Description
Book SynopsisAnalysing visual and material culture is central to the historian's craft and The Look of the Past provides a much-needed introduction to the use of artefacts as evidence. Accessibly written and generously illustrated, this textbook develops the skills students need in order to describe, analyse and contextualise images and objects.
Trade Review'Few scholars can match Jordanova's ability to further historical practice through precise analysis, originality and thought-provoking questions, and this pioneering publication is a 'how-to' book in the best possible sense. Beautifully illustrated and offering carefully selected bibliographical advice, The Look of the Past significantly enriches the historians' toolbox and throws out rusty remains. A winner!' Ulinka Rublack, author of Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe
'A master historian of visual culture brings the subject to life, shows its importance to understanding any period of history, and offers concise and compelling guidelines for making sense of how it works. The Look of the Past strikes just the right tone in offering an accessible, wondrously wide-ranging, and intellectually satisfying account of visual objects from handbags to Baroque paintings.' Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles
'A staunchly argued, exceptionally lucid demonstration of the enlightenment, and also pleasure, to be derived from alert, informed, enquiring looking at the myriad artefacts surrounding us. Enlivened by wide-ranging case studies and a provocative choice of illustrations, it is a timely and invaluable resource for students of history and art history alike.' Elizabeth Cowling, University of Edinburgh
Table of ContentsA handbag?; Introduction; 1. Description and evidence; Essay – a 'sumptuous structure': the Wren Library at Trinity College, Cambridge; 2. Craft, skills and visual intelligence; Essay – 'the jewel of the church': Bernini's Ecstasy of St Teresa; 3. Periodisation; Essay – photographing 'the family of man'; 4. Audiences and display; Essay – deposits of friendship: Renoir's 1908 portrait of Ambroise Vollard; 5. Comparative analysis; List of reference works.
