Tintoretto's Difference

A provocative account of the philosophical problem of difference in art history, Tintorettos Difference offers a new reading of this pioneering 16th century painter, drawing upon the work of the 20th century philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Bringing together philosophical, art historical, art theoretical and art historiographical analysis, it is the first book-length study in English of Tintoretto for nearly two decades and the first in-depth exploration of the implications of Gilles Deleuzes philosophy for the understanding of early modern art and for the discipline of art history. With a focus on Deleuzes important concept of the diagram, Tintorettos Difference positions the artists work within a critical study of both art historys methods, concepts and modes of thought, and some of the fundamental dimensions of its scholarly practice: context, tradition, influence, and fact. Indicating potentials of the diagrammatic for art historical thinking across the registers of semiotics, aesthetics, and time, Tintorettos Difference offers at once an innovative study of this seminal artist, an elaboration of Deleuzes philosophy of the diagram, and a new avenue for a philosophical art history.