The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50)
This article analyses the sophisticated performance of cultural nationalism in the first instalment of España artística y monumental. It examines how the work’s creators interpreted the Catholic identity of Spain through their political viewpoint aligned with the Partido Moderado, the Spanish libera...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Art History, University of Birmingham
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Art Historiography |
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| Online Access: | https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/mateo.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797333498056409088 |
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| author | Matilde Mateo |
| author_facet | Matilde Mateo |
| author_sort | Matilde Mateo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyses the sophisticated performance of cultural nationalism in the first instalment of España artística y monumental. It examines how the work’s creators interpreted the Catholic identity of Spain through their political viewpoint aligned with the Partido Moderado, the Spanish liberal conservative party; the process by which they sought to make that identity real, concrete, and persuasive, and the roles of historian, politician, and architect played by the work’s illustrator: painter Genaro Pérez Villaamil. Special attention is paid to the intellectual framework that enabled the project, with a particular focus on the epistemology of Romantic historicism and aesthetics, the understanding of the nation as a civilisation, and the weight assigned to architecture as historical proof. The article also scrutinises the readership experience in order to reveal a potential unusually effective nationalist performance of España artística y monumental in its strategic sequencing of monuments, its interpretation of these monuments through a simultaneously visual and verbal discourse, and the broad dissemination achieved by the work thanks to its printed medium. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:04:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f2f0a1efe8545f9ac555ad658c6bf5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2042-4752 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T08:04:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Department of Art History, University of Birmingham |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Art Historiography |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f2f0a1efe8545f9ac555ad658c6bf5d2024-02-02T11:18:00ZengDepartment of Art History, University of BirminghamJournal of Art Historiography2042-47522023-12-012929MM110.48352/uobxjah.00004311The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50)Matilde Mateo0Syracuse UniversityThis article analyses the sophisticated performance of cultural nationalism in the first instalment of España artística y monumental. It examines how the work’s creators interpreted the Catholic identity of Spain through their political viewpoint aligned with the Partido Moderado, the Spanish liberal conservative party; the process by which they sought to make that identity real, concrete, and persuasive, and the roles of historian, politician, and architect played by the work’s illustrator: painter Genaro Pérez Villaamil. Special attention is paid to the intellectual framework that enabled the project, with a particular focus on the epistemology of Romantic historicism and aesthetics, the understanding of the nation as a civilisation, and the weight assigned to architecture as historical proof. The article also scrutinises the readership experience in order to reveal a potential unusually effective nationalist performance of España artística y monumental in its strategic sequencing of monuments, its interpretation of these monuments through a simultaneously visual and verbal discourse, and the broad dissemination achieved by the work thanks to its printed medium.https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/mateo.pdfespaña artística y monumentalnationalismart historyarchitectural historyidentityepistemologyromantic historicismaestheticscivilisationaudience experience |
| spellingShingle | Matilde Mateo The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) Journal of Art Historiography españa artística y monumental nationalism art history architectural history identity epistemology romantic historicism aesthetics civilisation audience experience |
| title | The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) |
| title_full | The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) |
| title_fullStr | The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) |
| title_short | The artist as historian-politician: Romantic historicism, art, and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in Pérez Villaamil and Escosura’s España artística y monumental (1842-50) |
| title_sort | artist as historian politician romantic historicism art and architecture in the performance of cultural nationalism in perez villaamil and escosura s espana artistica y monumental 1842 50 |
| topic | españa artística y monumental nationalism art history architectural history identity epistemology romantic historicism aesthetics civilisation audience experience |
| url | https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/mateo.pdf |
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