Material culture for the study of history and art history
state of the art and some methodological approaches
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25185/16.2Keywords:
Material culture, Art history, Methodology, Material culture historiographyAbstract
Although most artworks have an inescapable physical component, the study of material culture in the history of art has been less developed than that of other types of objects such as those known as “minor arts” or “applied arts”. In the case of artistic works, the primacy of the aesthetic/visual factor has often obscured materiality. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that artworks are objects in the first place, and that the materiality precedes the images they convey. This article first reflects on the state of the art of material culture studies as a source for historical research both in the English-speaking world and in Latin America, and then explores some of its scope, opportunities and possible projections for the fields of art history and art history. For the latter discipline we identify three approaches to the object of study from the perspective of material culture: the study of the work of art as artefact, the study of the objects represented and the study of the artist's material environment (his studio). We will illustrate these three approaches with examples from the reviewed academic literature.
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