![]() ![]() Western hermits are represented in images by Salvatore Rosa (‘A philosopher contemplating a skull’), Richard Wilson (‘The Hermitage at the Villa Madama’) and a superb painting by William Dyce, ‘Christ in the Garden of Gethsemene’. Ibition explores the intriguing tradition of the hermit by bringing together a stimulating and varied range of unusual images and objects. The evocative title is drawn from a quote by Thomas Traherne (1637-1674):Ī man that Studies Happiness must sit alone like a sparrow upon the Hous Top, and like a Pelican in the Wilderness. Given that the quest for solitude exists in all societies and dates back to ancient times, with roots in Chinese, Indian and Western philosophies, the range of example and anecdote is most varied. ![]() It is at once wide-ranging in its scholarship, personal, eccentric, touching and very amusing. Reviewed by Janet McKenzie A short review does not do justice to this splendid publication by novelist Isabel Colegate, published to coincide with the exhibition ‘A pelican in the wilderness: hermits and solitude in art’ at the Holborne Museum of Art in Bath (16 April - 2 June). A pelican in the wilderness: hermits, solitaries and reclusesīy Isabel Colegate (Harper-Collins, London, 2002) ![]()
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