Allegory suits the fragmented material world of baroque courts

Evidence

Why is allegory the appropriate mode for apprehending this world? Because, says Benjamin, unlike romantic symbol (timeless, unified, and spiritualized) baroque allegory has a fluid temporality, it is always fragmented, and it is material. Allegory expresses well the uncontrollable, indeterminable, and yet material world of the baroque princely court with its intrigue, betrayal, and murder. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 317

Categorization

• DEFINE: Benjamin’s contrast: allegory (fragmented, material, fluid temporality) vs romantic symbol (timeless, unified, spiritualized).
• XREF: connects to: The classical spirit unites Versailles hedging, theology, law, and court speech; Benjamin’s oeuvre is fundamentally a collection of allegorical objects; Baroque allegory confronts history as a petrified landscape of decline — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 358 (+3 more)