Breathscapes: Natural Environments in Eighteenth-Century Psychosomatics of Breathing

The eighteenth century was obsessed with the physiology and pathology of respiration and the necessity of clean air and strong winds for health and well-being. Air referred not only to the air we breathe, but also to the natural environments that produce (i.e., breathe) and determine the quality of air. Knoeff’s essay is concerned with the question of how the (psycho) pathology of respiration is bound up (conspires) with natural environments, not only in the literal sense (in urban spaces as well as the countryside) but also as represented in the material and visual culture of households, most notably in landscape paintings in living rooms. It was thought that the viewing of spacious landscapes would stimulate the imagination and literally give breathing space