Art and the Will

Available for over a year

This year's lecturer is the first and current Professor of Art History at Oxford University, Edgar Wind. The German-born British professor specialises in iconology in the Renaissance era. In his Reith Series entitled 'Art and Anarchy', Edgar Wind explores the concepts of creative energies produced through turmoil. In this lecture entitled 'Art and the Will', Edgar Wind argues that without human spirit, art is merely the sum of mechanical forces. We use our will to seek out art and the artist inflicts his will in the creation of it. Professor Wind goes on to explore the creative role that patrons of artists have played in the art of the past, looking specifically at the Renaissance era. Did artists need the specifications set by patrons in order to create their masterpieces?