In the early modern world, art and magic operated on shared principles: both could strike the viewer with sudden wonder, both sought to conjure the invisible - whether gods or natural forces - and both required esoteric training that doubled as a transformative process of initiation. This seminar examines the deep connection between visual culture and occult practices from the 15th through the 17th centuries. Through thinkers like Ficino, Agrippa, Boehme, and Bruno, the course argues that magical thinking was essentially artistic thinking. We will explore how artists' manipulation of raw materials brought their work into close alignment with the practices of witches and healers. Through an interdisciplinary lens - examining objects ranging from early Afro-European trade fetishes and sculptors' experiments with quicksilver to the mystical hearts of Paul Kaym - we will trace how images were crafted not just to represent reality, but to actively alter it.
5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
In the early modern world, art and magic operated on shared principles: both could strike the viewer with sudden wonder, both sought to conjure the invisible - whether gods or natural forces - and both required esoteric training that doubled as a transformative process of initiation. This seminar examines the deep connection between visual culture and occult practices from the 15th through the 17th centuries. Through thinkers like Ficino, Agrippa, Boehme, and Bruno, the course argues that magical thinking was essentially artistic thinking. We will explore how artists' manipulation of raw materials brought their work into close alignment with the practices of witches and healers. Through an interdisciplinary lens - examining objects ranging from early Afro-European trade fetishes and sculptors' experiments with quicksilver to the mystical hearts of Paul Kaym - we will trace how images were crafted not just to represent reality, but to actively alter it.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.