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Picturing the Messianic: Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd

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Picturing the Messianic: Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd. / Palladino, Paolo.
In: Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 27, No. 1, 01.2010, p. 94-109.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Palladino P. Picturing the Messianic: Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd. Theory, Culture and Society. 2010 Jan;27(1):94-109. doi: 10.1177/0263276409350358

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Palladino, Paolo. / Picturing the Messianic : Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd. In: Theory, Culture and Society. 2010 ; Vol. 27, No. 1. pp. 94-109.

Bibtex

@article{169be12b03d441038a737bf0737f774f,
title = "Picturing the Messianic: Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd",
abstract = "In The Open (2002), a series of reflections on the historical endeavours to define the essential features of the human figure in relation to the biological existence it shares with animals, Giorgio Agamben offers a detailed reading of Titian{\textquoteright}s painting The Nymph and the Shepherd. He argues that the scene depicted enables the contemporary viewer to visualize the advent of radical freedom, the moment when the historical dialectic of nature and culture comes to a {\textquoteleft}stand-still{\textquoteright}. In this article, I offer a different reading of The Nymph and the Shepherd, whereby the advent of radical freedom and death become indistinguishable. This different reading, I argue, calls into question Agamben{\textquoteright}s understanding of corporeal being. I conclude by suggesting more speculatively and tentatively that {\textquoteleft}bioart{\textquoteright}, the field now emerging at the intersection of the creative arts and the bio-medical sciences, may provide a better site of reflection on the questions Agamben ultimately poses about the future of bio-political governmentality.",
keywords = "aesthetics, Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin , bio-politics , Erwin Panofsky",
author = "Paolo Palladino",
year = "2010",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1177/0263276409350358",
language = "English",
volume = "27",
pages = "94--109",
journal = "Theory, Culture and Society",
issn = "1460-3616",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Picturing the Messianic

T2 - Agamben and Titian's The Nymph and the Shepherd

AU - Palladino, Paolo

PY - 2010/1

Y1 - 2010/1

N2 - In The Open (2002), a series of reflections on the historical endeavours to define the essential features of the human figure in relation to the biological existence it shares with animals, Giorgio Agamben offers a detailed reading of Titian’s painting The Nymph and the Shepherd. He argues that the scene depicted enables the contemporary viewer to visualize the advent of radical freedom, the moment when the historical dialectic of nature and culture comes to a ‘stand-still’. In this article, I offer a different reading of The Nymph and the Shepherd, whereby the advent of radical freedom and death become indistinguishable. This different reading, I argue, calls into question Agamben’s understanding of corporeal being. I conclude by suggesting more speculatively and tentatively that ‘bioart’, the field now emerging at the intersection of the creative arts and the bio-medical sciences, may provide a better site of reflection on the questions Agamben ultimately poses about the future of bio-political governmentality.

AB - In The Open (2002), a series of reflections on the historical endeavours to define the essential features of the human figure in relation to the biological existence it shares with animals, Giorgio Agamben offers a detailed reading of Titian’s painting The Nymph and the Shepherd. He argues that the scene depicted enables the contemporary viewer to visualize the advent of radical freedom, the moment when the historical dialectic of nature and culture comes to a ‘stand-still’. In this article, I offer a different reading of The Nymph and the Shepherd, whereby the advent of radical freedom and death become indistinguishable. This different reading, I argue, calls into question Agamben’s understanding of corporeal being. I conclude by suggesting more speculatively and tentatively that ‘bioart’, the field now emerging at the intersection of the creative arts and the bio-medical sciences, may provide a better site of reflection on the questions Agamben ultimately poses about the future of bio-political governmentality.

KW - aesthetics

KW - Giorgio Agamben

KW - Walter Benjamin

KW - bio-politics

KW - Erwin Panofsky

U2 - 10.1177/0263276409350358

DO - 10.1177/0263276409350358

M3 - Journal article

VL - 27

SP - 94

EP - 109

JO - Theory, Culture and Society

JF - Theory, Culture and Society

SN - 1460-3616

IS - 1

ER -