{"product_id":"marguerite-yourcenar-a-dream-of-stone-by-marguerite-yourcenar-9781644231715","title":"Marguerite Yourcenar: A Dream of Stone","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA selection of texts on art and artists by the Belgian French novelist and essayist Marguerite Yourcenar\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBest known for her seminal novel \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/i\u003e (1951), an imagined autobiography of the Roman emperor, Yourcenar brings the same depth of inquiry and inventive speculation to her lyric prose on art and artists in this newest title in the \u003ci\u003eekphrasis\u003c\/i\u003e series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn these five jewel-like essays, Yourcenar meditates on the decay of time, the desire both satiated and refused by art, and the imagery animating the lives, works, and dreams of Michelangelo, Dürer, and Piranesi. In an intimate meditation on the historical novel, Yourcenar describes her own encounters with how language reveals the past. Together, these exquisite essays explore that fundamental awe—perhaps even the terror—at the heart of an encounter with beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn introduction by John Knight sketches the life of this extraordinary writer and situates Yourcenar's unique criticism within her attempt to capture the great struggle required to make an enduring work of art. Subtle and learned, Yourcenar's essays are like stepping stones into the past and the shadowy business of artistic creation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBringing back into print Yourcenar's seminal essay \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Brain of Piranesi\u003c\/i\u003e in the poet Richard Howard's elegant English translation, conducted in collaboration with the author, this volume also collects texts from \u003ci\u003eThat Mighty Sculptor, Time\u003c\/i\u003e (1983) into a particularly focused volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47486802919660,"sku":"9781644231715","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/d7eb266045df5cd886ae0f4ac1cd238a.jpg?v=1775778827","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/marguerite-yourcenar-a-dream-of-stone-by-marguerite-yourcenar-9781644231715","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}