EXAM - English literature 2
Italy was
kind of paradise: pictures, landscapes, seeing things only read about before. Autumn (visitor going to
warmth in winter), festivities, spectacles. Critical: Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice. Fount of art, literature,
philosophy, music – cultural mecca. Diplomatic representatives, British residents: opened doors, introduced
to people. Climax in Rome. Greatest prize: classical antiquities – scuplture, vases, cameos, gems, coins,
medals. Purchase-obsessed.
Result: publications (what seen). Changed people’s perception of classical past. Returned minds enriched,
into culture cosmopolitan influence, refinement of manner, intellectual curiosity -> lasting change in
English art, architecture, music, manners. Collecting, works of art, sculpture collections, change in
architecture and interior design (neo-classicism), obsession with classical antiquity.
21. Augustan journalism (Addison, Steele)