58 than the male. As a rule, the affection in females is
more insidiously developed, progresses more slowly, is less marked
by crises and trophic disturbances, and not accompanied by as
severe pains and profound disturbance of co-ordination as is the
corresponding affection in males.
58 Whether the shorter vitality of the syphilitic female as compared with that of the
male is a factor in diminishing the accumulation of chronic tertiary sequelæ in that
sex, or whether it be the lesser vulnerability of the inferior nervous system, I am
unable to decide from the facts at my disposal. In private and clinical experience I
have been struck by the fact that women affected with syphilis in the same way and
under similar circumstances with tabic syphilitic males develop symptoms of
functional disorder of the brain and cord, such as spinal and cerebro-spinal irritation.
My cases referred to had in no instance any indication of a syphilitic condition or
history, and a distinct and different cause was found in all three.

The most important element in creating an acquired predisposition to


tabes is undoubtedly the existence of constitutional syphilis. Some
difference of opinion still exists regarding the proportion of syphilitic
tabic patients, chiefly due to the neglect of Erb—when he first
announced the prevailing view, and which is generally attributed to
him—to differentiate between cases of demonstrated constitutional
syphilis and the so-called spurious or soft chancre. But although
there occurred a reaction against his view which went to as great an
extreme in the opposite direction, the careful and critically registered
statistics accumulated in the mean time strengthen the view that
there are more syphilitic subjects among the tabic than among any
class of sufferers from other nervous affections.59 Reumont, a
physician at Aix-la-Chapelle, to which place syphilitic patients in
general resort in large numbers, found that of 3400 cases of syphilis,
290 had nervous affections, 40 being afflicted with tabes. Bernhardt60
took occasion to examine a group of hospital patients who were free
from tabes, and found that not fully 16 per cent. were syphilitic, while
of 125 tabic patients, over 46 per cent. were determined to have had
positive syphilitic manifestations. Several of those observers who
have paid attention to the question of the syphilitic origin of tabes
have admitted that the more searching their inquiry the larger the
proportion of detected syphilitic antecedent histories. Thus, Rumpf's
earlier table shows 66, and his later 80, per cent. of such
antecedents. This latter figure exactly corresponds to the percentage
of syphilis in my private cases. At a discussion held by members of
the American Neurological Association in 1884, Webber gave 54,
Putnam 49, Rockwell 40, Birdsall 43,61 and Seguin 22 per cent.62 as
the proportion in their experiences.
59 Excepting always those having the distinctive and undisputed syphilitic character.

60 Archiv für Psychiatrie, xv. p. 862.

61 Derived from over five hundred cases which had presented themselves at the clinic
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

62 In the Archives of Medicine he tabulates 54 (private) cases as follows:

Chancre alone 23
Chancre followed by secondary symptoms 16
Total of those with history of chancre 39
No history of chancre in 15
Total 54

Of European writers, aside from those already mentioned, Berger


claims 43 per cent., and Bernhardt, in commenting on the increasing
percentage obtained by accurate investigation, reports an additional
series of 7 new cases in private practice, all of which were syphilitic.
Fournier, Voigt, Œhnhausen, and George Fisher estimate the
syphilitic tabic patients at respectively 93, 81, and 72 per cent. of the
whole number. The almost monotonous recurrence of a clear
syphilitic history in my more recent records is such that in private
practice I have come to regard a non-syphilitic tabic patient as the
exception. Among the poorer classes the percentage of discoverable
syphilitic antecedents is undoubtedly much less. The direct exciting
causes of tabes, exposure and over-exertion, are more common with
them and more severe in their operation.

The proof of a relationship between syphilis and tabes dorsalis does


not rest on statistical evidence alone. A number of observations
show that the syphilitic virus is competent to produce individual
symptoms which demonstrate its profound influence on the very
centres and tracts which are affected in tabes. Thus, Finger63
showed that obliteration of the knee-jerk is a frequent symptom of
the secondary fever of syphilis, and that the relation is so intimate
between cause and effect that after the return of the reflex, if there
be a relapse of the fever, the obliteration of the knee-jerk is repeated.
Both the permanent loss of the knee-jerk (Remak) and the peculiar
pupillary symptoms of tabes are sometimes found in syphilitic
subjects who have no other sign of nervous disorder; and Rieger and
Foster64 regard the syphilitic ocular disturbances, even when they
exist independently, as due, like those of tabes, to the spinal, and not
to a primarily cerebral, disturbance. Another argument in favor of the
syphilitic origin of tabes is derived from the occasional remedial
influence of antisyphilitic treatment. The force of this argument is
somewhat impaired by the fact that the same measures occasionally
appear to be beneficial in tabes where syphilis can be excluded. Still,
the results of the mixed treatment in a few cases of undoubted
syphilitic origin are sometimes unmistakable and brilliant.65 As some
cases, even of long standing, yield to such measures, while others,
apparently of lesser gravity and briefer duration, fail to respond to
them, the question as to whether syphilis is a direct cause or merely
a predisposing factor may be answered in this way: That in the
former class it must have been more or less directly instrumental in
provoking the disease, while in the latter class it is to be regarded as
a remote and predisposing factor, to which other causes, not
reached by antisyphilitic treatment, became added. The claim of Erb,
that “tabes dorsalis is probably a syphilitic disease whose outbreak is
determined by certain accessory provocations,” is not subscribed to
unreservedly by a single writer of eminence.
63 “Ueber eine constante nervöse Störung bei florider Syphilis der Secundärperiode,”
Vierteljahrschrift für Dermatologie und Syphilis, viii., 1882.

64 “Auge und Rückenmark,” Graefe's Archiv für Ophthalmologie, Bd. xxvii. iii.

65 In one case already referred to a return of both knee-phenomena and complete


disappearance of locomotor and static ataxia were effected after a duration of four
years. The treatment was neglected and the knee-jerks disappeared, and one has
now returned under the resumed treatment, but accompanied by lightning-like pains.
At a meeting of the Société médicale des Hôpitaux, held November 10, 1882,
Desplats reported a case in which even better results were obtained. Reumont
(Syphilis und Tabes nach eigenen Erfahrungen, Aachen, 1881) reports 2 out of 36
carefully observed syphilitic cases cured, and 13 as improved under antisyphilitic
treatment.

The question has been raised whether the influence of syphilis is


sufficiently great to justify a clinical demarcation between syphilitic
and non-syphilitic cases. A number of observers, including Reumont,
Leonard Weber, and Fournier, incline to the belief that there are
more atypical forms of tabes in the syphilitic group. Others, including
Rumpf, Krause, and Berger, are unable to confirm this, but the
former admits, what seems to be a general impression among
neurologists, that an early preponderance of ptosis, diplopia, and
pupillary symptoms is more common with syphilitic than with non-
syphilitic tabes. Fournier66 believes that syphilitic patients show more
mental involvement in the pre-ataxic period; but it is evident that he
has based this belief on a study of impure forms. The advent of
tabes in syphilitic cases does not in this respect differ from the rule.
The most protracted and severe diplopia I have yet encountered in a
tabic patient is one, now under observation, in the initial period of the
disease, syphilis being positively excluded as an etiological factor.
66 L'Éncephale, 1884, No. 6.

It seems to be a prevalent opinion that the cases of syphilis in which


tabes is developed include a large proportion of instances in which
the secondary manifestations were slight and unlike that florid
syphilis with well-marked cutaneous and visceral lesions which is
more apt to be followed by transitory or severe vascular affections of
the cord and brain.

Excesses in alcohol, tobacco, and abuse of the sexual function are


among the factors which frequently aggravate the tendency to tabes,
and one or more of them will usually be found associated with the
constitutional factor in syphilitic tabes. Both alcohol and nicotine
have a deleterious effect on nervous nutrition and on the spinal
functions, as is illustrated in the effect of the former in producing
general neuritis, and of both in provoking optic-nerve atrophy and
general paralysis of the insane, not to speak of the pupillary states
which often follow their abuse, and the undeniable existence of a
true alcoholic ataxia. Sexual excesses were, as stated, at one time
regarded as the chief cause: the reaction that set in against this
belief went to the extreme of questioning its influence altogether. It is
to-day regarded as an important aggravating cause in a large
number of cases, and this irrespective of whether it be the result of a
satyriacal irritation of the initial period or a precedent factor. In a
large number of my patients (18 out of 23 in whom this subject was
inquired into) the habit of withdrawing had been indulged in,67 and,
as the patients admitted, with distinct deleterious effects, such as
fulness and throbbing in the lumbo-sacral region, tremor and rigidity,
with tingling or numbness, in the limbs, blurred vision, and
sometimes severe occipital headache; in one case lightning-like
pains in the region of the anus ensued.68
67 Coitus reservatus, the real crime of the Onan of Scripture.

68 Leyden states that coitus in the upright position has been accused of producing
tabes, without mentioning his authority. I have no observation on this subject touching
tabes, but am prepared to credit its bad effect from the account of a masturbator, who
during the orgasm produced while standing felt a distinct shock, like that from a
battery, shooting from the lumbar region into his lower limbs, and causing him to fall
as if knocked down. He consulted me in great alarm—was scarcely able to walk from
motor weakness, and had no knee-phenomenon; in a few weeks it returned, and no
further morbid sign appeared. Masturbators of the worst type occasionally manifest
ataxia, and in three cases I have been able to establish the return of the knee-jerk,
together with other improvements in the spinal exhaustion of these subjects. The loss
and diminution of the patellar jerk, and the frequently associated urinary incontinence,
as well as certain of the peripheral pains found in masturbators, certainly prove that
undue repetition of the sexual act (be it natural or artificial) is competent to affect the
cord in a way that cannot but be injurious in case of a predisposition to tabes, if not
without the latter.

Of single causes, none exerts so direct and indisputable an influence


on the production of tabes as the action of cold and wet upon the
lower segment of the body. It is usually the case that such exposure
is frequently repeated and combined with over-exertion before the
disease is produced, but it is occasionally possible to trace the very
first symptom of the disease directly to a single exposure. A soldier
who stands up to his knees in a rifle-pit half full of water finds his
limbs numb or tingling; develops slight motor weakness, then
lightning-like pains, and ultimately a typical tabes. In the case of a
peddler who presented an advanced form of the disease, the first
symptoms had developed after a single wetting of his feet: while
walking along one of our watering-places with his wares the swell of
a steamer inundated the beach. He had been subject to perspiring
feet before that, and the perspiration remained checked from that
time on.69 The influence of surface chilling was remarkably manifest
in all three of my female cases. In one of them it was due to frequent
wetting of the feet; in the second, a midwife, the first symptoms
began immediately after standing on a cold hearthstone while
preparing some article needed in a lying-in case. In the third case, a
lady who contracted and safely passed through a scarlatina in her
twenty-eighth year was taken out driving while desquamation was
going on. She became thoroughly chilled, experienced numbness in
the fingers and toes, and from that day on developed a slowly
progressing tabes involving all extremities alike.70
69 Checking of habitual perspiration by violent measures is mentioned by the German
textbook writers as a frequent cause, but occurs quite rarely in the modern tables.

70 In view of the absence of spinal—or, in fact, any nervous—symptoms prior to the


exposure referred to, it does not seem necessary to insist that this was not an
instance of a true post-scarlatinal tabes; and possibly the case thus designated by
Tuczek (Archiv für Psychiatrie, xiii. p. 147) may have been really due to chilling of the
delicate body-surface after desquamation or during that process. The typical form of
myelitis and sclerosis after exanthematous fevers is rather of the disseminated type.

Spinal concussion has been mentioned by a number of authorities


as a possible cause for tabes, as for other forms of sclerotic spinal
disease. In 1 of 81 cases in my own observation the development of
the disorder could be distinctly traced to a railway injury; in 2 a
sudden aggravation was as distinctly referable to a similar cause.71
To what extent railroad travelling, with its attendant continual jarring
of the body, may predispose to the development of tabes or of other
spinal diseases is as yet a matter of mere conjecture. That railroad
travelling exerts a bad influence in some cases of the established
disease is evident; but in others the patients rather like the motion,
and claim to feel benefited by it.
71 A fall from a chair, striking on the back of the latter, while endeavoring to keep a
row of books from coming down in one case, and the shock of the Ashtabula disaster
in the other. The latter patient, the same one who is referred to as describing the
electric-storm sensation in an earlier part of this article, had his foot amputated in
consequence of that disaster; but, like one of the characters in Jacob Faithful, who felt
his toes when the weather changed, though he left both legs at Aboukir, he felt the
terrific pains of the disease in the absent foot as distinctly as in the other. Dumenil and
Petit (Archives de Névrologie, ix. Nos. 25 and 26) relate cases in which a spinal
concussion was the only ascertainable cause.

A number of toxic agents have been charged with producing tabes:


thus, Bourdon maintains this of absinthe; Oppenheim attributes one
case to poisoning by illuminating gas, the exposure to its influence
being immediately followed by a gastric crisis, and this by a
regulation tabes.72 It is supposed that most of the poisons acting on
the cord in this or a similar way, such as arsenic, cyanogen,73
barium, and chloral,74 do not produce a spinal lesion directly, but
through the medium of a secondary cachexia. Of no agent is the
effect in producing tabes so well studied as ergot of rye. It had long
been known that ergot-poisoning provoked certain co-ordinating,
motor, and sensory disturbances, but it was left for Tuczek75 to show
that this vegetable parasite produces a lesion of the spinal cord
which in its character and distribution apes typical posterior sclerosis
so closely as to justify the designation of a tabes ergotica. Possibly,
pellagra, which is sometimes manifested in a similar way,76 may yet
be shown to have a like influence.
72 Archiv für Psychiatrie, xv. p. 861.

73 Bunge, Archiv für experimentelle Pathologie, xii.


74 Transactions of the Clinical Society of London, xiii. p. 117, 1880.

75 Archiv für Psychiatrie, xiii. p. 148.

76 Bouchard, “Étude d'Anatomie pathologique sur un Cas de Péllagrie,” Gaz. méd. de


Paris, 1864, No. 39.

Among the occasional and exceptional causes of tabes, Leyden and


Jolly mention the puerperal state; Bouchut, diphtheria; and several
instances are recorded in which psychical shock was responsible for
the outbreak of the disease. In a small number of cases I found that
mental worry and anxiety coincided with the period of presumable
origin of the disease.

Age seems to have no special determining influence. It is true that


most sufferers from this disease are men in the prime of life or in the
period following it. But it is precisely at these periods that the
exposure to the recognized causes of tabes is greatest. It seems as
if there were very little liability to the development of tabes after the
fiftieth and before the twenty-fifth year; still, some cases of infantile
tabes have been recorded.77
77 Excluding the so-called family form of locomotor ataxia: 6 rather imperfectly
described cases are cited by Remak (loc. cit.), and 3 additional ones related by
himself. Of the latter, 2 had hereditary syphilis, and of 1 the father was both syphilitic
and tabic.

In the majority of cases tabes is due to a combination of a number of


the above-mentioned factors. The majority of tabic patients in the
middle and wealthy classes have had syphilis, and of these, in turn,
the majority have been guilty of sexual excesses or perverted sexual
acts, while excesses in tobacco and of alcohol are often superadded.
Among the poorer patients we find syphilis less frequently a factor,
but still present, according to various estimates, in from 20 to 60 per
cent. of the cases. Excesses in tobacco play a lesser, and excesses
in alcohol a larger, part in the supplemental etiology than in the other
class, while exposure to wet and cold and over-exertion are noted in
the majority; indeed, in a fair proportion they are the only assignable
causes.

DIAGNOSIS.—The recognition of advanced tabes dorsalis is one of the


easiest problems of neurological differentiation. The single symptom
which has given one of its names to the disease—locomotor ataxia
—is so manifest in the gait that even the sufferers from the affection
learn to recognize the disease in their fellow-sufferers by the peculiar
walk.78
78 At present I have six tabic patients under treatment, who are acquainted with each
other, and who have made each other's acquaintance in the singular way of
addressing one another on the strength of mutual suffering at Saratoga, at the Hot
Springs of Arkansas, and in New York City.

Although there are other chronic affections of the cord which


manifest ataxia, such as myelitis predominating in the posterior
columns, disseminated sclerosis in a similar distribution, and some
partially recovered cases of acute myelitis, the gait is not exactly like
that of tabes. The uncertainty may be as great, but the peculiarly
stamping and throwing motions are rarely present in these
affections. The clinical picture presented by the ataxic patient, aside
from his gait, is equally characteristic in advanced cases. Absence of
the knee-jerk and other deep reflexes, the bladder paralysis, sensory
disturbance, delayed pain-conduction, trophic disturbances, and
reflex iridoplegia are found in the same combination in no other
chronic disorder of the cord. It is supposable that an imperfect
transverse myelitis in the lumbar part of the cord might produce the
reflex, ataxic, sensory, sexual, and vesical symptoms of ataxia, but
the brachial symptoms found in typical tabes as well as gastric crises
would be absent. The pupillary symptoms would also fail to be
developed, in all probability. It is to be remembered that only
fascicular cord affections can produce a clinical picture exactly like
that of tabes in more than one important respect. In analyzing the
individual symptoms of the early stage the more important differential
features can be most practically surveyed.
The discovery of no single symptom of tabes dorsalis marks so
important an epoch in its study as Westphal's observation that the
knee-phenomenon is usually destroyed in it. Had this symptom not
been detected, so Tuczek admits, ergotin tabes would have eluded
recognition.79 It was claimed by a majority of neurologists at first that
this jerk is always abolished in tabes, but it is now recognized that
there are exceptions, as is shown by cases of Hirt,80 Westphal, and
others, not to mention some well-established cases of its return
during the progress of the disease.
79 It is not to be wondered that, like most new discoveries, that of the pathological
changes of the patellar reflex should have been made the basis of premature
generalizations. The attempt of Shaw (Archives of Medicine) to establish a relation
between disturbances of the speech-faculty and an increased knee-jerk has not met
with any encouragement or confirmation, and has been rebutted by Bettencourt,
Rodrigues (L'Éncephale, 1885, 2), and others.

80 Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1886, 10.

The knee-phenomenon is supposed to be a constant attribute of


physiological man. It is difficult to elicit it in children, and frequently
impossible to obtain it in young infants. It also disappears in old age,
without having any special signification, except that this occurrence
seems to be in direct relation to senile involution. In 2403 boys
between the ages of six and thirteen years, Pelizæus81 found it
absent in one only. It is customarily elicited by having the patient
while sitting in a chair throw one leg over the other; hereupon the
ligamentum patellæ is struck a short, quick blow. Under physiological
circumstances the leg is jerked outward involuntarily after an interval
of about one-fifth of a second—one that is scarcely appreciated by
the eye. But if it be found absent by this mode of examination, the
case is not to be regarded as one of absence of the jerk without
further ado. The patient is made to sit on a table, his legs dangling
down and his body leaning back, while he clenches his fists. By this
means the jerk will often be produced where it appears to be
impossible to evolve it by the ordinary means. It is also well to try
different parts of the ligament, and when comparing both sides to
strike on the corresponding spot and in the same direction. Many
subjects who appear to be irresponsive will respond very well when
a point on the outer edge near the tibial insertion is percussed. The
elbow reflex, which has the same signification for the upper extremity
that the knee-jerk has for the lower, is elicited in the same manner.
81 Archiv für Psychiatrie, xv. p. 206.

The absence of the knee-jerk is usually regarded as a suspicious


circumstance in persons of middle life; and where it can be
demonstrated that it has been present years previously and
subsequently disappeared, it is looked upon as of grave import. I,
however, published three years ago an authentic case of
disappearance of the knee-jerk in a physician now in active practice
in New York City who to this day enjoys excellent health and has
developed no other sign of spinal disease. The knee-jerk is also
abolished in a number of conditions not belonging to the domain of
strictly spinal diseases, such as diphtheria, diabetes, secondary
syphilis, and severe cases of intermittent fever. Of these, diabetes
alone can be possibly confounded with tabes dorsalis. The difficulty
of differentiating early tabes and diabetes is enhanced by the fact
that on the one hand there are often ataxic symptoms with diabetes,
while on the other both glycosuria and diabetes insipidus may
complicate tabes. Senator, Frerichs, Rosenstein, Leval-Piquechef,
Charcot, Raymond, Demange, Féré, Bernard, and T. A. McBride all
recognize the occasional presence of the ataxic gait, paræsthesia,
belt sensation, and even fulgurating pains, besides the abolition of
the jerk, in diabetes mellitus.82 In pure cases of diabetes, however, I
am not aware that spinal myosis or the reflex paralytic pupil has
been found.
82 I have now under observation a case of myelitis with predominating sclerosis of the
posterior columns of five years' standing in a merchant who has been under
antidiabetic treatment for eleven years.

Abolition of the knee-jerk is found in all organic diseases of the


spinal cord which destroy any part of the neural arch at the upper
lumbar level, where the translation of the reflex occurs, whether it be
in the posterior root-zones or in the gray matter of the origin of the
crural nerves. Thus, acute or chronic myelitis, disseminated sclerotic
foci of this level, may cause obliteration of the reflex at any time of
the disease; so may acute or chronic anterior poliomyelitis,
neoplasms, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of the anterior cornua
type if the destruction of the anterior cornua be complete enough. It
is also found abolished with all diseases of the peripheral nerves—
traumatic and neuritic—which produce absolute motor paralysis of
such nerves.

Among the sources of error possibly incurred in examining for this


important symptom the presence of rheumatism is one. There is
sometimes a tetanic rigidity of the joints which prevents the reflex
from becoming manifest. It is also sometimes found to be absent
immediately after severe epileptic attacks, according to Moeli.83
83 In three examinations after severe attacks of epilepsy I found it normal.

The condition of the pupil is perhaps a more constant sign of early


tabes than the loss of the knee-jerk; at least it has been found well
marked in cases where the jerk had not yet disappeared. It may be
regarded as a rule in neuro-pathology that wherever reflex
iridoplegia is at any time accompanied by other oculo-motor
disturbance, it is either of spinal origin or in exceptional cases due to
disease of the pons varolii. The peculiar character of the pupillary
disturbance of tabes furnishes us with a criterion for distinguishing it
from one affection which in common with it exhibits loss of the knee-
jerk—diphtheria. In diphtheria there is also a reflex disturbance of the
pupil, but it is the reverse of that of early tabes. In the latter reaction
to light is lost, but the accommodative contraction power is retained;
in diphtheria accommodative contraction power is lost, but reaction
to light is retained.

The bladder disturbance has already been described. It is found as a


marked symptom so prominently in no other systemic affection of the
cord, and in few of the non-systemic forms, of sclerosis. In none of
these is it associated with absence of the patellar jerk, reflex
iridoplegia, and fulminating pains, as in tabes, except there be also
some motor paresis. It is the combination of any two of the important
initial symptoms of tabes without paralysis or atrophy that is
regarded as indicative of the disease by most authorities. Thus the
swaying in closing the eyes, if associated with the Argyll-Robertson
pupil, is considered as sufficient to justify the diagnosis of incipient
tabes, even if the knee-jerk be present and fulminating pains and
bladder trouble absent. Undoubtedly, the tabic symptoms must begin
somewhere. But at what point it is justifiable to give a man the
alarming information that he is tabic is a question. I have a number
of neurasthenic subjects now under treatment who have had reflex
iridoplegia for years; in one the knee-jerk is slowly becoming
extinguished; in two it has been becoming more marked after
becoming less; in all the three mentioned there is slight swaying in
closing the eyes and some difficulty in expelling the last drops of
urine while micturating. I do not believe that such a condition justifies
a positive opinion, although the surmise that they are on the road to
developing tabes may turn out correct for all these and for some of
those who have merely reflex iridoplegia.

Incipient tabes cannot be readily confounded with any other chronic


disease of the spinal cord. Some of the cases produced by sudden
refrigeration resemble a beginning myelitis. But the absence of true
paralysis seems to distinguish it from the latter. In all the cases of so-
called acute locomotor ataxia of myelitic origin that I can find a
record of, paralytic symptoms were marked, if not throughout the
disease, at least in the initial period.

Other forms of sclerosis occasionally limited to the posterior columns


imitate the symptoms of tabes. It is unusual, however, for such
sclerosis to be distributed through so great an extent of the posterior
columns as to produce symptoms consistent with tabes in both the
upper and lower extremities. And even where this condition is
complied with, the typical progress so characteristic of tabes is not
adhered to. As previously stated, the progress is weakened by
variations in certain symptoms. Such variations are found in other
forms of sclerosis, but they are not as great, trophic disturbances not
so common, and visceral crises not so violent, as a rule.

You might also like