On Composition as Method and Topic

This book discusses the composition in paintings of Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens and Picasso; it discusses the contribution of composition to the representation of subject matter. In the case of Raphael and Rubens, it examines also how a composition was conceived and worked out. It also deals with the comprehension of composition in the treatise of L. B. Alberti, in comparison to the reflections on composition by Cennini, Lionardo and Dolce. The last chapter aims at qualifying the paintings of Lionardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, according to their specific rank, as ‘Classic’. These lectures, which were delivered in Tel Aviv University, have the intention of shedding light on the significance and the virtue of the Art of Composition in painting, as well as presenting the analysis of Composition as a method of interpreting works of art. A further study, which concerns the problem of composition in sculpture, brings into discussion sculptures made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini und Ignaz Günther and appears in the appendix of this book.