Images of Knowledge

Nora S. Vaage / Rasmus T. Slaattelid /Trine Krigsvoll Haagensen /Samantha L. Smith (eds.):

Images of Knowledge. The Epistemic Lives of Pictures and Visualisations

Many factors in the perception of images, as well as the kinds of images avail- able, have changed over the centuries. However, there are some interesting similarities between the early modern period and the present.  It is common, today, to contest existing boundaries. Many contemporary scholars can relate to the perceived lack of categorical boundaries in the early modern period, because it speaks to our current wishes for bridging or going beyond disciplinary divides. The current tendency for “art-science hybridisations” has its precedent in the early modern conception of the artist-scholar, the creative individual with a substantial education who contributed multiple kinds of knowledge products to society (famous examples are Leon Battista Alberti and particularly Leonardo da Vinci). The aim has been to gain a richer understanding of epistemic images by taking into account how they have historically been perceived, and to make evident the relevance of bringing together texts that consider images across time spans.