This essay aims to bring to light some traces of a particular thread in the complex fabric of intellectual interests that Bernard Berenson pursued in the course of his long life: his relationship with Persia, – Iran – and Persian culture and art. While this thread can be traced from his young years at Harvard through to his readings in old age at Villa I Tatti, it nevertheless went through a period of special intensity in the years immediately before the outbreak of the Great War. During this time, Berenson bought valuable pieces that now constitute the small but precious Islamic section of his art collection: in particular, a number of Persian manuscripts and miniatures. In following this path, Berenson found himself at the centre of a fashion and a market, characterised by contradictory features, whose principal centre was Paris. From the papers of the Berenson archive at Villa I Tatti, and from other materials (most of them previously unpublished), emerge a profile of the network of relationships that Bernard Berenson wove with the merchants and scholars of Islamic art based in Paris. It was also from France, nevertheless, that subsequent disenchantment would emanate, contributing to distance him from a sincere appreciation of the object of that brief and intense passion.

Berenson e la Persia, via Parigi / Casari, Mario. - In: STUDI DI MEMOFONTE. - ISSN 2038-0488. - ELETTRONICO. - 14:(2015), pp. 169-195.

Berenson e la Persia, via Parigi

CASARI, MARIO
2015

Abstract

This essay aims to bring to light some traces of a particular thread in the complex fabric of intellectual interests that Bernard Berenson pursued in the course of his long life: his relationship with Persia, – Iran – and Persian culture and art. While this thread can be traced from his young years at Harvard through to his readings in old age at Villa I Tatti, it nevertheless went through a period of special intensity in the years immediately before the outbreak of the Great War. During this time, Berenson bought valuable pieces that now constitute the small but precious Islamic section of his art collection: in particular, a number of Persian manuscripts and miniatures. In following this path, Berenson found himself at the centre of a fashion and a market, characterised by contradictory features, whose principal centre was Paris. From the papers of the Berenson archive at Villa I Tatti, and from other materials (most of them previously unpublished), emerge a profile of the network of relationships that Bernard Berenson wove with the merchants and scholars of Islamic art based in Paris. It was also from France, nevertheless, that subsequent disenchantment would emanate, contributing to distance him from a sincere appreciation of the object of that brief and intense passion.
2015
Bernard Berenson; orientalismo; manoscritti persiani
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Berenson e la Persia, via Parigi / Casari, Mario. - In: STUDI DI MEMOFONTE. - ISSN 2038-0488. - ELETTRONICO. - 14:(2015), pp. 169-195.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/868931
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