This collection of essays stems from the conference NineteenthCentury Literature and Aesthetics which was held at the University of Milan in 2006 and organised by the editors of this volume. The interface between word and image covered in these essays embraces the fields of literature architecture painting photography music and art criticism. The authors stress the role of aesthetics in a number of contexts ranging from the early 1830s to the fin de siecle and beyond as far as the last influenc