Topia: Landscape before Linear Perspective

Abstract

Landscape is commonly deemed to be a western European Renaissance invention linked to the theorization of linear perspective as a distinctively “modern” way of looking at the world. Prompted by a resurging interest in premodern geographies, this article takes a step back and interrogates nonlinear perceptions and graphic representations of the environment in Roman antiquity (the so-called topia) and their development in the Byzantine world. Since the times of Alexander von Humboldt, these representations have been generally dismissed as “artificial” and “disregardful of perspective.” I propose a rereading of this perceived “lack of technique,” or “disinterest in nature” as a different “way of seeing” and making sense of the world, emphasizing the visual energheia and memorability of singular elements (or places) over their modern linear integration. Tracing the complex etymological and visual history of topia sheds light not only on “ways of seeing” and geographical traditions understudied in our discipline but also on a further aspect of landscape: that of a container of symbolic memory places.

Comunmente se presume que el paisaje es una invención occidental del Renacimiento europeo, ligada a la teorización de la perspectiva lineal como un medio distintivamente “moderno” de mirar el mundo. Motivado por un resurgimiento del interés en las geografías premodernas, este artículo da un paso hacia atrás para cuestionar las percepciones no lineales y las representaciones gráficas del entorno en la antigüedad romana (la así llamada topia) y su desarrollo en el mundo bizantino. Desde los tiempos de Alejandro de Humboldt estas representaciones generalmente se han desechado como “artificiales” y “desentendidas de la perspectiva”. Propongo una relectura de esta percibida “falta de técnica”, o “desinterés en la naturaleza” como una diferente “manera de ver” y de darle sentido al mundo, haciendo énfasis sobre la energheia visual y la memorabilidad de elementos singulares (o lugares) sobre su integración lineal moderna. Al trazar la compleja historia etimológica y visual de topi se aclaran no solo las “maneras de ver” y las tradiciones geográficas poco estudiadas en nuestra disciplina, sino también otro aspecto del paisaje: el de un contenedor de lugares simbólicos de la memoria.

Key Words:

• chorography
• landscape
• late antiquity
• perspective
• topia

关键词:

• 地方志
• 景观
• 近古的视角
• topia

Palabras clave:

• corografía
• paisaje
• antigüedad tardía
• perspectiva
• topia

Acknowledgments

Research for this article has been made possible thanks to a Dumbarton Oaks residential fellowship and a University of Bristol research fellowship. I would like to acknowledge both institutions. I would also like to thank Fr. Amphilochios Docheiarites and Chryssoula Kaltsa for their assistance on philological matters, Marco Antonsich for his helpful comments on an early draft of this article, Audrey Kobayashi for her thorough guidance in the revision process, and finally three anonymous referees, from whose invaluable suggestions this article has greatly benefited.

Notes

1. Consider, for example, the following passage by Clarke: “In the West, landscape painting has had a short and fitful history. In the greatest ages of European art, the age of the Parthenon and the age of Chartres Cathedral, landscape did not and could not exist; to Giotto and Michelangelo it was an impertinence. It is only in the seventeenth century that great artists take up landscape painting for its own sake, and try to systematize its rules. Only in the nineteenth century does it become the dominant art, and create a new aesthetics of its own” (quoted in Casey 2002, 5). This evolutionary narrative finds parallels in traditional histories of cartography, which have, nevertheless, been challenged (e.g., Edney 1993; Jacob 1996).

2. A contemporary example of chorography can be found in Sallis's travelogue (2006), which is inspired by and organized precisely according to this principle.

3. “No one but a man skilled in drawing would do chorography,” Ptolemy argued (cited in Simon forthcoming, 7).

4. Roman villas were often built in elevated spots or on raised terraces, providing views over the surrounding countryside (Bowe 2004, 27).

5. The typical example is the Last Supper in which Christ, the figure most distant from the viewer, but also the most important in the group, is portrayed bigger than all the other the figures; likewise, Peter and John, who are sitting next to him and occupy a central role in the narrative, are larger than the apostles in the foreground.

6. I would like to thank an anonymous referee for suggesting this insight.