L'Arte

Federico De RobertoProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 194K words
Chapters: 20

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.L'Arte by Federico De RobertoAuthor: De Roberto, Federico, 1861-1927,Language: Italian, Class: N: Fine Arts, Release Date: Feb 1, 2015

Editor's review

De Roberto was a major figure in Italian verismo, and this work, L'Arte, belongs to his critical writing on artistic questions; the public-domain library classifies it under fine arts. What the book presents is how the late nineteenth-century Italian intellectual world thought about the nature of art and the relationship between art and society. The language is Italian, and the argument carries a distinctly period polemical tone. Its value lies not in offering systematic art-historical knowledge but in letting readers see how a novelist intervened in artistic debate and how verismo aesthetics extended into art criticism. It is suitable as supplementary material for the history of Italian literature and art criticism, and as a primary-source reference for readers studying nineteenth-century European ideas about art. It should be read against the background of verismo literature and positivist thought, with care to distinguish the author's personal positions from the general consensus of the time.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and researchers in Italian literature and verismo studies
Readers interested in nineteenth-century European ideas about art criticism
Self-taught art historians with reading ability in Italian
Humanities researchers who need primary-source material to support their arguments

Not a good fit for

General readers who do not read Italian and expect a Chinese translation
Beginners seeking a systematic general introduction to art history
Literature lovers who only want to read De Roberto's novels

Reading tips

First understand the basic tenets of Italian verismo, then enter the author's artistic argument.
While reading, mark the author's judgments on the relationship between art and society and compare them with contemporary critical texts.
Read this book alongside the author's representative novels to observe the consistency and differences in his aesthetic views.
Readers who struggle with Italian can first close-read key passages with a dictionary; there is no need to read every sentence straight through.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is there a Chinese translation of this book?

This is an Italian-language public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg, with the main text in Italian. The materials do not indicate that a Chinese translation exists; readers need reading ability in Italian, or must rely on dictionaries and辅助 tools.

Is this a novel by De Roberto?

It is not a novel but critical writing on artistic questions, classified under fine arts in the public-domain library. It shares the verismo background with the author's novels, but its genre and reading approach are different, and it should not be read as a literary work.

Is it suitable for learning art history?

It is not very suitable as a general introduction to art history. It is closer to a debate over artistic ideas in a particular era and lacks a systematic survey of works and movements. It has clearer reference value only if the goal is to understand the context of nineteenth-century Italian art criticism.

What background knowledge is needed to read it?

A basic understanding of Italian verismo literature and nineteenth-century positivist thought is recommended, along with familiarity with common topics in art criticism of the time. With this background, the argument's targets and its historical limitations are easier to identify.

Comments

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About the author

Federico De Roberto Author · Italian · 1861–1927

Federico De Roberto (1861–1927) was an Italian verismo writer. Born in Naples, he moved with his family to Catania in early childhood. He began his career in journalism and associated with leading verismo writers such as Verga and Capuana, whose influence shaped his own fiction. His masterpiece, I Viceré, traces the rise and fall of a Sicilian aristocratic family to reflect the social changes around Italian unification; his other works include L'Illusione, Ermanno Raeli, Documenti Umani and Catania. His fiction focuses chiefly on Sicilian society and historical change, with a precise, restrained style and close attention to psychology and social observation. Twelve of his works are held in the collection. Public information on his life and writing is limited and calls for further study.