The Santiago Cross/ The History of Art Volume II: The Mirror as Phase

Vol II: The Mirror as Phase

During the Renaissance artists attempted to mirror ‘nature’ – there was a belief in the notion of a universal truth and a transcendental ideal that art should attempt to reflect. This belief system could be considered a ‘phase’ in the narrative of western art.

The other phase I refer to here is the French philosopher Jacque Lacan’s mirror phase in which the infant, at around 6 months recognizes herself as the “I” in the mirror and irrevocably enters the realm of the linguistic.