>I think the difficulty may be that the definition of"as well as it can be done" can change between cultures. The function of a formal portrait of the Renaissance was not the same as the oft cited high school yearbook portrait, a difference I am sure we are all aware of. (kate)
"As well as it can be done" cannot be defined. Which is why such a concern is so vulnerable and problematic in an academic environment -- and why Berger can so off-offhandedly ignore it, as he proceeds to exemplify his discussion of Rembrandt by using a painting which the RRP (Rembrandt Research Project) has declared "not up to speed". Go to the RRP website and read the essay about "Connoisseurship and Rembrandt's paintings by its current director, Ernst Van de Wetering. "The essence of traditional connoisseurship is the ability based on experience, to recognize the hand of a painter" "Connoisseurship is thus not an exclusively art historical method but is rather an attribute that can be seen as part of our natural cognitive repertory" EVDW traces the conflicts between connoisseurship and technical scholarship throughout the 40 year history of the RRP, noting that over the first few decades, the pendulum swung towards the former, but more recently has turned towards the latter. But both have always been necessary. And you can also note that "recognizing the hand of the painter" is not the same thing as handwriting analysis - because it necessarily includes the judgment of quality. So, for example, to prove that the Copenhagen version of the Gotenburg "Knight with a Falcon" is also by Rembrandt, EVDW notes that "the way in which the forehead, eye sockets and the mouth are rendered in subtle foreshortening is far more complex --- it is surely wrong to assume that a mediocre copyist would want to introduce all these complicated changnes and would further be capable of executing them with no more than twenty or thirty amazingly telling brushstrokes" What distinguishes an "amazingly telling brushstroke" from those which are ordinary? or subtle from not subtle ? or mediocre copyist from gifted copyist ? It's the same ability that distinguishes "as well as it can be done" from everything that falls short. And the best word for that ability is "taste" -- despite its utter disparagement and dismissal as mere subjective opinion in both Berger's academia as well in in the world of commercial marketing. ____________________________________________________________ Small Business Tools Compete with the big boys. Click here to find products to benefit your business. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/c?cp=4exJRuUm94paCQoPfScpeAAAJz6c l_zTaptgNR5c8Mer1v9kAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARMQAAAAA=
