Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Genius before Romanticism: Ingenuity in Early Modern Art and Science

Objective

"Genius before Romanticism: Ingenuity in Early Modern Art and Science

What existed in the European imagination before the Romantic concept of ‘genius’? This five-year project will examine notions of unique talent, heightened imagination and extraordinary creativity in art and science by exploring the language, theories, practices and products of ingenium (ingenuity) ca. 1450-ca. 1750. Drawing on the perspectives of history of art, history of science, technology and medicine, intellectual history and literary studies, the project seeks to capture ingenuity across and between disciplines. Studying five countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and England) across three centuries, it will trace ingenuity’s shifting patterns and fragmented fortunes over the longue durée.

Research will be conducted in four strands, focused on distinctive but interrelated aspects of ingenuity. Strand 1, The ‘Language of Ingenuity’, will chart the word history of the ingenuity family of terms. Strand 2, ‘Conceptualizing Ingenuity’, will explore the intellectual framework of ingenuity through its theoretical treatment in natural philosophy and artistic theory. Strand 3, ‘Ingenuity in the Making’, will examine the cunning knowledge of ingenious craftsmen and the properties of ‘spirited’ materials. Strand 4, ‘Ingenious Images’, will investigate the visual culture of ingenuity, from the iconography of ingenium to the witty disingenuousness of optical games.

The findings of the project team will be disseminated to a scholarly audience and the wider public through monographs, volumes of essays, a critical edition, an exhibition, conferences and colloquia, and a project website."

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2013-CoG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-CG - ERC Consolidator Grants

Host institution

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
EU contribution
€ 1 785 670,60
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0