The devil in the street, in the middle of whirpool: views of the rural space from the landscape, perception and art

Abstract

Starting from the premise that the rural space is a space still present at the
beginning of the 21st century, this article searches ways to view it or, more exactly,
ways to perceive it. First, a bibliographic review is made, emphasizing (but nonexclusively)
recently published works in Europe. These include studies of the landscape
and perception as central concepts. The second part of this article discusses about the
concept of space, using the concept of “relative space” of Leibniz as a basis for its
understanding. Finally is made a proposal for understanding the rural space from the
works by P. Cézanne. In this case the rural would be seen from the perception, which
may change according to the moment, i.e. the space is not rural, but it is.