Table Of Contentcelestial aspirations
Celestial Aspirations
classical impulses in british
poetry and art
Philip Hardie
prince ton university press
princet on & oxford
Copyright © 2022 by Prince ton University Press
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Editorial: Ben Tate and Josh Drake
Production Editorial: Karen Car ter
Jacket/Cover Design: Pamela L. Schnitter
Production: Danielle Amatucci
Publicity: Alyssa Sanford and Charlotte Coyne
Jacket/Cover Credit: The Painted Hall depicting King William III and
Queen Mary II, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London.
Photo by Steve Vidler / Alamy Stock Photo
This book has been composed in Arno
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
2 Classical Antiquity 30
3 Late Sixteenth Century to the Exaltation of Newton 106
4 Milton 161
5 After Milton 193
6 Visions of Apotheosis and Glory on Painted Ceilings 257
Epilogue 320
Bibliography 325
Index of Passages Discussed 347
General Index 355
v
illustrations
1.1 Ascension of Elijah, ‘Sarcophage de la Remise de la Loi’
(late fourth century, from St Peter’s, Rome) 4
1.2 Apotheosis of a member of the imperial family,
Belvedere Altar 5
1.3 William Marshall, title page to Gerard Langbaine (ed.),
Dionysiou Longinou rhetoros Peri hypsous logou biblion
(Oxford, 1638) 11
2.1 Scene of apotheosis, the ‘Consecratio’ Diptych 87
2.2 Grand Camée de France 88
2.3 Apotheosis of Titus, vault of the Arch of Titus, Rome 89
3.1 ‘Pennae gloria perennis’, emblem in Geffrey Whitney,
A Choice of Emblemes (Leiden, 1586) 117
3.2 Louis- François Roubiliac, statue of Newton, antechapel of
Trinity College, Cambridge 150
4.1 Andrea Sacchi, Divine Wisdom, Palazzo Barberini, Rome 170
4.2 Peter Paul Rubens, Consummation of the Marriage of Henri
IV and Marie de’ Medici at Lyons, from cycle on life of
Maria de’ Medici 191
5.1 Louis Laguerre, Allegory of War and Peace, ceiling of the
Saloon, Blenheim Palace 198
6.1 Pietro da Cortona, ceiling of Sala di Venere, Palazzo Pitti,
Florence 259
6.2 Pietro da Cortona, ceiling of Sala di Apollo, Palazzo Pitti,
Florence 259
6.3 Antonio da Correggio, Assumption of the Virgin, dome of
Parma cathedral 262
vii
viii illustrations
6.4 Pietro da Cortona, ceiling of Sala di Marte, Palazzo Pitti,
Florence 263
6.5 Giovani Battista Gaulli, Triumph of the Name of Jesus,
Church of the Gesù, Rome 264
6.6 Pietro da Cortona, ceiling of Sala di Giove, Palazzo Pitti,
Florence 265
6.7 Ceiling of the Heaven Room, Bolsover Castle 268
6.8 Ceiling of the Elysium Closet, Bolsover Castle 269
6.9 Peter Paul Rubens, ceiling of the Banqueting House,
Whitehall 270
6.10 Peter Paul Rubens, The Glorification of James I,
Banqueting House, Whitehall 271
6.11 Peter Paul Rubens, The Wise Rule of James I,
Banqueting House, Whitehall 273
6.12 Peter Paul Rubens, The Union of the Crowns,
Banqueting House, Whitehall 274
6.13 Peter Paul Rubens, Apollo[?] Suppressing Avarice,
Banqueting House, Whitehall 275
6.14 Peter Paul Rubens, Apotheosis of Henri IV,
from cycle on life of Maria de’ Medici 276
6.15 Peter Paul Rubens, The Return of the Mother to her Son,
from cycle on life of Maria de’ Medici 278
6.16 Oval gem with Octavian as Neptune, mounting a
sea-c hariot 282
6.17 Gerrit van Honthorst, Apollo and Diana 284
6.18 Peter Paul Rubens, sketch for The Glorification of the
Duke of Buckingham 285
6.19 Robert Streater, Truth Descending on the Arts and Sciences,
Sheldonian Theatre ceiling 287
6.20 John Michael Wright, Astraea Returns to Earth 289
6.21 Antonio Verrio, The Sea- Triumph of Charles II 291
6.22 St George’s Hall, Windsor, murals by Antonio Verrio 292
illustrations ix
6.23 Medal struck for coronation of Charles II, with the sidus
Carolinum. The Works of Edmund Waller (London, 1730), detail 293
6.24 Peter Vandrebanc, engraving after Antonio Verrio, The
Restoration of Charles II, ceiling of the King’s Withdrawing
Room, Windsor Castle 294
6.25 Charles Le Brun, Le Passage du Rhin en présence des ennemis,
1672, Galerie des Glaces, Versailles 295
6.26 Antonio Verrio, The Glorification of Catherine of Braganza,
Queen’s Audience Chamber, Windsor 296
6.27 Antonio Verrio, Banquet of the Gods, King’s Staircase,
Hampton Court 298
6.28 James Thornhill, The Glorification of William and Mary,
ceiling of the Painted Hall, Greenwich 300
6.29 Orazio Gentileschi, Peace Reigning over the Arts and Sciences,
originally on ceiling of the Queen’s House, Greenwich 303
6.30 James Thornhill, lower gallery of the ceiling of the
Painted Hall, Greenwich 306
6.31 James Thornhill, ceiling, Upper Hall, Greenwich 308
6.32 James Thornhill, the Great Front, Upper Hall,
Greenwich Hospital 310
6.33 Jacobsz de Wet II, The Apotheosis of Hercules,
Palace of Holyrood house 312
6.34 Louis Laguerre, The Apotheosis of Julius Caesar
(ceiling in the Painted Hall, Chatsworth) 314
6.35 Giulio Romano, Jupiter Blasting the Giants, Sala dei Giganti,
Palazzo del Te, Mantua 316
6.36 James Thornhill, The Fall of Phaethon (ceiling in the West
Stairs, Chatsworth) 317
6.37 Jan Roettiers, medal commemorating the coronation of
William and Mary, showing the fall of Phaethon 319
Color plates for figures 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 6.4, 6.7, 6.8, 6.10, 6.16, 6.17, 6.18, 6.19, 6.20, 6.21,
6.22, 6.26, 6.27, 6.28, 6.29, 6.32, 6.33, 6.34, 6.36, and 6.37 follow page 82.
