Pater

Pater, Walter Horatio, 1839-94, English essayist and critic. In 1864 he was elected a fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and he subsequently led an austere and uneventful life. An exemplar of Victorian aestheticism and a proponent of the doctrine of "art for art's sake," Pater believed that the ideal life consisted of cultivating an appreciation for the beautiful and the profound. His first work, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), established his reputation. Then followed his masterpiece, Marius the Epicurean (1885), a study of the intellectual and spiritual development of a young Roman in the time of Marcus Aurelius. His other works include Imaginary Portraits (1887); Appreciations (1889); Plato and Platonism (1893); The Child in the House (1894); and two posthumous publications, Greek Studies (1895) and Gaston de Latour (1896). His style is noted for its precision, subtlety, and refinement.

(born Aug. 4, 1839, Shadwell, London, Eng.—died July 30, 1894, Oxford, Oxfordshire) English critic, essayist, and humanist. Elected a fellow at the University of Oxford in 1864, Pater made his reputation as a scholar and aesthete with essays collected in Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873). Written in a delicate, fastidious style, the essays introduced his influential advocacy of “art for art's sake,” which contrasted with the prevailing emphasis on art's moral or educational values and became a cardinal doctrine of Aestheticism. Marius the Epicurean (1885), a philosophical romance on the ideal life, is his most substantial work.

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(born Aug. 4, 1839, Shadwell, London, Eng.—died July 30, 1894, Oxford, Oxfordshire) English critic, essayist, and humanist. Elected a fellow at the University of Oxford in 1864, Pater made his reputation as a scholar and aesthete with essays collected in Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873). Written in a delicate, fastidious style, the essays introduced his influential advocacy of “art for art's sake,” which contrasted with the prevailing emphasis on art's moral or educational values and became a cardinal doctrine of Aestheticism. Marius the Epicurean (1885), a philosophical romance on the ideal life, is his most substantial work.

Learn more about Pater, Walter (Horatio) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Pater means "father" in Latin, Greek, and Umbrian and may refer to:

• Dis Pater, a Roman and Celtic god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Jupiter
• Lord's Prayer, also known as the "Our Father" or "Pater noster", probably the best-known prayer in ChristianityPeople
• Walter Pater (1839-1893), English essayist, critic, and humanist
• Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695-1736), French painter
• Pater Moeskroen, Dutch Folkband
• John Reily Knox, Pater Knox, founder of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity