This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Image of the Week #55, August 14th, 2012:
From:Humanities aren t a science. Stop treating them like one. by Maria Konnikova at Literally Psyched.
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Source: Artemisia Gentileschi, 1632, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
One of the greatest painters of the Baroque in Rome, Artemisia Gentileschi’s artwork stands out for its portrayal of strong women in a male-dominated world. In Maria Konnikova’s post on Literally Psyched, Humanities aren t a science. Stop treating them like one.. Konnikova illustrates the concept of Cliodynamics – the use of scientific methodology to illuminate historical events – with Gentileschi’s portrait of mythical Clio, muse of history (1632).
Unlike most depictions of the mythical muses, Gentileschi, herself a rare woman-artist accepted into the 17th century Florentine Academy of the Arts of Drawing, Clio painted here is scholarly, commanding, and has her hand on a text (containing the artist’s name) while gazing upward into the sky at the future.