The Endurance of Things
Published on 7. February 2025
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-917000-06-2 (ISBN)
Description
Perfect for lovers of travel, art, cultural wonder and the natural world, The Endurance of Things is a rich and accessible collection of short, affectionate essays, chiefly about the life and culture of Italy. Each essay illuminates a different aspect of the country and stems from the author's experience of places, paintings and people during half a century's genial explorations. Autobiographical moments develop into reflections on the nature of history, perception, artistic representation, and the passing of time.
Inevitably, literature often underlies these discussions. Fragments of Wordsworth and Wallace Stevens and Philip Larkin find a home here, alongside comments on paintings by Piero della Francesca, Titian and Tiepolo amongst many other artists, together with descriptions of Tuscan village life. Indeed, there is almost nothing that might not find a place in these essays. They revel in the pleasures of miscellany: the portrait and the altarpiece; the ragbag and the jewel box.
Inevitably, literature often underlies these discussions. Fragments of Wordsworth and Wallace Stevens and Philip Larkin find a home here, alongside comments on paintings by Piero della Francesca, Titian and Tiepolo amongst many other artists, together with descriptions of Tuscan village life. Indeed, there is almost nothing that might not find a place in these essays. They revel in the pleasures of miscellany: the portrait and the altarpiece; the ragbag and the jewel box.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Colour illustrations throughout
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
586 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-917000-06-2 (9781917000062)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Martin Gray taught for twenty-four years at the University of Stirling. He has been visiting Italy for over sixty years. Every summer when his children were young, the family threw everything into the back of an elderly Fiat and drove across Europe to stay in Camigliano, a tiny village in mountainous southern Tuscany. He now has an an insider's knowledge and a deep love for the country.
Nearly twenty-five years ago, he started a travel company. Small in scale, but modestly large in ambition, Learn Italy takes groups to enjoy that country's culture, history and bustling present-day reality. This volume celebrates the lasting pleasure of these visits.
Nearly twenty-five years ago, he started a travel company. Small in scale, but modestly large in ambition, Learn Italy takes groups to enjoy that country's culture, history and bustling present-day reality. This volume celebrates the lasting pleasure of these visits.
Content
Contents:
Introduction
Restoration, Restoration
Genoa
Donatello's David Again
Little Owl
Giorgione
The Ox and the As
Giotto
Art Cities
The Italian Beach
History and Memory
Principina a Mare
More on Beaches
Unlucky Numbers
Giorgio Morandi
The Real Sicily
Lorenzo Lotto
Italian Art in Birmingham
Sweet, Sweet Memories are Made of This
Ornament and Crime
Angels
The Shock of the Old
Confessions of a Short-Sighted Birdwatcher
Nothing Much More
The Sea, The Sea
Commonplace Thoughts on the Remembrance of Things
Past
Portraiture
Seeing is Believing
Sameness and Difference
Eagle Eyes
What is Past or Passing or to Come
The Endurance of Things
Lotto Again
Squaring the Circle
La Gioconda
With How Sad Steps, Oh Moon, Thou Climb'st The Skies
The Pandemic
Unprecedented! Ramping Up!
Following the Science
If Winter Comes, Can Spring be Far Behind?
Can it Really be Thursday Already?
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Recap on Angels and Potatoes
All That Glisters
A Past and Present Memory
The Etruscans
In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle
Yes to Baroque
The Sound of Silence
Skeuomorphs Again
Memories of an Old Friend
Image Credits
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Restoration, Restoration
Genoa
Donatello's David Again
Little Owl
Giorgione
The Ox and the As
Giotto
Art Cities
The Italian Beach
History and Memory
Principina a Mare
More on Beaches
Unlucky Numbers
Giorgio Morandi
The Real Sicily
Lorenzo Lotto
Italian Art in Birmingham
Sweet, Sweet Memories are Made of This
Ornament and Crime
Angels
The Shock of the Old
Confessions of a Short-Sighted Birdwatcher
Nothing Much More
The Sea, The Sea
Commonplace Thoughts on the Remembrance of Things
Past
Portraiture
Seeing is Believing
Sameness and Difference
Eagle Eyes
What is Past or Passing or to Come
The Endurance of Things
Lotto Again
Squaring the Circle
La Gioconda
With How Sad Steps, Oh Moon, Thou Climb'st The Skies
The Pandemic
Unprecedented! Ramping Up!
Following the Science
If Winter Comes, Can Spring be Far Behind?
Can it Really be Thursday Already?
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Recap on Angels and Potatoes
All That Glisters
A Past and Present Memory
The Etruscans
In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle
Yes to Baroque
The Sound of Silence
Skeuomorphs Again
Memories of an Old Friend
Image Credits
Acknowledgements