“Remnant of the Golden Age”: Franciscus Junius on the Love of Art

Abstrakt

Franciscus Junius was a proponent of the fi rst humanistic theory of art in England. This article argues that this theory resulted in a deeply humanistic idea of the love of art which went far beyond the standards of his times and may be considered one of the most signifi cant attempts at defi ning and clarifying an approach to painting in the early modern era. The exceptionality of Junius’ approach to the love of art is best seen against the background of the literature of courtesy, whose aim was to enhance English noblemen’s interest in art. The article examines the whole range of these books, from the English translation of Baltassare Castiglione’s Cortegiano through the manuals of painting to Puritan, cautious encouragement and open identifi cation of art with evil. Junius’ concept of the love of art, hidden behind the phrase “the lover and well-willer of art”, is complex and contains what will later evolve into at least four different ideas, i.e. of a connoisseur, an amateur, a spectator and, arguably, of an aesthetic approach to nature. Every one of these aspects of art-loving required different knowledge, experience, skills and preparation, but all of them, as this article shows, contributed to the cultivation of the mind and virtue.