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One of the key pictorial developments of Renaissance art was a conceptualisation of painting as a mirror reflection of the visible world. The idea of painting as specular was argued in Renaissance art theory, demonstrated in art practice, and represented in painting itself. Both within the artist's workshop and within pictorial representation, the mirror-image became the instrument, the emblem, and the conceptual definition of what a painting was. In this volume, Genevieve Warwick brings a dual focus to the topic through an exploration of the early modern elision of the picture plane with the mirror - image. She considers the specular configuration of Renaissance painting from various thematic points of view to offer a fully interdisciplinary analysis of the mirror analogy that pervaded not only art theory and art-making, but also the larger cultural spheres of philosophy, letters, and scientific observation. Warwick's volume recasts our understanding of the inter-visual relationships between disciplines, and their consequences for a specular definition of Renaissance painting.
List of contents
Acknowledgements; List of illustrations; Introduction: the mirror of narcissus; 1. Halls of mirrors; 2. Armorial mirrors; 3. The artist's mirror; 4. Specular sciences; 5. The mirrors of venus; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Genevieve Warwick is Professor of History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. The author of ten books and fifty articles on Renaissance art, from 2012–17 she served as Editor of Art History, the primary British journal for the discipline.
Summary
Genevieve Warwick brings a dual focus between art-making and art-viewing through an exploration of the early modern elision of the picture plane with the mirror-image. She considers the specular configuration of Renaissance painting from various thematic points of view and offers a fully interdisciplinary analysis of the mirror analogy.
