Towards Computational Historiographical Modeling: Concepts in Art History

In February 2022, the SNSF project “Towards Computational Historiographical Modeling: Corpora and Concepts” was launched. This four-year project aims to lay methodological foundations for digital humanities research. In the field of digital humanities, the phenomena studied are constructed and modeled through data and code. Our goal is to investigate the epistemological implications of imposing this structure on the phenomena under study, specifically in the context of historical research. By analyzing at a meta-level the causal relations that historians establish, we attempt to formalize the scholarly discourse. My sub-project is concerned with the manifestations of concepts in art history. Especially the historical art of painting is about shaping concepts, because it renders the invisible visible: paintings give visual form to abstract ideas. Central to art historical research is the identification, description, and interpretation of these concepts in the visual arts. However, the ideational character of concepts renders them unstable and subject to change over time. As a result, concept drift can be observed both at the level of the artworks and the historiography of art. In order to provide insight into the processes of meaning-making, concepts will be understood as models. On the one hand, painted representations of concepts can be regarded as explicit models, albeit complicated by the historical distance. On the other, the use of models in art historiography still remains largely implicit in the absence of overt methodological reflections. The revision and formalization of concepts as models in these contexts will allow them to be tested and compared. This paper focuses on presenting the challenges and discussing possible approaches. Image credits: Jan Brueghel II, Allegory of Sight, ca. 1660, oil on copper, 58.1 x 89.7 cm, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, edited by Floor Koeleman René Magritte, The Treachery of Images, 1929, oil on canvas, 60.33 x 81.12 cm, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, edited by Floor Koeleman Dosso Dossi, The Enchantress, ca. 1518?, oil on canvas, 170 x 172 cm, Rome, Galleria Borghese Dosso Dossi, Portrait of a Gentleman, ca. 1520, oil on canvas, 89.1 x 118.1 cm, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art Dosso Dossi, Allegory of Music, ca. 1522?, oil on canvas, 162 x 170 cm, Florence, Museo Horn