Abstract
As we have observed in the previous chapters, it is the whole human being—thinking and feeling, curious and exploring—who is involved in creation of new knowledge. Hence, the key to the scientific creativity is in its artistic counterpart, and vice versa. The “romantic science” of the beginning of the nineteenth century was situated in the rapid innovations of cultural activities in the post-Napoleonic era. Literature, music, and of course visual arts were leading the way.
As a highly educated medicine man and Naturforscher, Carus was also a literary scholar, fascinated by all the literary and scientific work by Goethe and constantly seeking the evaluations of the old man in Weimar. He was an ardent music lover and participant in the musical events in Dresden all over his life there. At the same time, he was under the spell of Dante’s Comedy (This was the original title of 1321, indicating the belonging of this text to the “low” literature (in vernacular), in contrast to tragedy which was the higher-level literary genre. The addition of Divine was made by Giovanni Boccaccio. First printed version with the title La Divina Commedia dates to 1555.) for all of his adult life. This fascination is crucial for understanding the credo of Carus across all the intellectual domains in which he was active.
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Notes
- 1.
This was the original title of 1321, indicating the belonging of this text to the “low” literature (in vernacular), in contrast to tragedy which was the higher-level literary genre. The addition of Divine was made by Giovanni Boccaccio. First printed version with the title La Divina Commedia dates to 1555.
- 2.
Dante joined the Apotheker Guild as part of his political aspirations, since all locally important functionaries were to belong to some guild. Since books were sold at that time in the Apotheke, such joining fitted the poet.
- 3.
“Sein Eingang zur Unterwelt, phantasiestück nach Dante erscheint grossartig von erhabener Schönheit. Besonderes ist der eigentümliche passende Ton sehr gut getroffen, die Idee, hinter den dunkeln, höchgewölbten Eingangspforten einen vulkanische Berg sichtbar werden zu lassen und am Himmel den still leuchtenden Zodiacus mit den Sternbildern der Waage und der Schnitterin anzudeuten, ist sehr schön und poetisch” (Prause, 1968, p. 95).
His entrance to the underworld, fantasy piece to Dante appears great with sublime beauty. Special, the peculiar fitting tone is very well presented, the idea of making a volcanic mountain visible behind the dark, highly arched entrance gates and indicating the silent Zodiac with the constellations of the Scales and the intervention is very nice and poetic.
- 4.
Possibly a similar in images a work is his Monks returning to the monastery in 1816.
- 5.
Dante was accused of “corruption” while being a part of the city political office while his party was in power. He escaped from Florence in 1302, never to return in his lifetime. Accusations against him were legally removed and he was socially forgiven in year 2008. Political rehabilitation can take centuries.
- 6.
See Chap. 7 description of Letter 12 of Erdleben.
- 7.
As a humorous comment by a visiting French aristocrat in 1833 entailed—“…the Saxon Dynasty does not live in among the people but in the Schlosspark Pillnitz” (Zimmermann, 2001, p. 29).
- 8.
Music was everywhere in the royal court. Even regular meals were supposed to be framed by musical presentation of the royal musicians—the mundane job musicians themselves disdained (Stebbins and Stebbins, 1840, Chap. 10).
- 9.
In Johann’s own words “Diese Stunden gehören zu meinen angenehemsten Erinnerungen und sie gewährten mir zugleich den Vorteil, auf dem leichtesten Wege gewissermassen die Blüte von manchem mir fremden wissenschaftlichen Kreis zu pflücken” (Zimmermann, 2001, p. 66). In translation, “These hours are among my most pleasant memories and at the same time they gave me the advantage of picking the flowering of some non-familiar scientific domains in the easiest ways.”
- 10.
Zimmermann (2001) p. 73
- 11.
Designed by Gottfried Semper in 1838. As the meetings were taking place already before the decision to design the room for specifically Dante-oriented work can be seen as the building of a monument to the poet—and to his translators.
- 12.
“Bei dieser Vorliebe für Dante regte zich bald in mir ein unbeschreiblicher Drang, sein grosses Werk in meine Muttersprache wiederzugeben und zwar mit möglicher wörtlicher Treue, so weit es der Geist der deutschen Sprache (und nicht blos deren Sprachlehre) erlaubt” (Philalethes, 1839, p. 11, added emphasis).
- 13.
Zimmermann, 2001, p. 77
- 14.
Karl Förster (1784–1841) poet and translator of Italian classic poets and professor of German language and literature at the Military Academy in Dresden
- 15.
Carl Friedrich von Rumohr (1783–1843) was a colorful figure—the author of a cookbook, German art historian, writer, draughtsman and painter, agricultural historian, connoisseur of good food, art collector and patron of artists in Denmark, Prussia, and Italy, and a participant in Prince Johann’s circle.
- 16.
Wolf Heinrich Friedrich Karl Graf von Baudissin (1789–1878) was a German aristocrat in diplomatic service all over Europe. Since 1827, he worked in Dresden and was involved in translating Shakespeare into German.
- 17.
“Vor uns di sonnig-heitern Blümenbeete, und hörten von Tiecks sonoren Stimme aufmerksam die von einem Fürsten verdeutschten Verse des Dichterfürsten vortragen, einzig unterbrochen von einer leichten Kollation, bei welcher dann eine meist mit gutem Humor geführte Konversationerfrischend umkreise” (Carus, 2014, pp. 388–389).
- 18.
The friendship between Carus and Johann was deep. It involved Carus being included in various high-level royal events, as well as private meetings between the families. Thus, on August 13, 1855—about a year after having to become the king—Johann took his wife Amalie and their three daughters and went from the Pillnitz castle to visit Carus’ home (see Fig. 3.3) to meet him and his family for dinner and discussions of art and literature (Albert Prince von Sachsen, 2005, p. 425). Of course, Carus as the multi-side medical doctor (even recognized as dentist (ibid, p. 424) with nice pun of his role as “Dantist” in the Dante translation) was the person who helped the childbirth and health care of all of the royal family. Carus was also an important psychological support for King Friedrich in 1848–1849 during the revolutionary turmoil in Germany in general and particularly in Dresden.
- 19.
Evidence for that is best described by commentators of the work of Carl Maria von Weber as the Kapellmeister of the Hofkapelle. The regular workload and delays in his own work due to overload of preparing small musical performances for various occasions.
- 20.
By turning down alternative and at times financially more lucrative job offers, starting from that of University of Dorpat (Tartu) in 1814
- 21.
For example, Caspar David Friedrich—described as “typically German” by Carus (2014)—emphatically called against the need for Germans to travel to Italy for inspiration: “Our German sun, moons and stars, our rocks, trees and plants, our plains, seas and rivers are no longer enough for the art critics. Everything must be Italian in order to inspire awe and beauty” (Anstrutz, 2020, p. 40). In contrast, Carus was deeply fascinated by Italy.
- 22.
The piano (cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte) emerged from the harpsichord in the beginning of eighteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, piano had entered the lives of middle class and aristocratic families where the marker of “cultured” person was capability to play the instrument and understand the music performed on it.
- 23.
“Man müsste erst alle Freude und allen Schmerz des Erdenlebens in seiner Buntheit noch einmal recht lebendig zur Wahrnehmung bringen, sodann müsste das Grauen bereinbechender Vernichtigung alles Irdlichen sich fühlbar machen, und aus diesem Graus hervor müsste sich noch nach endlich die Klarheit des Paradieses entfalten. Ein Solches aber hat bisher meines Wissens nur ein Sterblicher, und nur in redender Dichtung, durchführen die Geisteskraft besessen, und der heisst—Dante Aligheri” (Carus, 1, p. 48).
- 24.
“Der Tannhäuser von Wagner ist eigentümlich und neu und in reicher Ausstattung wohl ein richtiges Werk zu nennen—aber bei alledem ist es ein Stück der Tendenz—einer romantischen Tendenz—und die Musik würde Sie geradezu zur Verzweiflung bringen, denn es bleibt im Grunde unverkennbar und aufs höchste Art romantisches Rokoko” (Carus, 2014/1865b, p. 438). The label “Tendenz” distances Carus from Wagner’s music with its excesses of the “Rococo” parallels. Tannhäuser was first performed in Dresden in 1845 without much success, leading Wagner to redo it for 1847 reappearance.
- 25.
Ida von Lüttichau (1798–1956) was one of the highest-level aristocratic organizer of arts, theater, and music in Dresden, in cooperation with her husband Wolf von Lüttichau who was the general director of the Hofkapelle from 1824 to 1862. She organized the invitation of Ludwig Tieck to be the theater director of the Hoftheater. She was one of Carus’ closer friends and also his patient.
- 26.
Der Fliegende Holländer in 1843 conducted by Wagner himself
- 27.
She married an officer which made it socially improper for her to appear on stage.
- 28.
- 29.
“Hier begegnete der Geist Beethovens dem Geiste Dantes, und in dieser Worte musikalischer Behandlung liegt eine Geistergrösse, wie ich sic saum jemals in anderer Musik vernommen habe” (Carus, 1832c/1848, p. 57).
- 30.
The Düsseldorf School of painting is an art tendency in German lands that existed for a century (1819–1918) and was located at what now is Düsseldorf Art Academy. The leading painter who established the school was Wilhelm von Schadow. Coming from the Romantic Movement of the beginning of the nineteenth century, the school emphasized religiously allegorical landscape painting carried out directly painted from nature.
- 31.
Together with the forgetting of the Naturphilosophie in European science in late nineteenth century, the whole focus on resistance as a crucial part of existence became lost. Friedrich Schelling’s insight (at age 25) in 1799 that the first response to stimulation in the natural world is resistance would have made a big difference for social sciences if retained.
- 32.
Torop, P. (2011) Tõlge ja kultuur (Translation and Culture). Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus
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Valsiner, J. (2024). Poetry and Music: Translations for the Soul. In: The Moonlight Doctor. Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52531-5_9
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