A Cultural History of the Senses in the Renaissance Volume 3

Description

We know the Renaissance as a key period in the history of Europe. It saw the development of court and urban cultures, witnessed the first global voyages of discovery and gave rise to the Reformation and Counter Reformation. It also started with the ‘invention’ of oil painting, linear perspective and moveable type, all visual technologies. Does that mean, as has been suggested, that the Renaissance stands for the ‘ascendancy of the eye’? If so, then what happened to the sensory extremes which the famous Dutch historian Johan Huizinga still perceived in the 15th century? Did they simply disappear? Or is there another history to be told, a history of a surprising continuity, not only of the sense of hearing but also of the ‘lower’ senses – those of taste, smell and touch? And was the Renaissance not first and foremost a time of deep sensory anxiety? This volume, assembling nine outstanding specialists, seeks to answer these questions while offering a lively and ‘sensational’ portrait of the period. The Cultural History of the Senses set delves into the sensory foundations of Western civilization, taking a comprehensive period-by-period approach which provides a broad understanding of the life of the senses from antiquity to the modern day. Each of the volumes explores the following topics: The Social Life of the Senses; Urban Sensations; The Senses in the Marketplace; The Senses in Religion; The Senses in Philosophy and Science; Medicine and the Senses; The Senses in Literature; Art and the Senses; and Sensory Media. Superbly illustrated, this six-volume set is the most authoritative and comprehensive historical survey of the senses available. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Copyright page contents list of illustrations series preface editor’s acknowledgments Introduction: Entering the Sensory Worlds of the Renaissance SOME HISTORIOGRAPHY INTERSENSORIALITY SENSORY ANXIETY AESTHESIS 1 The Social Life of the Senses: Architecture, Food, and Manners THE RENAISSANCE OF THE SENSES BODIES, BARRIERS, AND THRESHOLDS: THE SPATIALIZATION OF THE SENSES DISCIPLINING AND AESTHETICIZING THE SENSES THE COURTIER UNMASKED: THE REVENGE OF THE SENSES THE RENAISSANCE BANQUET: REFINING THE ELITE SENSORIUM ANALYZING THE SENSIBLE SELF CONCLUSION: CONSTRUCTING A SENSORIAL REGIME 2 Urban Sensations: Attractive and Repulsive THE SMELL AND TASTE OF THE CITY THE TACTILE CITY THE SOUNDS OF THE CITY VIEWING THE TOWNSCAPE CONCLUSIONS 3 The Senses in the Marketplace: Sensory Knowledge in a Material World CHALK FOR CHEESE MARKET SIGHTS/MARKET TOUCH MARKET SOUNDS MARKET TASTES/MARKET SMELLS CONCLUSION: SENSING AND KNOWING 4 The Senses in Religion: Towards the Reformation of the Senses RELIGIOUS LEARNING AND THE SENSES WORSHIP AND PIETY SENSING AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICT SENSES, RELIGION, AND EARLY MODERNITY 5 The Senses in Philosophyand Science: From the Nobility of Sight to the Materialism of Touch THE NOBILITY OF SIGHT AND THE SOLAR EYE THE FICKLENESS OF SIGHT AND THE MECHANIZATION OF VISION OF STINK AND CONFETTI, OR, EMBODIMENT THE EXQUISITE SENSE OF TACT AND THE DOCTOR’S TOUCH “ IL N’Y A POINT DE PLAISIR SENTI QUI SOIT CHIMÉRIQUE ”: THE MATERIALISM OF TOUCH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6 Medicine and the Senses: Physicians, Sensation, andthe Soul GALEN’S WOOL-WINDER SENSE IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY ENTER THE SENSES EVIDENCE AND SENSIBILITY 7 The Senses in Literature: Renaissance Poetry and the Paradox of Perception RENAISSANCE INFLUENCE DESIRE AND SENSATION: THE BLAZON VISIONS OF THE PAST: EKPHRASIS AESTHETICIZED FAILURE: APOSIOPESIS CONCLUSION 8 Art and the Senses: Representation and Reception of Renaissance Sensations THE ALLEGORICAL TRADITION WHICH SENSES? THE SENSES IN RELIGIOUS ART CHANGES AND SHIFTS MULTI-SENSORY CATHOLICISM: THE ROSARY THE SENSES IN RENAISSANCE SECULAR ART AFTER MANNERISM THE RENAISSANCE OF CLASSICAL ART AND THE SENSES THE BACCHANAL CONCLUSIONS 9 Sensory Media: TheCircular Links betweenOrality and Writing notes bibliography notes on contributors index