The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century

By Svetlana Alpers

Book Overview

"The art historian after Erwin Panofsky and Ernst Gombrich is not only participating in an activity of great intellectual excitement; he is raising and exploring issues which lie very much at the centre of psychology, of the sciences and of history itself. Svetlana Alpers's study of 17th-century Dutch painting is a splendid example of this excitement and of the centrality of art history among current disciples. Professor Alpers puts forward a vividly argued thesis. There is, she says, a truly fundamental dichotomy between the art of the Italian Renaissance and that of the Dutch masters. . . . Italian art is the primary expression of a 'textual culture, ' this is to say of a culture which seeks emblematic, allegorical or philosophical meanings in a serious painting. Alberti, Vasari and the many other theoreticians of the Italian Renaissance teach us to 'read' a painting, and to read it in depth so as to elicit and construe its several levels of signification. The world of Dutch art, by the contrast, arises from and enacts a truly 'visual culture.' It serves and energises a system of values in which meaning is not 'read' but 'seen, ' in which new knowledge is visually recorded."--George Steiner, Sunday Times

"There is no doubt that thanks to Alpers's highly original book the study of the Dutch masters of the seventeenth century will be thoroughly reformed and rejuvenated. . . . She herself has the verve, the knowledge, and the sensitivity to make us see familiar sights in a new light."--E. H. Gombrich, New York Review of Books

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226015130
• ISBN13: 9780226015132
• Release Date: April 1984
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.1" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Approachable book to a dry subject (in my opinion)

I thought that Alpers did a good job of explaining the motivation behind 17th century dutch art without being too boring. I'm more of a modernist, so this period tends not to fascinate me. -Matt

The Art of Describing

An analysis of the 17th century Dutch preoccupation with vision, the discovery and use of the microscope, lenses, optical devises, the study of the retina and how we see, new ideas of perspective and a discussion of the work of noted scholars of the day, as Keppler and Huygens. A fascinating discussion of Vermeer painting exactly what he saw while Rembrandt painting "the invisible human depths." A very fine study designed to help us think and see.

a piece of creative scholarship

While not for those looking for a coffee table book (or a list of catalogue entries with glossy photos), this work remains interesting and creative. Alpers is one of those scholars interested in the "period eye," studying epistimological habits and visual strategies in 17th C. Netherlands. She covers issues thematically, with chapters dedicated to issues surrounding cartography, optical devices, etc. A nice work.

brilliant ground-breaking book already a classic

Alpers' brilliant 1984 study teaches us how Dutch artists of the seventeenth century "saw" in contrast with with their Italian counterparts. Already one of the most frequently cited books on Dutch art, this ground-breaking work should be read by anyone with an interest in visual representation.