The Renaissance in the Nineteenth Century. Le XIXe siècle renaissant (review)

This book is an edited collection of papers presented at a conference entitled : 16 – 19, The Renaissance in the Nineteenth Century/Le 19^e siècle renaissant. It addresses one general question : what were people in the nineteenth century thinking about the Renaissance century and why ?

The first section, 'Aesthetic Recoveries of Strategic Pasts,' looks at how romantic writers and artists in nineteenth-century France linked their work to the sixteenth century, claiming to belong to the true French tradition, thereby denying the importance of the literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Two articles by François Rigolot and Robert Melançon discuss the role of literary critic Sainte-Beuve in creating the myth of the sixteenth century. Michel Fournier looks at how the critical discourse of the nineteenth century redefined the idealistic novels of the baroque era. Janine Gallant analyses the influence that Italian painters of the Renaissance had on French writer Stendhal's aesthetics. James Housefield argues that facsimile editions of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks were at the centre of the nineteenth-century image of the Renaissance created by authors such as Müntz and Péladan and artists such as Duchamp.

The second section, 'The Renaissance in Nineteenth Century Culture Wars,' looks at political and religious quarrels in France and Italy and examines the changing meanings of the concept of freedom. François-Emmanuël Boucher shows the role that the Renaissance played in the revalorization of the Christian religion in the first half of the nineteenth century. Reactionaries saw the Renaissance as the start of the decadence that resulted in the death of Louis xvi, the Revolution, and the Terror. Protestants were directly linked to revolutionaries, both seeming bent on destroying society.

Nineteenth-century views of the Protestant religion also appear in the articles written by Jean-Claude Yon on the theme of the Renaissance as seen through the works of French librettist Eugène Scribe and by Jeanice Brooks and Mark Everist on opera composer Meyerbeer's work Les Huguenots. Sandra Parmegiani's article looks at Renaissance motifs in the criticism of Italian writer Foscolo, in particular his study of Machiavelli and his Outline of the History of the Italian Sonnet.

Alan Kahan examines the debate between Swiss historians Burckhardt and Sismondi over the meaning of the Italian Renaissance. Burckhardt's book Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, first published in 1860, has remained popular, while Sismondi's works are now largely forgotten. Kahan shows that although Burckhardt often disagreed with Sismondi, large portions of his work were written in 'silent dialogue' with him.

The third part, 'Material Culture and Manufactured Memories,' turns to the ways in which new industrial techniques of the nineteenth century linked to the rise of the bourgeoisie to market the idea of the 'Renaissance.' Mariel O'Neill-Karch examines how Rouchon, a wallpaper manufacturer, began to print large publicity posters using the image of La belle jardinière by Raphaël to give legitimacy to two Parisian stores — La Belle Jardinière and À Sainte-Marie.

Diana Cooper-Richet explores nineteenth-century interest in books printed by the Manuce publishing house in Venice which produced top-quality reproductions of classical Greek and Latin works. Parisian bibliophile Renouard was one of the best-known collectors of these rare books.

Dylan Ried examines attempts made by nineteenth-century bibliophiles, such as Frère, Pottier, and Beaurepaire, to bring to light the history of the early printing industry in Rouen. These efforts culminated in 1863 with the establishment of a learned society in Rouen, the Société des bibliophiles normands, dedicated to producing high-quality editions of early Normand books. Republishing these works helped establish a local literary and cultural tradition.

Laura Willet analyses the restoration of Montaigne's chapel, owned by Pierre Magne, finance minister of Napoléon iii. His intention was to restore the chapel and replicate...