Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of ArtistsA rare art history classic that The New York Times calls a “delightful, scholarly and gossipy romp through the character and conduct of artists from antiquity to the French Revolution.” Born Under Saturn is a classic work of scholarship written with a light and winning touch. Margot and Rudolf Wittkower explore the history of the familiar idea that artistic inspiration is a form of madness, a madness directly expressed in artists’ unhappy and eccentric lives. This idea of the alienated artist, the Wittkowers demonstrate, comes into its own in the Renaissance, as part of the new bid by visual artists to distinguish themselves from craftsmen, with whom they were then lumped together. Where the skilled artisan had worked under the sign of light-fingered Mercury, the ambitious artist identified himself with the mysterious and brooding Saturn. Alienation, in effect, was a rung by which artists sought to climb the social ladder. As to the reputed madness of artists—well, some have been as mad as hatters, some as tough-minded as the shrewdest businessmen, and many others wildly and willfully eccentric but hardly crazy. What is certain is that no book presents such a splendid compendium of information about artists’ lives, from the early Renaissance to the beginning of the Romantic era, as Born Under Saturn. The Wittkowers have read everything and have countless anecdotes to relate: about artists famous and infamous; about suicide, celibacy, wantonness, weird hobbies, and whatnot. These make Born Under Saturn a comprehensive, quirky, and endlessly diverting resource for students of history and lovers of the arts. “This book is fascinating to read because of the abundant quotations which bring to life so many remarkable individuals.”–The New York Review of Books |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | xvii |
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | xxvii |
CHAPTER | xxxv |
CHAPTER | 17 |
CHAPTER THREE | 42 |
Obsession with Work | 53 |
Creative Idleness | 59 |
Creation in Solitude | 63 |
Mastelletta | 115 |
Adam Elsheimer | 118 |
Francesco Duquesnoy | 120 |
Carlo Dolci | 122 |
Was Franz Xaver Messerschmidt insane? | 124 |
CHAPTER SIX SUICIDES OF ARTISTS | 133 |
Rosso Fiorentino | 136 |
Francesco Bassano | 139 |
CHAPTER FOUR ECCENTRIC BEHAVIOUR AND NOBLE MANNERS | 67 |
Michelangelos Distress of Mind and Temper | 71 |
Leonardos Aloofness | 75 |
Tribulations of Mind and Body | 78 |
Cleanliness Mania | 83 |
Alchemists and Necromancers | 84 |
Weird Hobbies | 88 |
Sixteenth Century Critics of Eccentric Artists | 90 |
The Image of the Noble Artist | 93 |
Rubensthe Perfect Gentleman | 96 |
CHAPTER FIVE GENIUS MADNESS AND MELANCHOLY | 98 |
The Saturnine Temperament | 102 |
Hugo van der Goes Case History | 108 |
Seventeenth Century Melancholics | 113 |
Francesco Borromini | 140 |
Pietro Testa | 142 |
Marco Ricci | 143 |
CHAPTER SEVEN | 150 |
CHAPTER EIGHT | 181 |
CHAPTER NINE | 209 |
Festivities of Italian Renaissance Artists | 221 |
CHAPTER | 229 |
CHAPTER ELEVEN | 253 |
CHAPTER TWELVE | 281 |
Mystification | 290 |
314 | |
333 | |
Other editions - View all
Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists Rudolf Wittkower,Margot Wittkower No preview available - 2006 |
Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists Rudolf Wittkower,Margot Wittkower No preview available - 1969 |
Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists: a Documented ... Rudolf Wittkower,Margot Wittkower No preview available - 1963 |
Common terms and phrases
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