Professor Ross Balzaretti, of the Department of History, has recently published a book with Boydell & Brewer.
Rediscovering Lost Landscapes
Topographical Art in north-west Italy, 1800-1920
by Pietro Piana, Charles Watkins and Rossano Balzaretti
About the book
Analysis of hundreds of art works from the period provides insights into forgotten landscapes and hidden geographies.
After the Napoleonic wars many wealthy British women and men settled along the coast in Liguria and travelled in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta in search of warmth and health. They established English-speaking colonies of retired clerics, colonial officials, aristocrats and industrialists at places such as Alassio, Bordighera, Sanremo and Portofino. Many were keen artists.
This book assesses hundreds of topographical drawings, paintings and photographs of north-west Italy produced by these British visitors and residents in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Through the identification and analysis of these works, scattered today in private and public collections in Italy and Britain, it provides insights into the way Italian landscapes were understood and appreciated. Considered in conjunction with historical photography, maps, archives and fieldwork , they deepen our knowledge of past land management traditions and recover how the contemporary landscape looked. The artists are placed in their intellectual and geographical contexts; and interconnections between British and Italian artists and between topographical art and photography are explored. Different chapters assess the main subjects depicted, including mountains, seascapes, rivers, agriculture, trees and woodland, castles, churches, villages, industries and landscapes of luxury.
About the author
Professor Balzaretti, who co-authored this title, specialises in the history of early medieval Europe (especially gender and sexuality), and the history of Liguria (Italy) since the Roman period.
This book is the main publication from his project, British Amateur Topographical Art and Landscape in NW Italy 1835-1915, funded by the Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant (2016-19).
For more information or to purchase a copy go to Boydell & Brewer's website.
Posted on Wednesday 13th October 2021