In Platemark’s History of Prints series, we are leaving the Baroque behind and are turning to the Enlightenment. The late seventeenth and eighteenth century is a fascinating time when social ideas focused on the value of knowledge in all sectors. Rationalism and empiricism led to the scientific revolution, the separation of church and state, literary salons, and for the purposes of this episode, art academies. The era saw the establishment of taxonomies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and studies of foreign cultures. The results of all of these studies led to both good and bad, leading Tru and I to discuss alternate terms for the era beyond the Enlightenment: the Endarkenment and the Enwhitenment. Listen in as we parse out this fascinating moment in history.

Episode image: Johann Zoffany (German, 1733–1810). The Academicians of the Royal Academy, 1771–72. Oil on canvas. 101.1 x 147.5 cm. Royal Collection Trust.
vid, Laurent Durant, and Antoine-Claude Briasson, 1751–72.

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