"Pay heed to the word "tale" in the title of William E. Wallace's book Michelangelo & Titian: A Tale of Rivalry and Genius. Wallace, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, is a world authority on Michelangelo. Yet unlike his eight prior academic titles on the artist, this one is not grounded in new or existing primary sources, for there is scant evidence linking Michelangelo and Titian."
"This liberal use of imagination prevents the book from becoming a core academic text. Yet before art historians shout "stop: balderdash!" it's worth noting that Wallace raises the very interesting and valid question of what can and cannot be admitted as historical evidence. While art history is founded on empirical primary sources, he rightly highlights the value - and vastly greater volume - of unrecorded oral history."
Informed imagination is used to explore the relationship between Michelangelo and Titian despite scant primary sources linking them. The approach relies on circumstantial evidence, suppositions, and the value of unrecorded oral history. Knowledge and ideas are portrayed as perpetuated through conversations, visitations, viewings, and gossip that cannot be fully accessed. The method is likened to mosaic theory, combining diverse forms of information to form insight. The analysis concludes that, though the two met only twice, they maintained long-term mutual regard and reciprocal creativity. The imaginative methodology limits acceptance as core academic evidence.
Read at Hyperallergic
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