Books by Walter Pater

Walter Pater (1839-94) was the foremost Victorian writer on art and on aesthetic experience. The Renaissance, first published as Studies in the Renaissance (1873), is his best known work, made up of essays on Italian art and the Renaissance. This version forms part of his collected works (1900-1).

Studies in the History of the Renaissance is a highly influential defence of aestheticism. Pater redefined the practice of criticism through his readings of some of the paintings, sculptures, and poems of the Renaissance, and shocked contemporaries for sponsoring a hedonistic ethic with his infamous 'Conclusion'.

Pater's graceful essays discuss the achievements of Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and other artists. The book concludes with an uncompromising advocacy of hedonism, urging readers to experience life as fully as possible.