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Kirjad Läänemere kallastelt
Elizabeth Rigby, hiljem leedi Eastlake (1809–1893), oli silmapaistev Inglise kunstiajaloolane, kriitik ja kirjanik. 1838. aastal võttis ta ette reisi Venemaale, et külastada oma Eestimaa kubermangus elavat õde. Reisikirjades on Elizabeth jäädvustanud üsna omapärase sissevaate Eesti- ja Venemaa eluollu 19. sajandi esimesel poolel, mida iseloomustab ühtaegu täpne kunstnikupilk kui ka iseteadliku kõrgklassi kuuluva naisterahva vaimsus. Elizabethi nüansirohketes kirjeldustes elustuvad omaaegsed inimesed, nii aadelkond kui ka talurahvas. Vaimukalt portreteerib ta rahvuste eripärasid ja ühiskondlikke protsesse. Ta kirjad maalivad elu- ja ajastutruu pildi omaaegsetest paikadest, olgu Tallinna vanalinnast, Keila-Joa mõisast või Eesti loodusest. Ta viib lugeja kõikvõimalikele vastuvõttudele, kirikuteenistustele, keiser Nikolai I maskiballidele Peterburis, kunstnike ateljeedesse. „Kirjad Läänemere kallastelt“ on ajastule omaselt emotsionaalne, ent sisutihe tekst, mis on laetud kultuuriviidetest ja ajaloolistest nüanssidest. Noore inglanna tähelepanekud ja muljed avavad Eesti ja Venemaa ajalugu ja kultuuri huvitavast perspektiivist ning annavad uudishimulikule lugejale võimaluse vaadelda meie 19. sajandit läbi kõrgelt haritud, varasest feminismist kantud Lääne-Euroopa naise silmade.
247 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1841
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About the author
Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake
105 books4 followersElizabeth Rigby, Lady Eastlake, was an English art critic.
She was born in Norwich into the large family of Edward and Anne Rigby. Her father, a physician and classical scholar, and her mother included her in their social life and conversation with prominent citizens and intellectuals.
In 1842, the widowed Anne Rigby moved with her daughters to Edinburgh, where Elizabeth's literary career brought entry to an intellectual social circle including prominent figures such as Francis Jeffrey, John Murray and David Octavius Hill, who photographed her in a series of about 20 early calotypes, assisted by Robert Adamson.
In 1849, Elizabeth married Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, artist, connoisseur, Director of the National Gallery in London, and in 1853 the first president of the Photographic Society. She joined him in an active working and social life, entertaining artists such as Landseer and mixing with a wide range of well-known people, from Lord Macaulay to Lady Lovelace. Her habit of continental travel continued through the 1850s and 1860s as she and her husband toured several European countries in search of new acquisitions for the gallery.
In 1857, she published her essay Photography, one of the earliest commentaries on it, effectively denying 'works of light' a place among the fine arts, and detailing its permeation of nineteenth-century culture, its social institutions and the home, pronouncing it “a household word and a household want”.
She continued to write prolifically, helping to popularise German art history in England, both as critic and as translator (Waagen and Kugler). Sometimes, she collaborated with her husband, and she wrote a memoir of him after his death in 1865.
Italian art also absorbed her attention; Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael and Dürer were the subjects of her Five Great Painters (1883). In 1895 her nephew Charles Eastlake Smith edited her Letters and Correspondence.
In the 20th century, aside from her Photography, she was remembered mostly for her scathing review of Jane Eyre, of which she strongly disapproved. She disputed the morality of the novel, writing that ‘the popularity of Jane Eyre is a proof how deeply the love for illegitimate romance is implanted in our nature’ and summarising with ‘It is a very remarkable book: we have no remembrance of another combining such genuine power with such horrid taste’.
She is also known for her attacks on John Ruskin, assumed to be linked to her role as confidante to his estranged wife, Effie Gray.
She was born in Norwich into the large family of Edward and Anne Rigby. Her father, a physician and classical scholar, and her mother included her in their social life and conversation with prominent citizens and intellectuals.
In 1842, the widowed Anne Rigby moved with her daughters to Edinburgh, where Elizabeth's literary career brought entry to an intellectual social circle including prominent figures such as Francis Jeffrey, John Murray and David Octavius Hill, who photographed her in a series of about 20 early calotypes, assisted by Robert Adamson.
In 1849, Elizabeth married Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, artist, connoisseur, Director of the National Gallery in London, and in 1853 the first president of the Photographic Society. She joined him in an active working and social life, entertaining artists such as Landseer and mixing with a wide range of well-known people, from Lord Macaulay to Lady Lovelace. Her habit of continental travel continued through the 1850s and 1860s as she and her husband toured several European countries in search of new acquisitions for the gallery.
In 1857, she published her essay Photography, one of the earliest commentaries on it, effectively denying 'works of light' a place among the fine arts, and detailing its permeation of nineteenth-century culture, its social institutions and the home, pronouncing it “a household word and a household want”.
She continued to write prolifically, helping to popularise German art history in England, both as critic and as translator (Waagen and Kugler). Sometimes, she collaborated with her husband, and she wrote a memoir of him after his death in 1865.
Italian art also absorbed her attention; Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael and Dürer were the subjects of her Five Great Painters (1883). In 1895 her nephew Charles Eastlake Smith edited her Letters and Correspondence.
In the 20th century, aside from her Photography, she was remembered mostly for her scathing review of Jane Eyre, of which she strongly disapproved. She disputed the morality of the novel, writing that ‘the popularity of Jane Eyre is a proof how deeply the love for illegitimate romance is implanted in our nature’ and summarising with ‘It is a very remarkable book: we have no remembrance of another combining such genuine power with such horrid taste’.
She is also known for her attacks on John Ruskin, assumed to be linked to her role as confidante to his estranged wife, Effie Gray.
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October 7, 2025
Terased kirjad inglannalt. Vahepeal, tõsi küll, kaldub omaaegsesse sõnavahtu, aga see oli vist kohustuslik osa stiilist. Tänapäeval on küll reisimine oluliselt mugavamaks muutunud, aga inimesed on ikka samad: "... tänasel päeval on Venemaa riik, kus õppinud mees aega raiskab, patrioodi murrab murekoorem ning kelm jõuab haljale oksale."
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