Classical sources on phantasía in Pomponius Gauricus' De sculptura

Abstract

Pomponio Gaurico’s De sculptura (1504) is a noteworthy exemplar of Neo‑Latin
artistic literature of the Renaissance. This article focuses on the young humanist’s contributions on the theme of phantasía applied to sculpture and based in several concepts that have arisen from classical fonts, particularly from the rhetorical sphere but from ancient philosophy as well. In this way, it studies rhetorical terms as euphantasíotos and enárgeia or kataleptikós (derived from Stoic philosophy) that constitute Gaurico’s applications for characterizing the creative process of the sculptor, in accordance with the author’s inclination to bridge the gap between literary culture and visual arts, an strategy used as a theoretic and apologetic tool in the Renaissance search for “elevating” them to the level of liberal arts. Likewise, it revises some Gaurico’s notes about expressions of “imaginary” forms in Ancient art. These elements serve to evaluate the importance of the reflections on phantasía and inward processes and forms of artistic invention in this period of practical and theoretical artistic splendour and to recognize the deep influence that the Ancient World’s legacy exerted on them.