Exploring the aesthetics of poetic freedom, the book spans from antiquity to contemporary times, examining influences across Europe, the Middle East, and the English-speaking world. It engages with the works of renowned poets like Whitman, Dickinson, Rilke, Dante, and Virgil, challenging conventional notions of poetic expression. This analysis offers a transformative perspective on literary and modern history, highlighting the profound gift of aesthetic freedom in poetry.
Rubens is portrayed as both a celebrated painter and an intellectual, whose innovative ideas about beauty were ahead of his time. The narrative delves into his life beyond art, including his experiences as a diplomat, and examines his engagement with Renaissance humanism. Oppenheimer highlights the artist's evolution and the fluctuating perceptions of his work, showcasing his iconic large canvases that feature sensual themes and voluptuous figures. This account not only recounts Rubens' biography but also situates him within the broader context of art history.
A classic fable of German literature, Till Eulenspiegel is a cheerfully scatological collection of 95 loosely related vignettes depicting the life and times of a famous roving jester. The trickster hero devotes his life to deflating the pompous, the rich, and the smug. The book includes the entire set of 87 sixteenth-century woodcuts, possibly by Albrecht Duerer. It also contains an introduction that establishes the historical context of the tales, discusses the use of satire in the late Medieval and early Renaissance literature.