The Sublime

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) The Sublime 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) No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. For fear being an apprehension of pain or death, it operates in a manner that resembles actual pain. Whatever therefore is terrible, with regard to sight, is sublime too, whether this cause of terror be endued with greatness of dimensions or not; for it is impossible to look on any thing as trifling, or contemptible, that may be dangerous. * * *

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 (some degree of horror) effects Admiration Section 1. Of the passion caused by the SUBLIME The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature, when those causes operate most powerfully, is Astonishment; and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror. In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object that it cannot entertain any other, nor by consequence reason on that object which employs it. Hence arises the great power of the sublime, that far from being produced by them, it anticipates our reasonings, and hurries us on by an irresistible force. Astonishment, as I have said, is the effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the inferior effects are admiration, reverence, and respect. Reverence Respect The Sublime in Nature

(astonishment, fear and pain) beautiful sublime Feelings of pleasure Profound emotions Intense feelings tenderness delicacy fragility safety calmness harmony elegance awe and terror (astonishment, fear and pain) smallness smoothness clarity danger power strength roughness violence obscurity mystery darkness infinity vastness

The Sublime in Nature Huge and terrifying aspects of nature: 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 Rugged = dirupato, scosceso, aspro, accidentato, disagevole (di territorio) Wilderness = landa, zona allo stato naturale Craggy = dirupato, scosceso

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)

The Great Falls of the Reichenbach was first shown at Turner’s own gallery held on the first floor of what was 64 Harley Street. Turner had conceived the idea of his own gallery due to uncertainty over the future of the Royal Academy in late 1803, with rumours abounding that Turner would not be showing at the the R.A. in 1804. Sir George Beaumont (who saw the Turner exhibition) complained of 'the strong skies and parts not corresponding with them'.     The Great Falls is a superb watercolour, made soon after Turner’s first visit to Switzerland in 1802, and is based on a sketch (Wilton no.361) now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. The view is taken from the valley of Hasli above Meiringen with Great Scheidegg beyond and shows Turner  tackling a 'Sublime' subject with enormous confidence. Turner’s pride in the work is shown by the fact that it was again exhibited at the R.A. in 1815. 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. Watercolour Height 38.7 cm x Width 59.7 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London Constable painted this watercolour at a sad time in his life. Both his wife, Maria, and his closest friend, John Fisher, had died, and his two eldest sons had left home. He is perhaps expressing his personal unhappiness in the watercolour, for the image is certainly a melancholy one. The painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1836. Some of the lines that accompanied this painting in the catalogue describe 'The mysterious monument of Stonehenge, standing remote on a bare and boundless heath...'. Constable himself probably wrote them. Bequeathed by Isabel Constable, daughter of the artist John Constable, Stonehenge (1835), Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

J.M.W. Turner, The Storm (Shipwreck) (1823), British Museum, London. Watercolour, 43.4 x 63.2 cm. J.M.W. Turner, The Storm (Shipwreck) (1823), British Museum, London.

Watercolour, 28.6 x 39.7 cm. J.M.W. Turner, Eruption of Vesuvius (1817), Yale Centre for British Art.