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Relieving the limitations of sculpture and text: Walter Pater's della Robbia essay

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02666286.2006.10435732

1943-2178

Lene Østermark‐Johansen,

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Abstract Abstract Walter Pater's essay on Luca della Robbia, first published in The Renaissance in 1873 and included, almost unchanged, in every subsequent edition of the book, would appear to be an altogether unremarkable essay.1 Although contemporary critics immediately commented on Pater's aesthetic theories, his controversial historiography, his prose style and his subjective interpretation of Renaissance art, the della Robbia essay passed through their critical scrutiny virtually unnoticed.2 The few reviewers who did single out the chapter on della Robbia for special comment picked on Pater's theories about Michelangelo's deliberate use of the non-finito in that essay and ignored della Robbia altogether.3 Modern critics have, on the whole, followed suit and refer to the essay only briefly in passing before embarking on dissections of the more substantial essays in the book, namely those on Botticelli, Michelangelo, Giorgione, and Winckelmann.