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..the classical aesthetic offers us at the same time a method of thinking and a method of wanting to be, a moral and at the same time a psychology.. .The classical tradition as a whole, by the logic of the effort and the greatness of results, is in some way parallel with the religious tradition of humanity.

— Maurice Denis

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Notes from Wikiquote

Denis made Jan. 1895 his first visit to Rome, where the works of Raphael and Michaelangelo in the Vatican made a strong impression upon him.

More quotes by Maurice Denis

Art is the sanctification of the nature, of that nature found in everyone who is content to live.

The sublime is to approach the subject or wall with an attitude that is grand, noble, and in no way petty..

The profoundness of our emotions comes from the sufficiency of these lines and these colors to explain themselves.. ..everything is contained in the beauty of the work.

Think of late paintings where Christ is the central figure.. .Remember the large mosaics of Rome. Reconcile the employment of large-scale decorative means and the direct emotions of nature.

Art is no longer a visual sensation that we gather, like a photograph, as it were, of nature. No, it is a creation of our spirit, for which nature is only the occasion.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Maurice Denis (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.