Matters of Weight

To speak of weight is to acknowledge artistic agency and ambition, the deliberate calibration of materials and support which involves risk, at times to the point of collapse. Weight ultimately deals with the 'force' of works of art, their heaviness and thus their presence, a physical and metaphorical characteristic that informs our aesthetic comprehension of things in the world. The book examines the theory and exploitation of weight as an aesthetic category in works of art, 1350-1700. Drawing from the interdisciplinary expertise of specialists in the history of mechanics, painting, prints, sculpture and architecture, this volumes probes the deployment of weight as a compelling denominator in objects of study – be they scientific instruments, canvas paintings, marble sculptures or buildings.