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Strange Beauty and the Platonic Narrative as History in The Renaissance

Pater removed the word ‘history’ from the original title of The Renaissance (1873) for its second edition, and this chapter explores what Pater means by history. Although Pater was conversant with the historic method then popular at Oxford, which sought to contextualize its subject, he reveals a strong preference for depicting the individual genius of Michelangelo, Pico della Mirandola, and other Renaissance artists, beyond their historical conditions. Expanding his definition of the Renaissance beyond fifteenth-century Italy, Pater views it as a Platonic temper shared even by Johann Winckelmann as revealed in biographical narratives of ascension that are modelled on Plato’s Phaedrus and Symposium. The pattern of ascension is even evident in the charm and mystery of Pater’s style that refines from seen to unseen beauty.