Geography of the Gaze
Urban and Rural Vision in Early Modern Europe
9780226167367
Geography of the Gaze
Urban and Rural Vision in Early Modern Europe
Geography of the Gaze offers a new history and theory of how the way we look at things influences what we see. Focusing on Western Europe from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, Renzo Dubbini shows how developments in science, art, mapping, and visual epistemology affected the ways natural and artificial landscapes were perceived and portrayed.
He begins with the idea of the "view," explaining its role in the invention of landscape painting and in the definition of landscape as a cultural space. Among other topics, Dubbini explores how the descriptive and pictorial techniques used in mariners’ charts, view-oriented atlases, military cartography, and garden design were linked to the proliferation of highly realistic paintings of landscapes and city scenes; how the "picturesque" system for defining and composing landscapes affected not just art but also archaeology and engineering; and how the ever-changing modern cityscapes inspired new ways of seeing and representing the urban scene in Impressionist painting, photography, and stereoscopy. A marvelous history of viewing, Geography of the Gaze will interest everyone from scientists to artists.
He begins with the idea of the "view," explaining its role in the invention of landscape painting and in the definition of landscape as a cultural space. Among other topics, Dubbini explores how the descriptive and pictorial techniques used in mariners’ charts, view-oriented atlases, military cartography, and garden design were linked to the proliferation of highly realistic paintings of landscapes and city scenes; how the "picturesque" system for defining and composing landscapes affected not just art but also archaeology and engineering; and how the ever-changing modern cityscapes inspired new ways of seeing and representing the urban scene in Impressionist painting, photography, and stereoscopy. A marvelous history of viewing, Geography of the Gaze will interest everyone from scientists to artists.
272 pages | 102 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2002
Art: European Art
Geography: Cultural and Historical Geography
History: European History
Reviews
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. The World Described
1. Recognizability
2. The Dutch Scene
3. The Atlas
4. The Landscape of War
5. Garden Topography
Chapter 2. The City Reflected
1. The Physiognomy of the City
2. The Mechanics of Analogy
3. River Views
4. Rivers and Cities
5. Guides and Panoramas
Chapter 3. Nature and Antiquity
1. The Natural Archetype
2. Ambience and Representation
3. Ancient Sites
Chapter 4. Light and Motion
1. The Power of Optics
2. The Theatrical Image
3. The Diorama
4. Dioramas and a Sense of History
Chapter 5. The Picturesque Voyage
1. The Composition of Place
2. The Search for the Characteristics of the Place
3. Landscapes and National Monuments
4. Histories of Buildings
Chapter 6. Images of a World in Transformation
1. Flow
2. Speed
3. Meteorology and Vision
4. The Marine Frontier
Chapter 7. Gazing at the Metropolis
1. Loss of Horizon
2. The Throng
3. The Photographic Eye
4. Stereoscopy
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. The World Described
1. Recognizability
2. The Dutch Scene
3. The Atlas
4. The Landscape of War
5. Garden Topography
Chapter 2. The City Reflected
1. The Physiognomy of the City
2. The Mechanics of Analogy
3. River Views
4. Rivers and Cities
5. Guides and Panoramas
Chapter 3. Nature and Antiquity
1. The Natural Archetype
2. Ambience and Representation
3. Ancient Sites
Chapter 4. Light and Motion
1. The Power of Optics
2. The Theatrical Image
3. The Diorama
4. Dioramas and a Sense of History
Chapter 5. The Picturesque Voyage
1. The Composition of Place
2. The Search for the Characteristics of the Place
3. Landscapes and National Monuments
4. Histories of Buildings
Chapter 6. Images of a World in Transformation
1. Flow
2. Speed
3. Meteorology and Vision
4. The Marine Frontier
Chapter 7. Gazing at the Metropolis
1. Loss of Horizon
2. The Throng
3. The Photographic Eye
4. Stereoscopy
Notes
Index