[PDF] Pagan Virtue in a Christian World: Sigismondo Malatesta and the Italian Renaissance by Anthony F. D'Elia at Arts-Photography

Description

Are national galleries different from other kinds of art gallery or museum? What value is there for the nation in a collection of international masterpieces? How are national galleries involved in the construction national art?National Galleries is the first book to undertake a panoramic view of a type of national institution ndash; which are sometimes called national museums of fine art ndash; that is now found in almost every nation on earth. Adopting a richly illustrated; globally inclusive; comparative view; Simon Knell argues that national galleries should not be understood as lsquo;great galleriesrsquo; but as peculiar sites where art is made to perform in acts of nation building. A book that fundamentally rewrites the history of these institutions and encourages the reader to dispense with elitist views of their worth; Knell reveals an unseen geography and a rich complexity of performance. He considers the ways the national galleries entangle art and nation; and the differing trajectories and purposes of international and national art. Exploring galleries; artists and artworks from around the world; National Galleries is an argument about how we think about and study these institutions. Privileging the situatedness of each national gallery performance; and valuing localism over universalism; Knell looks particularly at how national art is constructed and represented. He ends with examples that show the mutability of national art and by questioning the necessity of art nationalism.