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The Sublime. Edmund Burke (1729-1797). A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757). The Sublime. the workings of the mind in relation to nature. The Sublime.
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Edmund Burke (1729-1797) A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) The Sublime the workings of the mind in relation to nature
The Sublime “Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, […] or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.” (Of the Sublime, vol. 1, sect. VII)
Edmund Burke • No emotion is stronger than FEAR, not even pleasure. • Fear is the true source of the Sublime. • The Sublime is always founded on TERROR (the “ruling principle of the sublime”) • Whatever is visibly terrible is always sublime because it arouses a sense of danger and terror. • To make things even more terrible, two conditions are essential, i.e. obscurity and mystery.
The passion caused by the SUBLIME Astonishment The Sublime in Nature (some degree of horror) effects Admiration Reverence Respect
tenderness delicacy fragility calmness safety elegance harmony awe and terror (astonishment, fear and pain) clarity danger power strength smoothness obscurity mystery violence darkness vastness infinity roughness beautiful sublime Feelings of pleasure Profound emotions Intense feelings smallness
turbulent oceans the rugged wilderness the mountains dangerous creatures, i.e. wild animals, serpents, etc. tiny (ant-like) figures overwhelmed by wild craggy landscapes meteorological disasters, i.e. storms extreme weather The Sublime in Nature Huge and terrifying aspects of nature:
Painters • William Blake (British, 1757–1827) • Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) • John Ruskin (British, 1819–1900) • Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) • Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903) • James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903) • Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863–1944) • Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840)
J. M. W. Turner, The Passage of the St. Gothard (1804), watercolour, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria, U.K. J. M. W. Turner, The Great Falls of the Reichenbach (1804), watercolour on paper, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
John Constable, Stonehenge (1835),Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
J.M.W. Turner, The Storm (Shipwreck)(1823), British Museum, London.
J.M.W. Turner, Eruption of Vesuvius(1817), Yale Centre for British Art.