The Connoisseur: A Cultural History - Hardcover

by Peter Burke (Author)

The art connoisseur from the Renaissance to the present day.

Connoisseurs have been an influential, if somewhat mysterious, figure in the history of art, responsible for making or breaking high-profile collections and reputations and influencing taste, the art market, and the field of art history with their pronouncements. But what did it take to become a connoisseur, and how reliable were the great connoisseurs of previous centuries? With the advent of scientific techniques and artificial intelligence, what future is there for expertise based on the trained eye?

This book offers the first history of the art connoisseur, from the Renaissance to its professionalization in the nineteenth century and on to the present. Featuring portrayals of many leading connoisseurs, such as Bernard Berenson, Roberto Longhi, and Giovanni Morelli, this is a highly readable history of the extraordinary characters and intellects that have shaped the art world through a mixture of intuition, learning, and chutzpah.

Author Biography

Peter Burke is a pioneering cultural historian and author of over thirty books, which have been translated into more than thirty languages, including Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence, also published by Reaktion Books. He is a life fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a fellow of the British Academy.