During the Renaissance, a profound transformation occurred in Western culture, fuelled in large part by the rediscovery of the mythological, pagan imagination. This large-format and highly illustrated book provides new perspectives on this phenomenon, demonstrating how the pagan revival permeated every aspect of Renaissance life and culture. Godwin explains how the European imagination was seduced by the pagan gods, and how people of wealth and leisure began to decorate their villas and palaces with images of them, write stories about them, and even produce music and dramatic pageants about them. He explores how the pagan imagination existed side-by-side - sometimes uneasily - with the official symbols and doctrines of the Church, and documents how pagan themes were used to enhance both public and private life. In its deepest and most vibrant form, we discover how the pagan dream of the Renaissance represented nostalgia for a classical world untroubled by sin and in no need of redemption.
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About the Author
Joscelyn Godwin is Professor of Music at Colgate University. Among his previous books is the first full English translation of the classic Renaissance text Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which was hailed as 'the publishing event of the century'.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With black-and-white photographs of Renaissance era art,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance (Hardcover)
The Pagan Dream Of The Renaissance by academician and Western esoteric traditions expert Joscelyn Godwin is an informed and informative exploration of how pagan deities captivated the Renaissance European imagination during the Renaissance, to such an extent that symbols of pagan doctrine would sometimes exist side-by-side with official symbols and doctrines of the Christian Church. Enhanced with numerous black-and-white photographs of Renaissance era art and stonework that celebrated pagan deities pepper this scholarly and insightful text, The Pagan Dream Of The Renaissance is a highly recommended addition to academic Western History and Renaissance History reference collections and reading lists.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,
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This review is from: The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance (Paperback)
Interesting, but does not touch literature, only the visual arts. Even so it cannot compare with the classic Sezenec on the same subject.
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