Research Catalog
Only connect-- : art and the spectator in the Italian Renaissance
- Title
- Only connect-- : art and the spectator in the Italian Renaissance / John Shearman.
- Author
- Shearman, John K. G.
- Publication
- [Princeton, N.J.] : Princeton University Press, ©1992.
Items in the Library & Off-site
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1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book/Text | Use in library | N6915 .S54 1992 | Off-site |
Details
- Additional Authors
- National Gallery of Art (U.S.)
- Description
- xvii, 281 pages : illustrations (some color); 27 cm.
- Summary
- John Shearman makes a plea for a more engaged reading of art works of the Italian Renaissance, one that will recognize the presupposition of Renaissance artists about their viewers. His book is the first attempt to construct a history of those Renaissance paintings and sculptures that are by design completed outside themselves in or by the spectator, that embrace the spectator into their narrative plot or aesthetic functioning, and that reposition the spectator imaginatively or in time and space. He takes his lead from texts and artists of the period, for these artists reveal themselves as spectators; among modern historiographical techniques, Reception Theory is closest to the author's method, but Shearman's concern is mostly with anterior relationships with the viewer - that is, relationships conceived and constructed as part of the work's design, making, and positioning. Shearman proposes unconventional ways in which works of art may be distinguished one from another, and in which spectators may be distinguished, too, and he enlarges the accepted field of artistic invention. Furthermore, his argument reflects on the Renaissance itself. What is created in this period tends to be regarded as conventional, or inherent in the nature of painting and sculpture: he maintains that this is a careless, disengaged view that has overlooked the process of discovery by immensely inventive and visually intellectual artists.
- Series Statement
- The A.W. Mellon lectures in the fine arts ; 1988
- Bollingen series ; XXXV, 37
- Uniform Title
- A.W. Mellon lectures in the fine arts ; 1988.
- Bollingen series ; 35, 37.
- Subject
- Note
- "The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C."
- Errata slip inserted.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Credits (note)
- At foot of title page: The National Gallery of Art, Washington.
- Contents
- A more engaged spectator -- A shared space -- Portraits and poets -- Domes -- History, and energy -- Imitation, and the slow fuse.
- ISBN
- 0691099723
- 9780691099729
- 0691019177
- 9780691019178
- LCCN
- 91027246
- OCLC
- ocm24218967
- 24218967
- SCSB-1997886
- Owning Institutions
- Princeton University Library