Studies in the History of the Renaissance

'art comes to you professing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those moments' sake' In Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), a diffident Oxford don produced an audacious and incalculably influential defence of aestheticism. Through his highly idiosyncratic readings of some of the finest paintings, sculptures, and poems of the French and Italian Renaissance, Pater redefined the practice of criticism as an impressionistic, almost erotic exploration of the critic's aesthetic responses. At the same time, reclaiming the Hellenism that he saw as the most characteristic aspect of the Renaissance, he implicitly celebrated homoerotic friendship. Pater's infamous 'Conclusion', which forever linked him with the decadent movement, scandalized many with its insistence on making pleasure the sole motive of life, even as it charmed fellow aesthetes such as Oscar Wilde. This edition of Studies reproduces the text of the first edition, recapturing its initial impact, and the Introduction celebrates its doomed attempt to stand out against the processes of industrialization.

ISBN 0199535078   Weight (grammes) 181 ISBN13 9780199535071 (What's this?)   Published in Oxford Publisher Oxford University Press   Series title Oxford World's Classics Imprint Oxford University Press   Previous ISBN 9780192835536 Format Paperback   Height (mm) 196 Publication date 11 Feb 2010   Width (mm) 130 DEWEY 700.9409024   Spine width (mm) 13 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level General Pages 240

Preface; Aucassin and Nicolette; Pico della Mirandola; Sandro Botticelli; Luca della Robbia; The Poetry of Michelangelo; Leonardo da Vinci; Joachim du Bellay; Winckelmann; Conclusion; Appendix A: The School of Giorgione; Appendix B: Diaphaneite

 Be the first to write a customer review