John Henry Newman's Art of the End

This article examines Newman's understanding of art as eschatological in character. It contextualises his understanding, showing how it stems from his careful attention to the nature of aesthetic forms, in and of themselves, as well as his pastoral and homiletic writings on history, worship, sanctity, and Christian doctrine. This article also places in view the degree to which Newman's aesthetics speaks to, but stands in marked contrast to, the emerging, decadent aestheticism of the late Victorian period.