Representing the Past in the Art of the Long Nineteenth Century: Historicism, Postmodernism, and Internationalism(Routledge Research in Art History)

This edited collection explores the intersection of historical studies and the artistic representation of the past in the long nineteenth century. The case studies provide not just an account of the pursuit of history in art within Western Europe but also examples from beyond that sphere. These cover canonical and conventional examples of history painting as well as more inclusive, ‘popular’ and vernacular visual cultural phenomena. General themes explored include the problematics internal to the theory and practice of academic history painting and historical genre painting, including compositional devices and the authenticity of artefacts depicted; relationships of power and purpose in historical art; the use of historical art for alternative Liberal and authoritarian ideals; the international cross-fertilisation of ideas about historical art; and exploration of the diverse influences of socioeconomic and geopolitical factors. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of the histories of nineteenth-century art and culture.

Table of Contents:
1 From the Abstract World of Ideas to the Truest Possible Representation of the Historical Event: An Introduction to Historical Art in the Long Nineteenth Century 2 Painting the ‘vie privée of Our Forefathers’: The Dutch and Flemish Schools as Models in the Formulation of New Visions of the Past in Early Nineteenth-Century Painting 3 Delécluze’s Augustus And Cinna: Painting and Performing Rome at the End of the Napoleonic Empire 4 ‘The Exact Moment’: Representing History in Delaroche’s Assassination of the Duc de Guise 5 Spanish Painting: Recreating a Perceived ‘Golden Age’ 6 To Conjure Up the Spirits of the Past: German Romantic History Painting in America 7 The Relativity of History: The Pre-Raphaelite Rhetoric of Time 8 Beyond the ‘Ten Complete Military Victories’: Images of Battle in the Late-Qing Period 9 Jan Matejko and Polish Historical Painting 10 Representing the Finnish Past: Heritage and the World of the Ancient Finn 11 ‘A Lady So Long Deceased’: The Death of the Historical Muse in Australian Painting, 1880–1911 12 History as You Go: Mobility, Photography, and the Visibility of the Past in Late Ottoman Print Space

About the Author :
Matthew C. Potter is Professor in Art and Design History at Northumbria University.

Review :
"...Seamless interface of history and art history, enhanced by the contributors. ... Adopting, as Stephen Bann’s foreword notes, 'a strictly historical point of view in tracking the development of historical representation in that century', highlighting 'the intersection of historical studies and artistic representations of the past' (p.xvii). The chapters usefully consolidate one another, yet introduce something new each time, thereby enriching knowledge and appreciation of that obsessively historicising century." --The Burlington Magazine "...Seamless interface of history and art history, enhanced by the contributors. ... Adopting, as Stephen Bann’s foreword notes, 'a strictly historical point of view in tracking the development of historical representation in that century', highlighting 'the intersection of historical studies and artistic representations of the past' (p.xvii). The chapters usefully consolidate one another, yet introduce something new each time, thereby enriching knowledge and appreciation of that obsessively historicising century." --The Burlington Magazine "For anyone new to discourse about historical art, Potter’s introduction is sufficiently thorough and approachable to serve as a stand-alone reading … Another strength of the collection is the tendency toward interdisciplinarity. Potter draws on historical philosophy and historiography in the introduction to explain how artists may have understood the purposes and narratives of history differently, depending on their specific chronological and geographical contexts. … These interdisciplinary connections further support the collection’s argument that historical art is not about depicting past events with precision and accuracy but rather about conveying or complicating broader cultural narratives about history." -- Early Popular Visual Culture