Words of suspension. The definition of ‘Written Sources’ in Julius von Schlosser’s Kunstliteratur

Abstract

Generally considered as a monument of erudition and examined almost exclusively from a philological point of view, Julius von Schlosser’s “Kunstliteratur” (Vienna, 1924) is seldom analyzed, on the contrary, from a theoretical, conceptual or philosophical perspective. This paper provides a critical reading of Schlosser’s restrictive concept of “written sources” putting it in relation with a larger network of intellectual exchanges, in which Croce’s aesthetic premises and Vossler’s linguistic investigations play an important role in the process of epistemological distinction between “Kulturgeschichte” (History of Culture) and “Kunstgeschichte” (History of Art).