ABSTRACT
This chapter explores several of Poe’s tales under the light of his own aesthetic knowledge. For this reexamination, we focus on Poe’s aesthetic ideas and the visual-literary resources present in several tales and sketches. Towards this purpose, we divide the chapter into three main sections: Poe as a painter of landscapes, Poe as a painter of effects and Poe as an art “expert.” In the first section, the author’s ability to paint sceneries is shown through the analysis of his most famous landscape pieces. Concepts such as those of ekphrasis, mimesis and paragone are explored here. The second section shows how Poe made use of pictorial references by Lorrain, Rosa or Fuseli, for instance, to reinforce the visuality (enargeia) of his descriptions as if they were art pieces (ekphrasis); this visuality, in some cases, develops into a vivid and enthralling mental image (ekpledzis). Finally, in the last section, with the help of “Metzengerstein” and “The Oval Portrait,” we investigate the power Poe gave to art; in these two texts, art pieces – a tapestry and a painting – become reality in themselves, going beyond mimesis.
