The Body of Raphaelle Peale

"The American Painter Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) left a legacy of beautiful still lifes depicting objects such as fruit, vegetables, and meat. In this study, the first book-length exploration of the artist, Alexander Nemerov presents a new reading of these paintings focusing on the uncanny quality of Raphaelle's still-life objects: their physical presence is not strictly their own but that of the artist's body. This imagery of embodiment, Nemerov argues, relates deeply to Raphaelle's own time.". "The Body of Raphaelle Peale is a close reading not just of Raphaelle's paintings but also of the visual and intellectual culture of early-nineteenth-century Philadelphia to which they intimately relate. More broadly, the book presents a reading of romanticism in the American visual arts. Above all, it is an argument about selfhood in Raphaelle's era. Raphaelle focused - in paintings both playful and morbid - on the pleasures and horrors of being a mere body, of being less than a self."--BOOK JACKET.