Laurence Caruana - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Books by Laurence Caruana
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art,, 2017
These chapters investigate the role of visionary experience in the ritual creation and reception ... more These chapters investigate the role of visionary experience in the ritual creation and reception of sacred art from different traditions. Beginning with ancient Egypt, we pursue examples of visionary experience in the creation and consecration of their statuary, finding similar examples in India and Tibet. These practices lead us to Theurgy in the West, and Mandala Meditation in the East, as parallel practices for consecrating the work through visionary experience.
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art, 2017
Principles for the harmonic organization of space have been transmitted by artists across the age... more Principles for the harmonic organization of space have been transmitted by artists across the ages. Looking at examples from the ancient Near East, we begin with foundational geometry, such as the division of space into triangles ('ad triangulum') or squares ('ad quadratum') and proceed to more complex harmonic divisions (Pythagorean-Platonic proportion) in Islamic and Gothic art. The subsequent chapter on Ornament gives basic structures and motifs for the generation of ornament, as well as a brief history of the subject.
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art, 2017
These chapters examine the codes transmitted by Western artists to design the pose of Humanist fi... more These chapters examine the codes transmitted by Western artists to design the pose of Humanist figures in Classical and Renaissance art - specifically the figure's will and repose to express soul, life-likeness, and the passions. Types of pose are examined (contrapposto, etc), and the route of transmission through academies is pursued. Moving beyond the individual figure, we examine figurative groupings, and how these are to be 'read' through the painting's narrative or 'istoria'.
In 1890, Gustave Moreau received the commission to create a painting that would ultimately become... more In 1890, Gustave Moreau received the commission to create a painting that would ultimately become his last masterpiece. Secluded in his large studio on the Rue de la Rochefoucauld, accompanied only by a few faithful assistants and living out his last days alone (his mistress of twenty-five years having died the year the painting was begun...) Moreau became lost in the labyrinth of his own creation. The final result was an enigmatic opus, intriguing but bewildering. His admirers hailed him as a genius, while his critics branded him as an eccentric and recluse, a consumer of opium and hashish... Now, calling upon texts written by Moreau himself, the noted author L. Caruana elucidates the painting, offering a visual journey through its narrative, composition and philosophy. Through a close examination of the details and comparing them to the painting as a whole, Moreau’s vast allegory emerges – a timeless myth, Neo-Platonic and Gnostic in conception, of the soul’s separation from divinity, its entrapment in matter, and even its possible incarceration in the underworld. Yet, Moreau’s altarpiece also offers us a rare moment of revelation and redemption, an ascent to the higher realm where beauty, perfection and timeless archetypes eternally dwell. The second half of this brief study (elaborately illustrated in black and white) explores the painting’s evolution, offering photos of its different stages, identifying lines of armature and explaining the harmonic proportions underlying its composition. The artist’s working methods are examined – his use of plasticine models, photographs and live models – and the alterations (pentimenti) in the painting. Finally, Moreau’s own aspirations to extend Historical Painting into a higher kind of Spiritual and Allegorical Painting (which he called Le Grand Art) are revealed through original translations of the artist’s texts, including fragments of a self-written obituary (nécrologie).
A journey to the primordial language at the source of all dreaming, art & mythmaking... In 1945, ... more A journey to the primordial language at the source of all dreaming, art & mythmaking... In 1945, on a hill overlooking the Nile, a Gnostic text was accidentally unearthed after having been buried for seventeen hundred years. Within its aged pages there appeared the mysterious fragment: enter through the image. Taking this as his starting point, the noted Visionary artist L. Caruana guides his reader through a labyrinth of imagery, exposing the forgotten image-language at the root of all dreaming, art and mythmaking.... Drawing examples from a diversity of ancient cultures (Buddhism, Alchemy, Gnosticism) and from contemporary Visionary art (Dali, Fuchs, Johfra), many beautiful and intriguing symbols are illuminated with crystal clarity. Retracing the steps of 20th century mythmakers (Hesse, Kazantzakis) and scholars (Jung, Campbell, Eliade), Caruana opens our eyes to the ancient mythic patterns underlying our lives. As many fascinating dreams are offered and decyphered (Baudelaire, Descartes), a new key is given to us for the elucidation of dreams. By the end of this richly-illustrated study, we come to see how our own daily experiences are, in fact, heroic adventures culminating in rare moments of epiphany. We discover that our own lives are nothing less than "...a gradual unfolding of the Sacred."
This is the tale of the Gnostic Christ, based on the ancient sources. In a compelling narrative, ... more This is the tale of the Gnostic Christ, based on the ancient sources. In a compelling narrative, L. Caruana seamlessly weaves over 1500 sayings from the Nag Hammadi texts to recount The Hidden Passion of the Gnostic savior. Wandering round Galilee, increasingly hailed as the Messiah of the Five Seals, the Gnostic savior preaches divine awakening through compassion. But he must still contend with Judas, his dark twin, and Magdalene, his promised bride. At once earthly and spiritual, the Nazarene's love for these two is finally transfigured into a higher, hidden passion. Each page of this novel rings with the authentic message of the lost gospels. By combining numerous narrative fragments from the Nag Hammadi texts, The Hidden Passion makes the Gnostic Gospels come alive. Complete with a map, diagram and glossary, this novel elucidates the Gnostic worldview in an eloquent , engaging narrative.
Digging through obscure and arcane texts, closely observing and detecting marks in paintings that... more Digging through obscure and arcane texts, closely observing and detecting marks in paintings that few would perceive, L. Caruana recovers perennial principles otherwise lost by the collapse of the academy system. Written in clear lucid prose by an experienced painter, these 700 pages distill years of academy lecturing and a lifetime of historical approaches to painting. Loaded with practical knowledge and new discoveries, SACRED CODES is an essential companion to all serious artists – a treasure-trove of insider knowledge, craftsmen’s secrets, and tricks of the trade. Richly-illustrated with explanatory figures and hundreds of plates, the first volume of The Sacred Codes Series is dedicated to The Drawing Stage, and includes: • The classical principles underlying the figure – proportion and the history of the pose, contrapposto and the movement around the plumb line, the contrasting forces of will and repose, to express ‘the passions of the soul’ • The development of painterly principles in the French and Italian Academy systems, including inventio (invention), disegno (design) and istoria (narrative) • The principles of vision, and how the narrative construction leads the eye through the painting • The roots of composition in sacred geometry and ornament • The energetic movement of curving lines around invisible straight lines to integrate figures in the composition • Armature: the rules of harmony and the construction lines for classical and dynamic compositions – root rectangles, ad triangulum and ad quadratum space • The harmonic alignment of perspective with composition in Renaissance masters like Leonardo and Raphael These time-tested principles, tried and true, undergird all of artistic creation. In this volume, two major traditions are traced: the Hieratic style (Sacred art of the East: Egyptian, Hindu and Buddhist) and our Humanist inheritance (Western Classical and Renaissance painting, with its focus on Humanity and human feeling). Pursuing examples from Michelangelo, Blake, Moreau and Fuchs, the author illustrates how Humanist and Hieratic traditions finally meet and fuse in the Visionary Art of these four masters.
What is Visionary Art? The sources of the visionary experience are many and varied: dreams, tranc... more What is Visionary Art? The sources of the visionary experience are many and varied: dreams, trance, madness, meditation, entheogens... This little book examines them all, pursuing both Visions of Light and Visions of Darkness. Through the art and writings of Ernst Fuchs, H. R. Giger, Mati Klarwein, Robert Venosa, Johfra, De Es, Alex Grey and more, this new and unusual movement in art is put into proper perspective.
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art,, 2017
These chapters investigate the role of visionary experience in the ritual creation and reception ... more These chapters investigate the role of visionary experience in the ritual creation and reception of sacred art from different traditions. Beginning with ancient Egypt, we pursue examples of visionary experience in the creation and consecration of their statuary, finding similar examples in India and Tibet. These practices lead us to Theurgy in the West, and Mandala Meditation in the East, as parallel practices for consecrating the work through visionary experience.
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art, 2017
Principles for the harmonic organization of space have been transmitted by artists across the age... more Principles for the harmonic organization of space have been transmitted by artists across the ages. Looking at examples from the ancient Near East, we begin with foundational geometry, such as the division of space into triangles ('ad triangulum') or squares ('ad quadratum') and proceed to more complex harmonic divisions (Pythagorean-Platonic proportion) in Islamic and Gothic art. The subsequent chapter on Ornament gives basic structures and motifs for the generation of ornament, as well as a brief history of the subject.
Sacred Codes: The Forgotten Principles of Painting, Revived by Visionary Art, 2017
These chapters examine the codes transmitted by Western artists to design the pose of Humanist fi... more These chapters examine the codes transmitted by Western artists to design the pose of Humanist figures in Classical and Renaissance art - specifically the figure's will and repose to express soul, life-likeness, and the passions. Types of pose are examined (contrapposto, etc), and the route of transmission through academies is pursued. Moving beyond the individual figure, we examine figurative groupings, and how these are to be 'read' through the painting's narrative or 'istoria'.
In 1890, Gustave Moreau received the commission to create a painting that would ultimately become... more In 1890, Gustave Moreau received the commission to create a painting that would ultimately become his last masterpiece. Secluded in his large studio on the Rue de la Rochefoucauld, accompanied only by a few faithful assistants and living out his last days alone (his mistress of twenty-five years having died the year the painting was begun...) Moreau became lost in the labyrinth of his own creation. The final result was an enigmatic opus, intriguing but bewildering. His admirers hailed him as a genius, while his critics branded him as an eccentric and recluse, a consumer of opium and hashish... Now, calling upon texts written by Moreau himself, the noted author L. Caruana elucidates the painting, offering a visual journey through its narrative, composition and philosophy. Through a close examination of the details and comparing them to the painting as a whole, Moreau’s vast allegory emerges – a timeless myth, Neo-Platonic and Gnostic in conception, of the soul’s separation from divinity, its entrapment in matter, and even its possible incarceration in the underworld. Yet, Moreau’s altarpiece also offers us a rare moment of revelation and redemption, an ascent to the higher realm where beauty, perfection and timeless archetypes eternally dwell. The second half of this brief study (elaborately illustrated in black and white) explores the painting’s evolution, offering photos of its different stages, identifying lines of armature and explaining the harmonic proportions underlying its composition. The artist’s working methods are examined – his use of plasticine models, photographs and live models – and the alterations (pentimenti) in the painting. Finally, Moreau’s own aspirations to extend Historical Painting into a higher kind of Spiritual and Allegorical Painting (which he called Le Grand Art) are revealed through original translations of the artist’s texts, including fragments of a self-written obituary (nécrologie).
A journey to the primordial language at the source of all dreaming, art & mythmaking... In 1945, ... more A journey to the primordial language at the source of all dreaming, art & mythmaking... In 1945, on a hill overlooking the Nile, a Gnostic text was accidentally unearthed after having been buried for seventeen hundred years. Within its aged pages there appeared the mysterious fragment: enter through the image. Taking this as his starting point, the noted Visionary artist L. Caruana guides his reader through a labyrinth of imagery, exposing the forgotten image-language at the root of all dreaming, art and mythmaking.... Drawing examples from a diversity of ancient cultures (Buddhism, Alchemy, Gnosticism) and from contemporary Visionary art (Dali, Fuchs, Johfra), many beautiful and intriguing symbols are illuminated with crystal clarity. Retracing the steps of 20th century mythmakers (Hesse, Kazantzakis) and scholars (Jung, Campbell, Eliade), Caruana opens our eyes to the ancient mythic patterns underlying our lives. As many fascinating dreams are offered and decyphered (Baudelaire, Descartes), a new key is given to us for the elucidation of dreams. By the end of this richly-illustrated study, we come to see how our own daily experiences are, in fact, heroic adventures culminating in rare moments of epiphany. We discover that our own lives are nothing less than "...a gradual unfolding of the Sacred."
This is the tale of the Gnostic Christ, based on the ancient sources. In a compelling narrative, ... more This is the tale of the Gnostic Christ, based on the ancient sources. In a compelling narrative, L. Caruana seamlessly weaves over 1500 sayings from the Nag Hammadi texts to recount The Hidden Passion of the Gnostic savior. Wandering round Galilee, increasingly hailed as the Messiah of the Five Seals, the Gnostic savior preaches divine awakening through compassion. But he must still contend with Judas, his dark twin, and Magdalene, his promised bride. At once earthly and spiritual, the Nazarene's love for these two is finally transfigured into a higher, hidden passion. Each page of this novel rings with the authentic message of the lost gospels. By combining numerous narrative fragments from the Nag Hammadi texts, The Hidden Passion makes the Gnostic Gospels come alive. Complete with a map, diagram and glossary, this novel elucidates the Gnostic worldview in an eloquent , engaging narrative.
Digging through obscure and arcane texts, closely observing and detecting marks in paintings that... more Digging through obscure and arcane texts, closely observing and detecting marks in paintings that few would perceive, L. Caruana recovers perennial principles otherwise lost by the collapse of the academy system. Written in clear lucid prose by an experienced painter, these 700 pages distill years of academy lecturing and a lifetime of historical approaches to painting. Loaded with practical knowledge and new discoveries, SACRED CODES is an essential companion to all serious artists – a treasure-trove of insider knowledge, craftsmen’s secrets, and tricks of the trade. Richly-illustrated with explanatory figures and hundreds of plates, the first volume of The Sacred Codes Series is dedicated to The Drawing Stage, and includes: • The classical principles underlying the figure – proportion and the history of the pose, contrapposto and the movement around the plumb line, the contrasting forces of will and repose, to express ‘the passions of the soul’ • The development of painterly principles in the French and Italian Academy systems, including inventio (invention), disegno (design) and istoria (narrative) • The principles of vision, and how the narrative construction leads the eye through the painting • The roots of composition in sacred geometry and ornament • The energetic movement of curving lines around invisible straight lines to integrate figures in the composition • Armature: the rules of harmony and the construction lines for classical and dynamic compositions – root rectangles, ad triangulum and ad quadratum space • The harmonic alignment of perspective with composition in Renaissance masters like Leonardo and Raphael These time-tested principles, tried and true, undergird all of artistic creation. In this volume, two major traditions are traced: the Hieratic style (Sacred art of the East: Egyptian, Hindu and Buddhist) and our Humanist inheritance (Western Classical and Renaissance painting, with its focus on Humanity and human feeling). Pursuing examples from Michelangelo, Blake, Moreau and Fuchs, the author illustrates how Humanist and Hieratic traditions finally meet and fuse in the Visionary Art of these four masters.
What is Visionary Art? The sources of the visionary experience are many and varied: dreams, tranc... more What is Visionary Art? The sources of the visionary experience are many and varied: dreams, trance, madness, meditation, entheogens... This little book examines them all, pursuing both Visions of Light and Visions of Darkness. Through the art and writings of Ernst Fuchs, H. R. Giger, Mati Klarwein, Robert Venosa, Johfra, De Es, Alex Grey and more, this new and unusual movement in art is put into proper perspective.