60x90/16, hard cover, ill., 616 pp., 2007
ISBN 5-86793-482-9

«Classical representation is a particular form of perceiving reality. It is based on substituting a certain object with an illusory image». This is the definition given by Mikhail Yampolsky in his new book, a fragmentary history of representation beginning in the Renaissance and ending at the end of the 19th century. The analysis of the attitude to representation in Russian classical culture plays a leading role in the book, especially in the work of Gogol and Leskov. The author examines the question of a specifically Russian critique of the visionary from the perspective of Orthodox theology and explores the poetics of the icon as one of the essential mechanisms of cultural evolution in 19th century Russia. Literature, philosophy and the fine arts are the source material for Yampolsky’s arguments, while the second half of the book is devoted to urbanism and the comparison of two cities — Rome and St. Petersburg. The modern city is examined by the author as a unique model of representation.

World rights available