Georges de La Tour and the enigma of the visible

Abstract

"Not rediscovered until the twentieth century, the works of Georges de La Tour retain an aura of mystery. Their veritable celebration of light and the familiar, visible world, blinds the beholder to a deeper understanding of the meanings associated with vision and the visible in the early modern period"--

Contents

Introduction -- 1 The Enigma of the Visible -- 2 Spiritual Passion and the Betrayal of Painting -- 3 The Visible and the Legible -- 4 Flea Catching and the Vanity of Painting -- 5 Painting as Portal: "Birth" and "Death" of the Sacred Image -- Epilogue