The art of gesture : Classical and Renaissance expressions / Andrew Benjamin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benjamin, Andrew E., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art--Philosophy.

Art.

Art and philosophy.

Gesture in art.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : colorillustrations

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"A philosophy or art in contradistinction to aesthetics. A genuine philosophical engagement with the detail of works of art A highly original interpretation of Rosso Fiorentino and Piero Della Francesca in terms of the Christian political theologyThe use of the work of Walter Benjamin to develop a critical response to Agamben and Warburg on gestureThe presentation of philosophy of artDevelopment of an original conception of gesture Andrew Benjamin approaches the relationship between philosophy and art history through the concept of gesture. Critically engaging with Walter Benjamin, Aby Warburg and Giorgio Agamben, by focusing on gesture he offers a novel philosophical intervention into the classical problem of 'meaning' in art, as well as addressing the new perspectives brought by political theology into art theory.Benjamin uses gesture to function as the continual point of orientation, allowing works of art and their detail to be central. Original interpretations of Domenico Ghirlandaio, Rosso Fiorentino and Piero dell Francesca show how Christian political theology has an operative presence within the works of art examined. A key theme running through the book is the question of time in the work of art, alongside the question of how art history, and the representation of history in art, are to be understood philosophically"-- De Gruyter Brill.

Contents:

Introduction : Gesture as informed form

The object of expression

The emergence of the object : After Kant on genius

The doubling of gesture : Aby Warburg and Walter Benjamin

Gesture and expression : Interrupting lament’s repetition — Walter Benjamin and Sophocles’ Electra

Empathy and gesture : Aby Warburg in La Cappella Sassetti

Rosso Fiorentino’s “dead” Christs

Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed April 3, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Benjamin, Andrew E. Art of gesture

ISBN:

9781399529662

1399529668

9781399529655

139952965X

OCLC:

1579845573

Publisher Number:

CIPO000353606

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license