The Portrait Bust and French Cultural Politics in the Eighteenth Century (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History / Brill's Studies on)

In The Portrait Bust And French Cultural Politics In The Eighteenth Century, Ronit Milano Probes The Rich And Complex Aesthetic And Intellectual Charge Of A Remarkably Concise Art Form, And Explores Its Role As A Powerful Agent Of Epistemological Change During One Of The Most Seismic Moments In French History. The Pre-revolutionary Portrait Bust Was Inextricably Tied To The Formation Of Modern Selfhood And To The Construction Of Individual Identity During The Enlightenment, While Positioning Both Sitters And Viewers As Part Of A Collective Of Individuals Who Together Formed French Society. In Analyzing The Contribution Of The Portrait Bust To The Construction Of Interiority And The Formulation Of New Gender Roles And Political Ideals, This Book Touches Upon A Set Of Concerns That Constitute The Very Core Of Our Modernity.-- He Is A Philosopher : Individual Versus Collective Identity -- Decent Exposure : Bosoms, Smiles And Maternal Delight In Female Portraits -- Between Innocence And Disillusion : Representations Of Children And Childhood -- Transitional Identities : Family Structure, The Social Order, And Alternative Masculinities At The Dawn Of Modernity -- The Face Of The Monarchy : Court Propaganda And The Portrait Bust. By Ronit Milano. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Ronit Milano probes the rich and complex aesthetic and intellectual charge of a remarkably concise art form, and explores its role as a powerful agent of epistemological change during one of the most seismic moments in French history.0The pre-Revolutionary portrait bust was inextricably tied to the formation of modern selfhood and to the construction of individual identity during the Enlightenment, while positioning both sitters and viewers as part of a collective of individuals who together formed French society. In analyzing the contribution of the portrait bust to the construction of interiority and the formulation of new gender roles and political ideals, this book touches upon a set of concerns that constitute the very core of our modernity