Hardcover

Published: 25th May 1995

RRP $207.00

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An outstanding piece of interdisciplinary scholarship, "The Body Emblazoned" is a study of the Renaissance culture of dissection which informed intellectual inquiry in Europe for nearly two hundred years. Though the dazzling displays in Renaissance art and literature of the "exterior" of the body have long been a subject of enquiry, Jonathan Sawday considers in detail the "interior" of the body, and what it meant to men and women in early modern culture.
Sawday links the frequently illicit activities of the great anatomists of the period, to whose labors we are indebted for so much of our understanding of the structure and operation of the human body, to a wider cultural discourse which embraces not only the great moments of Renaissance art, but the very foundation of a modern idea of knowledge. Illustrated with thirty-two black and white prints, "The Body Emblazoned" re-assesses modern understanding not only of the literature and culture of the Renaissance, but of the modern organization of knowledge which is now so familiar that it is only rarely questioned.

"Throughout, "The Body Emblazoned is beautifully written. While being learned, and soaked in all manner of modern theoretical currents, the writing is lucid, alert, direct, entirely free of jargon, and a pleasure to read...a most absorbing and convincing work of scholarship, rich in insights, carefully argued and highly illuminating...it will be a major event in the cultural history of the early modern era."
-Roy Porter, The Wellcome Institute
"An astonishing piece of cultural history...Sawday recaptures the continuity of Renaissance knowledge in prose that is elegant and clear and that moves with equal facility through the history of literature, art, and science. This is a monumental work--one that will captivate scholars and general readers alike...A brilliant book."
-Mary Poovey, Johns Hopkins University
." . . a fascinating, learned and intelligent investigation of the culture of dissection in early modern Europe. . . . Sawday's fusion of wide-ranging scholarship with thoughtful analysis of poetry, art and cultural material will be useful to all students of the Renaissance."
-"Early Modern Literary Studies
"Numerous scholarly disciplines, methodologies, and perspectives. have been utilized in the creation of this fascinating account, which goes well beyond academic etiologizing and systemization and also conveys, in many places, a vivid sense of life as lived during this period. [I]n his provocative book, the heuristic richness of which I can only intimate in the sketchiest of ways, the author offers a fresh, often compelling perspective on the Renaissance and the early-modern period."
-"The Italian Quarterly
..."no one interested in the Renaissanceshould miss The Body Emblazoned.."
-"Studies in English Literature

ISBN: 9780415044448
ISBN-10: 0415044448
Audience: Professional
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 336
Published: 25th May 1995
Dimensions (cm): 24.6 x 17.4  x 2.8
Weight (kg): 0.98