Publication details
Art of Medicine : anagogico more
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | CARDIOVASCULAR DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Link to the full text of the result |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/cdt-23-26 |
| Keywords | art; medicine; Suger; anangogy; beauty |
| Attached files | |
| Description | In June 1944, during the Second World War, the art historian Erwin Panofsky (1892 to 1968) wrote an essay about the abbey church of Saint-Denis*. He described how, in the Middle Ages, Abbot Suger (1081 to 1151) rebuilt his abbey church near Paris, shaping an architectural style now known as “Gothic” (1). Suger believed that taking pleasure in the beauty of the visible work of art could transport people to an invisible, higher world. Suger wrote that this world was reached anagogico more. Here more can be translated as “in the manner of”, anagoge as “ascent”, and therefore, anagogico more as “in an anagogic” or “uplifting way”. Anagogy comes from the ancient Greek ???????/anagoge, meaning “to ascend”. In medieval Latin, anagogia referred to the highest level of textual interpretation, moving away from the literal meaning toward a deeper, higher sense. Suger’s idea of anagogy was rooted in the thinking of his time. Today, however, we can use his idea of anagogy to look at two ascents in the professional lives of physicians. One ascent is the visible career that requires overcoming hurdles and disillusions. The other ascent is the invisible anagogy that requires recognizing the beauty of medicine. |