Sensational artists in Italy : mid-Victorian variations of the Kunstlerroman plot

Abstract

Before the nineteenth century, the Grand Tour had been 'an indispensable form of education for young men in the higher ranks of society' -a traditional rite of passage for all those who wished to complete their Bildung. Upper- and middle-class Victorians still held this conviction. The Mediterranean, in particular, was a favourite destination for their journeys. Both the common traveller and the budding artist were encouraged to visit Southern lands, whose natural beauties and artistic heritage were expected to widen their cultural horizon. The most popular destination for artists was Italy. Cities like Rome, Florence and Naples offered precious opportunities to study Classical and Renaissance architecture, sculpture and painting. The close link between Italy and artistic initiation is suggested, among others, by Attilio Brilli, who mentions Giacomo Barri's Viaggio pittorico (1671) and its English equivalent, The Painter's Voyage to Italy by William Lodge (1679), as compulsory readings for the Grand Tourist.