03.07.2013 Views

Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

transformation. The eccentric, observed from <strong>the</strong> outside, has become <strong>the</strong> romantic<br />

creator whose imag<strong>in</strong>ative, self-generated vision flows out until it is part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world.<br />

Figure 3 Don Quixote illustrated <strong>in</strong> 1687<br />

Figure 4 Don Quixote, by Gustave Doré, 1863<br />

In so far as <strong>the</strong> antiquary resembled <strong>the</strong> errant knight he, too, became a more<br />

popular and appeal<strong>in</strong>g figure. For just over half a century Hazlitt’s description was<br />

virtually true. Quixotic antiquarianism, as a lived engagement with history, was a<br />

national preoccupation <strong>in</strong> England, Scotland and France, reach<strong>in</strong>g its climax perhaps <strong>in</strong><br />

1839 with <strong>the</strong> Egl<strong>in</strong>ton Tournament [fig: 5], <strong>in</strong> which real knights, dressed <strong>in</strong> real<br />

antique armour jousted <strong>in</strong> real Scottish ra<strong>in</strong>.<br />

23

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!