The beauty of nature in Western art and letters

Attfield, Robin 2025. The beauty of nature in Western art and letters. Parsons, Glen, Hettinger, N. and Shapshay, S., eds. Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics, Routledge, pp. 57-68. (10.4324/9781003302223-6)

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Abstract

A range of historical examples of natural beauty, its recognition, and its expression are discussed, as are related artistic and literary traditions. Besides eliciting different understandings of natural beauty, this approach illustrates the importance of an aesthetic appreciation of the natural world and of actions and policies that foster such appreciation. Following a discussion of biblical recognition of the beauty of nature, the text moves to appreciation of such beauty in Shakespeare, Milton, and Marvell. I turn next to landscape art, from the Flemish painters of the Renaissance to the different and differing styles of Turner and Monet. To return to literature, the pantheism of Wordsworth and Shelley is contrasted with the implicit panentheism of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and with other poets such as Coleridge and John Clare, who exemplified neither of those stances. Finally the diverse stances of the environmentalists Thoreau, John Muir, and Rachel Carson, with her advocacy of inculcating a sense of nature’s wonder in children, are delineated. The conclusion stresses that appreciation of natural beauty can accompany a realist attention to observable detail or capturing momentary subjective impressions. And while it can be assisted by pantheism or by panentheism, it need not depend on either.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781003302223
Last Modified:	10 Dec 2025 13:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183096

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