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The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

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we have seen or sensed <strong>in</strong> the past,” 46 a realization which, when applied to art history,<br />

br<strong>in</strong>gs immediately to m<strong>in</strong>d He<strong>in</strong>rich Wölffl<strong>in</strong>’s famous dictum that because “men have<br />

always seen what they wished to see,” therefore, “[v]ision itself has its history.” 47 <strong>The</strong><br />

implication <strong>of</strong> such remarks is that objective vision does not exist, <strong>and</strong> therefore, when<br />

we equate the concept <strong>of</strong> naturalism with accurate reproduction <strong>of</strong> our optical experience<br />

<strong>of</strong> nature, it does not necessarily mean that we have decoded the ancient Greek<br />

underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> either the concept or the optical experience it entailed.<br />

Pollitt’s attitude <strong>of</strong> downplay<strong>in</strong>g Greek naturalism is further seen <strong>in</strong> his assertion<br />

that the concept probably had some validity as a basis for judg<strong>in</strong>g Greek art <strong>in</strong> antiquity,<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce it was present <strong>in</strong> the critical term<strong>in</strong>ology <strong>of</strong> the arts, but, at certa<strong>in</strong> times, it was<br />

surpassed by other concepts (e.g., φαντασία) <strong>in</strong> importance. 48 Pollitt does not, at this<br />

po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> his <strong>in</strong>troductory essay, either identify these concepts, or give the ancient Greek<br />

term for naturalism. He does, however, consider “realism,” which he equates with the<br />

ancient concept <strong>of</strong> mimesis, to be one <strong>of</strong> the three popular criteria (the other two be<strong>in</strong>g<br />

miraculous qualities <strong>and</strong> costl<strong>in</strong>ess) for judg<strong>in</strong>g art <strong>in</strong> antiquity. 49 It is difficult to discern<br />

from this treatment how exactly the two concepts are related <strong>in</strong> his m<strong>in</strong>d.<br />

Regard<strong>in</strong>g realism, he states that it “is simply a popular, un<strong>in</strong>tellectual version <strong>of</strong><br />

the mimesis idea <strong>in</strong> <strong>Classical</strong> philosophy. Its st<strong>and</strong>ard <strong>of</strong> judgment is the feel<strong>in</strong>g that the<br />

best works <strong>of</strong> art are those which simulate the external world with such uncanny<br />

46 Donohue, <strong>The</strong> Problem <strong>of</strong> Description 18 cit<strong>in</strong>g A. B. Medewar, “Is the Scientific Paper a Fraud?” <strong>The</strong><br />

Listener 70, no. 1798 (September 12, 1963) 377.<br />

47 H. Wölffl<strong>in</strong>, tr. M. D. Hott<strong>in</strong>ger, Pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>of</strong> Art History. <strong>The</strong> Problem <strong>of</strong> the Development <strong>of</strong> Style <strong>in</strong><br />

Later Art (1932; repr. New York, 1950) viii <strong>and</strong> 11.<br />

48 Pollitt, Ancient View 6.<br />

49 Pollitt, Ancient View 63.<br />

33

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