Walter Pater wrote literary and art criticism associated with nineteenth-century aestheticism, focusing on the intensity of individual experience and the ways artworks are perceived rather than reducing them to moral lessons. Studies in the History of the Renaissance brings together essays on figures including Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo, ending with a famous argument for attending closely to fleeting moments of sensation. Marius the Epicurean turns similar concerns into fiction through a young Roman seeking ways to live amid competing philosophical and religious systems. Imaginary Portraits blends criticism and invented biography. Pater's prose is careful, elaborate and highly rhythmic, rewarding slow reading rather than quick extraction of arguments. His work fits Victorian criticism, aestheticism and art writing, with strong connections to Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symons and later writers interested in style as a form of thought. Read more Less
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