The Pilgrim's Bowl: (Giorgio Morandi) (The Seagull Library of French Literature)

A meditation on the work of Italian artist Giorgio Morandi and its power to evoke a complexity of emotions and astonishment.

In The Pilgrim’s Bowl, Swiss poet Philippe Jaccottet examines Giorgio Morandi’s ascetic still lifes, contrasting his artistic approach to the life philosophies of two authors whom he cherished, Pascal and Leopardi, and reflecting on the few known autobiographical details we know about Morandi. In this small and erudite tome, Jaccottet draws us into the very heart of the artist’s calm and strangely haunting oeuvre. In his literary criticism, Jaccottet is known for deeply engaging with the work of his fellow poets and tenaciously seeking the essence of their poetics. In this, his only book-length essay devoted to an artist, his critical prose likewise blends empathy, subtle discernment, and a determination to pinpoint, or at least glimpse, the elusive underlying qualities of Morandi's deceptively simple, dull-toned yet mysteriously luminous paintings. The Pilgrim’s Bowl is a remarkably elucidating study based on a profound admiration for and a dialogue with Morandi’s oeuvre.

Born in Switzerland and a long-time resident of France, Philippe Jaccottet (1925–2021)  is a celebrated European poet. In 2014, Jaccottet’s collected writings were published in Gallimard’s prestigious Pléiade series. He has been awarded several European literary prizes, including the Grand Prix Suisse de littérature, the highest Swiss literary distinction.

John Taylor has translated many key French, Swiss, Italian, and modern Greek writers. His translations include books by Philippe Jaccottet, Georges Perros, Catherine Colomb, and Pierre Chappuis, as well as Pascal Quignard’s The Unsaddled and Dying of Thinking. Taylor is also the author of several books of poetry and poetic prose, including, most recently, What Comes from the Night.