Florence 1900: The Quest for Arcadia Contributor(s): Roeck, Bernd (Author), Spencer, Stewart (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0300095155 ISBN-13: 9780300095159 Publisher: Yale University Press OUR PRICE: $34.65 Product Type: Hardcover Published: April 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Italy |
Dewey: 945.510 |
LCCN: 2009920123 |
Physical Information: 1.3" H x 6.5" W x 9.2" (1.55 lbs) 317 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Italy - Chronological Period - 1900-1919 |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: An absorbing picture of turn-of-the-century Florence and those who traveled there to experience its cultural riches By the end of the nineteenth century, Florence was a key destination for cultured travelers from Europe and America. Writers such as Wilde, Rilke, and Mann; painters such as Degas and Klee; and not least, the young art historian Aby Warburg and his wife, Mary, flocked to Florence to escape the encroachments of modern life at home and to revel in the city's rich artistic and cultural past.This beguiling book fuses narrative and ideas to consider how the encounter between modernism and Renaissance culture was experienced by both visitors to Florence and its inhabitants. Based on Aby Warburg's letters, diaries, and notebooks; on Italian and German archives; and on conversations with E. H. Gombrich (director of the famous Institute that Warburg founded), the book is an intimate guide to life in Florence and the theaters, restaurants, galleries, and salons frequented by visiting cultural exiles. At the same time, the book paints an evocative picture of a city at the cusp of the modern age, adjusting to electricity and the motor car on one hand and to social unrest and a clash of cultures on the other. |