ABSTRACT
I mentioned in my preface that it is now becoming acceptable to divide the field of contemporary art into two broad categories: two-dimensional and three-dimensional. Most of the preceding section was focused on works of art in two dimensions: on paintings that picture the world. The transition from two works by Manet to the earlier case of Ingres introduced a new dimension, in the sense that it revealed the parameters of the historical tradition to which he considered himself to be the heir. The reason why a premodern artist like Ingres excites a special interest today (in the context of Postmodernism) is no doubt not very far removed from the cause of his continuing prestige in France throughout the nineteenth century. It is a question of his absolute dedication to the Renaissance tradition of disegno—a word covering both “drawing” and “design”—as the sovereign system that overarches and indeed uniflies the disciplines pertaining to all the fine arts.
