V: Paragon, idol

 

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Defintions

Sketch or study for a finished work

Paragons in the New Testament

Idols

Paragons in Psychology

 

 

see also         chap. IV: Pattern, prescription, plan

 

For nudes as paragons see:         XXIII: substitute

 

 

Definitions

 

Philosopher Blaise Pascal (1657) saw the model as "ouvrage d'esprit ou action morale, dont on peut s'inspirer".

 

In the French "Encyclopédie" (1765, vol. 10) we read under „modèle“:

"tout ce qu'on regarde comme original, & dont on se propose d'exécuter la copie. Ce mot se prend au simple & au figuré, au physique & au moral". Example: une femme, "modèle précieux pour un peintre"

"en Architecture: original qu'on propose pour l'imiter, ou pour le copier.

"en Peinture tout ce que les Dessinateurs, les Peintres, les Sculpteurs se proposent d'imiter

            un homme, qu'on met tout nud à l'académie

            des figures que les Sculpteurs modelent d'après le modèle à l'académie

            des figures de terre ou d'argile, de plâtre, de cire, qu'ils embauchent pour leur servir de dessein, & en exécuter de plus grandes, soit de marbre soit d'une autre matière."

 

There are two entries in the “Cyclopaedia” (1781):

“The sculptors have little models of clay or wax to assist them in their designs of others that are larger, in marble &c. and to judge of the attitude and correctness of a figure.”

“Statuaries likewise give the name model to certain figures of clay or wax, which are but just fashioned, to serve by way of guide for the making of larger, whether of marble or other matter.”

 

 

 

 

Sketch or study for a finished work

 

The Old Romans  - e. g. Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder - used the word „exemplar“ for a sketch or study for a finished work (P. G. W. Glare, 1982). More in the abstract sense they used „exemplum“.

 

Around 200 AD Tertullian (nat. 1, 12, 9) expanded the meaning of „modulus“ to include the small figures used by sculptors, with which, for instance, a marble sculpture was made.

In Italy in late Renaissance times (around 1500) they were called „bózza“ (rough draft), and since 1750 „bozzetto“, in French „maquette“. In German has been used already since 1534 the word „bossieren“ – to „form“.

 

How Greek and Roman artists used little figures as exercise examples or paragons is described at the same time by the "Encyclopédie" (1765 under "modele") and by Johann Joachim Winckelmann in his Art history of Antiquity (1776, 4, 508ff). Mostly hands and fingernails were used to create and form these figures (see J. G. Krünitz, 1803,  576). As a result the quote by Horace „ad unguem factus homo“ describes a perfect man „because the sculptors put the finishing touches to their objects with their fingernails“.

 

We can assume continuity in workshops from Antiquity to Renaissance where objects of imitation were made in clay or from wax and used particularly to train artistic expression. A Byzantine miniature from the 12th century (“St. Luc. Atelier d’artiste”) shows very well the use of antique masks, a statue and a column as models.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo not only used extensively the word “modello”, but made, constructed and used a wide variety of models, not only for buildings of all kinds and for devices but also for artistic purposes, i. e. for drawings, paintings and giant sculptures (see e. g. Fig. 33).

 

 

Paragons in the New Testament (New International Version)

 

Christ Jesus proved his patience with Paulus „as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life" (1. Tim. 1, 16; ad de- or informationem etc.). But also humans can be paragons ("typon") for all believers, i. e. for the herd (Phil. 3, 17 – “example“; 1. Thess. 1, 7 – „model“; 2. Thess. 3, 9 – „model“; 1. Pet. 5, 3 – „examples“, Latin in each case "forma"; 1. Tim. 4, 12 – „example“; Tit. 2, 7 – „example“; Latin in each case "exemplum").

 

 

Idols

 

Living as well as fictional persons can serve as idols. An example of a living idol was Socrates. Fictional characters include Achilles, created by Homer; and Werther, created by Goethe. Achilles demonstrated the virtues of a fighting spirit, a good soul and heroism. It is said that after the publication of „The Sorrows of Young Werther“ (1774) a lot of young people committed suicide in imitation of their idol. Among female persons to be imitated were in Old Greece Penelope and at the times of Goethe Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

Sigmund Freud saw the identification with an idol as a psychodynamic process.

 

see also in German:

Die Psychologie der Menschenbilder

 

 

Paragons in Psychology

 

At least since 1880 in the psychology „model“ was used for „something held up for conscious imitation … (the usage of Taine, Tarde, Royce)“ (James Mark Baldwin: Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology. 1901-2).

 

Albert Bandura first described the process of learning from a model in 1961 (Bandura, Ross, Ross, 1961).

 

 

Bibliography

Allgemeine Nachschlagewerke

Historische Darstellung einzelner Modellarten

Lernen/ Konditionierung/ Gedächtnis/ Pädagogische Psychologie