"Great nations write autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art." - John Ruskin, English critic.
from The Ancient Mediterranean World, page xii, paragraph 1.
This is an interesting quote to me because of the question of history's reliability: would history books teach us the same thing about Hitler and the Nazis had they not lost the second world war?
Also, art and books can be historically censored, much like they were in the time of the Nazis. What history books tell us are all that our ancestors CHOSE to pass on to us.
Contemporaries tend to “cover up” or “touch up” their national track record partly because of short-sightedness... Long term history, however, usually brings a broader perspective. Fortunately Ruskin states that the “autobiography” comes in three forms: art, literature and history. To understand the past, we need to examine not only the historical records, but the art and literature as well. Poets and painters sometimes speak with greater clarity and greater truth than writers of history, especially those historians who “create the past” in their own image.
ReplyDeleteA picture is worth a thousand words...
ReplyDeleteEverything we remember in our lives is stored as a visual in our brain. The easiest way to recall a past event is by remembering a picture of it in your mind. This could be a reason why some people think that art tells us more about the past as well.
ReplyDelete