The imputation of “irrationality” to the Middle Ages, combined with the complex, multifaceted, and differentiated character of medieval conceptualizations of reason have contributed to a fragmented and fragmentary historical understanding of reason in the medieval period. Medieval images, more than mere “reflections” of textual discussions of reason, will reveal themselves as excellent visualizations of the facets of reason avoided or only obliquely discussed in medieval texts and, also, as powerful tools to trigger and shape the very act of reasoning.

“The Art of Reason” aims to provide a comprehensive study the idea of reason through the Middle Ages, examining reason as a multi-faceted concept, constructed and conveyed in medieval visual culture, and thereby to both broaden and deepen our historical understanding of this crucial aspect of medieval intellectual and visual culture. In pursuit of this goal, the research will be structured around four core concepts. Rational order mainly encompasses images of God as Divine Reason; Rational thinking encompasses images of knowledge, as well as forms of knowledge developed through images. Virtuous Reason considers reason as a moral tool. Irrationality will examine the role of reason in the construction of medieval identities. Finally, the topos of the sleep of reason will be explored from the Middle Ages to Goya’s famous engraving.