---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And the fifteenth century was an…"
description: "\"And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so ardent and serious in its pursuit of art that it consecrated everything with which art had to ad a..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg"
---

#  And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so…

![“And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so ardent and serious in its pursuit of art that it consecrated everything with which art had to ad as a religious object.” quote by Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg)

> “And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so ardent and serious in its pursuit of art that it consecrated everything with which art had to ad as a religious object.”

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The 15th century treated art with religious reverence, making it central to life.

**In simple terms:** Art was seen as a sacred pursuit.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the deep cultural value placed on art.

Themes

history art religion

Mood

contemplative historical

Type

critical philosophical

When to use this quote

- museum curation
- art education
- heritage preservation

Key Concepts

aestheticism cultural reverence philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- How does this reverence compare to today?
- What drives such devotion?

A Different Perspective

Modern views may see art less spiritually.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Ardent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ardent/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Consecrated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-consecrated-5366841/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Impassioned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-impassioned-5366844/) [Consecrated Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consecrated-art-5366843/) [Fifteenth Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifteenth-century-685975/) [Impassioned Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impassioned-age-5366842/) [Pursuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursuit/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/)

## Related quotes

> [The Renaissance of the fifteenth century was, in many things, great rather by what it designed that by what it achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-renaissance-of-the-fifteenth-century-was-in-many-things-great-2/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [No account of the Renaissance can be complete without some notice of the attempt made by certain Italian scholars of the fifteenth century to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/no-account-of-the-renaissance-can-be-complete-without-some-notice-of/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [The Renaissance of the fifteenth century was, in many things, great rather by what it designed then by what it achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-renaissance-of-the-fifteenth-century-was-in-many-things-great/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [The discovery of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century implied the beginning of a return to a type of civilization dominated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-innis/the-discovery-of-printing-in-the-middle-of-the-fifteenth-century/)

[Harold Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-innis/)

> [It's all nonsense to say that the Fifteenth Century can't possibly speak to the Twentieth, because it is the Fifteenth and not the Twentieth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-rolfe/it-s-all-nonsense-to-say-that-the-fifteenth-century-can-t-possibly/)

[Frederick Rolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-rolfe/)

> [So far as the mere imparting of information is concerned, no university has had any justification for existence since the popularization of printing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/so-far-as-the-mere-imparting-of-information-is-concerned-no/)

[Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/)

> [“At the height of their power in the fifteenth century, the Hanseatics were believed to have had at their command 40,000 vessels and 300,000 men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kurlansky/at-the-height-of-their-power-in-the-fifteenth-century-the-hanseatics/)

[Mark Kurlansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kurlansky/)

> [“I don't think people have made staples by hand since the fifteenth century.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/i-don-t-think-people-have-made-staples-by-hand-since-the-fifteenth/)

[Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/)

> [“Most Europeans at the end of the fifteenth century considered religious unity a good idea, but only Spain’s rulers believed it was essential to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-goldstein/most-europeans-at-the-end-of-the-fifteenth-century-considered/)

[Phyllis Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-goldstein/)

> [And so by the fifteenth century, on October 8, the Europeans were looking for a new place to try to get to, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/and-so-by-the-fifteenth-century-on-october-8-the-europeans-were/)

[Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/)

> [“It was an archetypal ruin portrait, a sub-genre that was terribly common during the fifteenth century. The top third of the picture-plane hosted a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvie-cathrall/it-was-an-archetypal-ruin-portrait-a-sub-genre-that-was-terribly/)

[Sylvie Cathrall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvie-cathrall/)

> [I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and in all circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mulcair/i-am-an-ardent-supporter-of-israel-in-all-situations-and-in-all/)

[Thomas Mulcair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mulcair/)

> [Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-the-one-motive-attracting-and/)

[Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/)

> [I am a Zionist, an ardent supporter of Israel, its defender when I deem Israel to be right and its critic when I deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-bikel/i-am-a-zionist-an-ardent-supporter-of-israel-its-defender-when-i-deem/)

[Theodore Bikel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-bikel/)

> [There are courageous and honest men enough in both sections to fight. There is no question of courage involved. The people of both sections…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/there-are-courageous-and-honest-men-enough-in-both-sections-to-fight/)

[Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/)

## More by Walter Pater

> [A counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How may we see in them all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-counted-number-of-pulses-only-is-given-to-us-of-a-variegated/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/what-we-have-to-do-is-to-be-forever-curiously-testing-new-opinions/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [One of the most beautiful passages of Rousseau is that in the sixth book of Confessions, where he describes the awakening in him of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/one-of-the-most-beautiful-passages-of-rousseau-is-that-in-the-sixth/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [For art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/for-art-comes-to-you-proposing-frankly-to-give-nothing-but-the/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [Every moment some form grows perfect in hand or face; some tone on the hills or the sea is choicer than the rest; some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/every-moment-some-form-grows-perfect-in-hand-or-face-some-tone-on-the/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [Not to discriminate every moment some passionate attitude in those about us, and in the very brilliancy of their gifts some tragic dividing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/not-to-discriminate-every-moment-some-passionate-attitude-in-those/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [A certain strangeness, something of the blossoming of the aloe, is indeed an element in all true works of art: that they shall excite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-certain-strangeness-something-of-the-blossoming-of-the-aloe-is/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [“The younger, certainly, had to the full that charm of a constitutional freshness of aspect which may defy for a long time extravagant or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-younger-certainly-had-to-the-full-that-charm-of-a-constitutional/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [Books are a refuge, a sort of cloistral refuge, from the vulgarities of the actual world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/books-are-a-refuge-a-sort-of-cloistral-refuge-from-the-vulgarities-of/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [The base of all artistic genius is the power of conceiving humanity in a new, striking, rejoicing way, of putting a happy world ofits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-base-of-all-artistic-genius-is-the-power-of-conceiving-humanity/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [“art is self-sufficient and need serve no moral or political purpose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/art-is-self-sufficient-and-need-serve-no-moral-or-political-purpose/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [In a sense it might even be said that our failure is to form habits: for, after all, habit is relative to a stereotyped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/in-a-sense-it-might-even-be-said-that-our-failure-is-to-form-habits/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [“The essence of humanism is that belief of which he seems never to have doubted, that nothing which has ever interested living men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-essence-of-humanism-is-that-belief-of-which-he-seems-never-to/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [A very intimate sense of the expressiveness of outward things, which ponders, listens, penetrates, where the earlier, less developed consciousness passed lightly by, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-very-intimate-sense-of-the-expressiveness-of-outward-things-which/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

> [That sense of a life in natural objects, which in most poetry is but a rhetorical artifice, was, then, in Wordsworth the assertion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/that-sense-of-a-life-in-natural-objects-which-in-most-poetry-is-but-a/)

[Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

[Explore all 69 Walter Pater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/)

## More Age quotes

> [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/)

[Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/)

> [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/)

[Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/)

> [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/)

[Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/)

> [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/)

[Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/)

> [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/)

[Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/)

> [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/)

[Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/)

> [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/)

[Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/)

> [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/)

[Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/)

> [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/)

[Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/)

> [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/)

[Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/)

> [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/)

[Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/)

> [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/)

[Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/)

[Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so ardent and serious in its pursuit of art that it consecrated everything with which art had to ad as a religious object.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Walter Pater"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassioned-age-so-ardent-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Age"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassioned-age-so-ardent-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/walter-pater-9808_age_and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassi_2288393.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“And the fifteenth century was an impassioned age, so ardent and serious in its pursuit of art that it…” — Walter Pater",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Walter Pater",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "And the fifteenth century was an...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassioned-age-so-ardent-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/and-the-fifteenth-century-was-an-impassioned-age-so-ardent-and/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
