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Heinrich Mann's "Pippo Spano": The Problem of the Aura and the Work of Art

1988; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 103; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2905094

1080-6598

Timothy A. Bennett,

Art, Aesthetics, and Perception

The anti-hero of Heinrich Mann's novella is a collector of art. At a critical moment, Mario Malvolto declares to his lover, Gemma, Ich bin eitel auf die Bilder, die niemand empfindet, die gehoren mir ganz.2 Although Malvolto seems to insist that he possesses these pictures, the statement is misleading, because the images seem rather to possess him. Malvolto's relationship to the painting of the Renaissance condottiere Pippo Spano is well known, and scholars agree that Andrea del Castagno's painting served as a model for the painting depicted in the narrative. Unfortunately, however, critical studies have, for the most part, neglected other works of art represented in the novella.