The Mediterranean in L’Italie pittoresque (1834) and L'Italie d'après nature (1868): A Boundless Sea

L’Italie pittoresque (Paris, Costes, 1834–1836) and L'Italie d'après nature (Paris, Fourne, 1868) mention frequently the Mediterranean Sea (specifically the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Adriatic). These references share common characteristics that form a unifying thread throughout the works. Our aim is to demonstrate that, in these texts, the sea is not merely a landscape element surrounding the author’s pen, but a space that both creates and is created — a source generating mental landscapes and, in doing so, acting as a "mother-sea" of poetic wonders.

French Forum, Volume 48, Number 2, 2023, pp. 123-135. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/frf.2024.a947514

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947514