Baroque Self-Invention and Historical Truth
Hercules at the Crossroads
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:28th Sep '04
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£45.99(9781138378841)
In his monumental study, Christopher Braider explores the dialectical contest between history and truth that defines the period of cultural transition called the 'baroque'. For example, Annibale Carracci's portrayal of the Stoic legend of Hercules at the Crossroads departs from earlier, more static representations that depict an emblematic demigod who has already rejected the fallen path of worldly Pleasure for the upward road of heroic Virtue. Braider argues that, in breaking with tradition in order to portray a tragic soliloquist whose dominant trait is agonized indecision, Carracci joins other baroque artists, poets and philosophers in rehearsing the historical dilemma of choice itself. Carracci's picture thus becomes a framing device that illuminates phenomena as diverse as the construction of gender in baroque painting and science, the Pauline ontology of art in Caravaggio and Rembrandt, the metaphysics of baroque soliloquy and the dismantling of Cartesian dualism in Cyrano de Bergerac and Pascal.
'... a monument and a legacy to Baroque studies that works through an impressive body of material to reach broad and timely conclusions.' Tom Conley, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
ISBN: 9780754638810
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 453g
216 pages