Ingenuity in the Making: Matter and Technique in Early Modern Europe ed. by Richard J. Oosterhoff, José Ramón Marcaida, and Alexander Marr

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ingenuity in the Making: Matter and Technique in Early Modern Europe ed. by Richard J. Oosterhoff, José Ramón Marcaida, and Alexander Marr Karel Davids (bio) Ingenuity in the Making: Matter and Technique in Early Modern Europe Edited by Richard J. Oosterhoff, José Ramón Marcaida, and Alexander Marr. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021. Pp. 382. "Ingenuity" was a commonplace term in early modern Europe. References abound in the arts and sciences of the time, although the meaning of the word could differ widely. Historians have scrutinized the concept from various angles, especially studying the history of engineering, the history of rhetoric, and the development of art theory. While acknowledging the important insights produced by these established lines of inquiry, the editors of this volume nonetheless claim that a fresh perspective is needed. The history of ingenuity has in their view been too much subordinated to the history of genius. They aim to redirect research on the subject by looking at all kinds of makers, whether geniuses or not, and probing into the many different ways in which makers engaged with matter and designed ingenious objects. The volume thus offers a very diverse set of papers. There are essays on mining literature, calligraphy, anatomy, medical training, alchemy, the role of vapors in the philosophy of Francis Bacon, the meaning of gems in the writings of Robert Boyle, the uses of minerals set in elaborate metal cups in the shape of coconuts, sculptures with movable parts as an aid to devotion, sundials in Renaissance gardens, and a magical lamp burning human blood described by alchemist Johann Ernst Burggrav. Finally, there are a few contributions that examine changes in the concept of ingenuity over time and how Europeans reflected on, or appropriated, specimens of ingenuity produced in other parts of the world. Sixteen beautiful color plates accompany the texts. All essays are paragons of erudition. All of them are very learned and a pleasure to read. Readers are nevertheless left wondering what this variety of well-crafted case studies eventually contributes to a better understanding [End Page 259] of the concept of ingenuity, apart from the observation that ingenuity in the early modern period was an even more complex and pluriform concept than previously thought. Ingenuity not only had to do with genius—that is a hard fact the contributions in this volume make abundantly clear. However, it would have been helpful if the editors had added a concluding analysis uncovering some patterns in the wealth of empirical evidence. The essay that comes nearest to such an analytical approach is Marieke Hendriksen's excellent piece on the shift of concepts in eighteenth-century theories of art and craft. Hendriksen concentrates on the demise of ingenuity and the rise of genius and technique in German thinking about the visual arts around 1800. She argues that ingenuity lost its central role in art theory as the need arose for a new language to distinguish innate talent and acquired skill in the appreciation of fine art. Genius became the preferred designation for the former, technique for the latter. The concept of ingenuity, which intersected the mind-hand distinction, was not suitable for this purpose, but it retained its use in other areas where making and knowing were seen to be interconnected, such as engineering. Hendriksen's essay also leads us to a fundamental question that the editors, alas, do not address in their introduction. Granted that the concept of ingenuity in the early modern period could be applied to so many makers and artifacts, did it actually have any limits at all? Were there any restrictions to its use? Perhaps there were—if you read between the lines. Although the words "craft" and "artisans" appear a few times in this volume, the case studies do not refer to guilds or guildsmen, nor does the index. None of the case studies discuss the relevance of guild rules for makers or artifacts, which have been the subject of a growing body of historiography of late. The discourse on ingenuity in the early modern period was apparently completely removed from the world of guilds, even if these organizations remained key institutions in many European economies...