Grotesque Realism. Interest in Portraying People with Physical Deformities in the Bohemian Renaissance and Mannerist Milieu
Abstract
The contribution deals in detail with the decoration of one of the side chapels in the The contribution called "Grotesque Realism. Interest in depicting people with physical deformities in the Bohemian Renaissance and Mannerist Milieu" presents three depictions portraying deformed human bodies in the 16th and early 17th century.
Using the examples of the works by Dominic Custos, Dirk de Quad Van Ravesteyn and Heinrich Weirich we will try to verify the conception of "grotesque realism" by Michail Bachtin. Most people in the 16th century considered persons suffering from unusual illnesses to be peculiar human beings.
It is surprising that these curiosities were popular not only among the general public but also at aristocratic and royal courts. From the aesthetic point of view, this is a big problem as the "topic" of a deformed human body contradicted the classic canon of beauty in the Renaissance.
In this contribution we will examine the connection between the grotesque and abnormality. We will show the effect of the grotesque mechanism which is part of the depiction of deformed human bodies at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century.
We will learn why similar curiosities were popular at aristocratic and royal courts and why they were an inspiration for artists. The contribution also deals with Mannerism in Bohemia at the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century.of Assumption of Mary in Velehrad.
The preserved chapel decoration can undoubt- edly be connected with several drawings from the collection of the Research Library in Olomouc and other private collections.