Walter Pater's enduring work, The Renaissance, ignited impassioned debates and earned profound admiration for its distinctive critique of renowned artists from the French and Italian Renaissance. In eloquent and vibrant prose, Pater explores the creations of luminaries like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli, offering unexpected, idiosyncratic, and sometimes almost erotic insights. His audacious insistence on pleasure as one of life's...