The starting point for Richard Jenkyns's latest work is his contention that the Victorian age, which we think of as the great age of Gothic, was so shot through with the influence of the classical past that we should instead think of Victorian art and architecture as the continuing flow forward of two stylistic streams--the Gothic and the classical, side by side. In advancing his argument Jenkyns turns our accepted notions of the Victorians upside down, presenting Ruskin as an admirer of Greek statuary, the Houses of ...
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The starting point for Richard Jenkyns's latest work is his contention that the Victorian age, which we think of as the great age of Gothic, was so shot through with the influence of the classical past that we should instead think of Victorian art and architecture as the continuing flow forward of two stylistic streams--the Gothic and the classical, side by side. In advancing his argument Jenkyns turns our accepted notions of the Victorians upside down, presenting Ruskin as an admirer of Greek statuary, the Houses of Parliament as a classical rather than a Gothic composition, and Thomas Woolner, the only sculptor among the original Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, as a neo-Hellenic carver and poet. Jenkyns moves effortlessly between the general and the particular and is refreshingly unafraid to make judgments. Here are some of the best descriptions of Victorian painting, sculpture, and architecture to have appeared in recent years. From the very gradual changes throughout the paintings of Leighton and Alma-Tadema, to the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, the 'aesthetic scripture' of Pater, and even the advertisements for Beecham's pills, Jenkyns shows how what had been merely eclectic became a distinctive fin-de-siecle style and eventually began to point the way for Modernism. These are grand themes, presented by a masterly guide. Above all Jenkyns is entertaining: Dignity and Decadence is one of the most illuminating and enjoyable books about the Victorians yet to appear.
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Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $8.88, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Harvard University Press.
Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $8.88, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Harvard University Press.
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Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $12.00, very good condition, Sold by Michener & Rutledge Bookseller rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Baldwin City, KS, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Harvard University Press.
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Very Good-in Very Good-dust jacket. 0674206258. Paper beginning to discolor mostly around the edges, otherwise text clean and tight; light wear to dust jacket; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 384 pages.
Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $12.48, good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Harvard University Press.
Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by Common Crow Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1991 by Harvard University Press.
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Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. 1991, First printing, 363 pp. Hardcover. Illustrated. Near Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket. Slight slant to spine, otherwise a tight, unmarked copy. Price-sticker on rear panel of DJ; DJ comes in a mylar wrap.
Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $15.01, good condition, Sold by Stephen White Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bradford, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1992 by Fontana Press.
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Fine in near fine jacket. Illustrated in black & white. 363pp. Wide 8vo, grey boards. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. First edition. A fine copy.
Add this copy of Dignity and Decadence: Victorian Art and the Classical to cart. $24.00, very good condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Harvard University Press.
