Histories of Perfection Seeking

Seminar 1 The past of 'perfect'

Today I want you all to come prepared to discuss ‘perfection’ and self-perfecting behaviours in the early modern world. Please draw on your experiences in the Venice Term to develop your own personal take on what the perfect Renaissance and/or early modern body looked like, what it was able to do, and how individuals, families and social groups acted to perfect themselves, or to encourage or enforce perfection in others. Think too about human perfectibility of mind and soul. Given conventions like ‘original sin’ in Christianity, and aspects of ritual purity/impurity in Islam and Judaism, what practices of perfection did individuals adopt?

Weekly Reading Questions

Was the perfect Renaissance body achievable or ideal?
How distinctive were the ‘perfect’ bodies of men, women, children, and the elderly? Did perfect bodies differ across different cultures, classes, and ethnicities?
Could all bodies become ‘perfect’?
How did bodily perfection relate to spiritual perfection?

Readings: See Talis