This study, first published in 2006, examines the causes, circumstances, and effects of the 1656 bankruptcy of Rembrandt van Rijn. Following a highly successful early career, Rembrandt's idiosyncratic art and lifestyle came to dominate his reputation. His evasion of responsibility to his creditors was so socially disreputable that laws in Amsterdam were quickly altered. The poor management of his finances magnified other difficulties that he had with family, paramours, friends, neighbors, and patrons. Collectively, Rembrandt's economic and social exigencies affected his living and working environment, his public station, and his art. This study examines all of these aspects of Rembrandt's bankruptcy, including his marketing practices, the appreciation of his work, and his relations with patrons, in addition to the details of the bankruptcy itself. Several patterns of short-sighted decision-making emerge as Rembrandt conducted his affairs within a constantly changing framework of relationships, a shifting set of obligations, and evolving artistic pursuits.

The great 18th century architectural artist and master engraver
"Piranesi was as savage as Salvator Rosa, fierce as Michelangelo, and exuberant as Rubens... he has imagined scenes that would startle geometry and exhaust the Indies to realize." -- "Horace Walpole"
One the greatest architectural artists of all time, and certainly the most famous copper engraver of the 18th century, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) is most known for his terrifyingly original series of etchings of labyrinthine and megalomaniac prisons, Carceri d'Invenzione. In his own day, he was most celebrated for his Vedute, 137 etchings of ancient and modern Rome; so renowned were these startling and dramatic chiaroscuro images, imbued with Piranesi's romantic feeling for archaeological ruins, that they formed the mental picture of Rome for generations after. Indeed, Piranesi could be said to have shaped a whole strain of contemporary architecture, as well as the wider visualization of antiquity itself. In our time, he has had a direct influence on writers such as Borges and Kafka and on filmmakers such as Terry Gilliam and Peter Greenaway. Anyone who contemplates Piranesi's etchings will confront the existential nightmare of human existence and its infinite mysteries.

The subject of this book is tapestry, with a particular focus on the function and use of hangings, and on the eventuality or necessity of owning them in the modern world. It is thus viewed from an angle warranted by an inquiry into the determination of the object. The relationship of that object to the place for which it was intended or in which it is used is a crucial point, for, by its very nature, tapestry can be easily moved and can take on a new meaning in a different setting. This apparent truism is rendered complex by the specific characteristics of tapestry, which places any analysis in the dual perspective of furnishings on the one hand and of large-scale architectural decor on the other and touches at the same time on the sociology of art and its reception. The point of departure for this study is the celebrated Barberini family, which assumed a prominent position within Roman nobility by virtue of the authority of Urban VIII, who was elected Pope in 1623. Patrons of the Arts and Letters, the Pope and his nephews, Cardinals Francesco and Antonio Barberini, as well as Prince Taddeo, brought together more than nine hundred tapestries to adorn their sumptuous palaces and to decorate churches for ceremonial occasions. The sources drawn on consist of a vast ensemble of archival documents (inventories, records of payments and correspondence) from the Vatican Library. The first two parts deal with the problem of individual taste for a given type of object, tapestry in the present case. They pay particular attention to the manifestations of the Barberinis interest in it, to their admiration for such and such a hanging, and to their private commissions. They inquire into the significance of the foundation of the family tapestry works by Cardinal Francesco Barberini. The third part is based on a discussion of the daily use of the tapestries in palaces, but also of occasional use for events on festive or ceremonial occasions outside, in the streets of the city, or in churches. This part in fact attempts to answer the question as to the way in which, in a hierarchical and codified society, an interest in a given art form can be expressed in interior decoration in a way that allows awareness of its specific characteristics. The fourth part is concerned with the notion of patrician collection and the dispersion of the latter. Nearly two-thirds of the extant tapestries have been localized in the United States, in the museums of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Flint, Minneapolis, San Francisco, etc., Charles M. Ffoulke, a Washington collector, having bought an important lot from the Barberini family in 1889. The fifth and last part analyses the process of tapestry-making, with special emphasis on the drawing up of models and cartoon. Urban VIII and Francesco Barberini were particularly attentive to the quality of the design and of the weaving itself, carried out in the most famous workshops of Brussels, Paris and Rome. It has thus been possible to reconstitute the elements of an aspect of the Barberini taste on the basis of a study of their tapestries.

During the eighteenth century, porcelain held significant cultural and artistic importance. This collection represents one of the first thorough scholarly attempts to explore the diversity of the medium's cultural meanings. Among the volume's purposes is to expose porcelain objects to the analytical and theoretical rigor which is routinely applied to painting, sculpture and architecture, and thereby to reposition eighteenth-century porcelain within new and more fruitful interpretative frameworks. The authors also analyze the aesthetics of porcelain and its physical characteristics, particularly the way its tactile and visual qualities reinforced and challenged the social processes within which porcelain objects were viewed, collected, and used. The essays in this volume treat objects such as figurines representing British theatrical celebrities, a boxwood and ebony figural porcelain stand, works of architecture meant to approximate porcelain visually, porcelain flowers adorning objects such as candelabra and perfume burners, and tea sets decorated with unusual designs. The geographical areas covered in the collection include China, North Africa, Spain, France, Italy, Britain, America, Japan, Austria, and Holland.

Covering all the media Rembrandt worked in throughout his career, Rembrandt's Faith is the only art-historical study to address the full breadth of the artist's religious imagery. Rembrandt weighed in on important religious issues of his day and was a close student of the Bible, using traditional approaches based on Saint Paul to employ typology between the Old and New Testaments. He also shared the Dutch propensity to draw analogies between the biblical tales of the "chosen people" and Dutch society, including commentary on righteous leadership under God's covenant. Rembrandt's close reading of the Bible and biblical commentary by Calvin and other theologians was greatly abetted by the publication, in 1637, of the Dutch States Bible translation with notes. He also avidly studied seventeenth-century reconstructions of the Jerusalem Temple and frequently located his biblical narratives in re-creations of these spaces. Rembrandt's Faith raises essential questions about the complex relationships among Rembrandt's art, religion, and the theological debates of his time.

Unique among early modern artists, the Baroque painter, sculptor, and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini was the subject of two monographic biographies published shortly after his death in 1680: one by the Florentine connoisseur and writer Filippo Baldinucci (1682), and the second by Berninis son, Domenico (1713). This interdisciplinary collection of essays by historians of art and literature marks the first sustained examination of the two biographies, first and foremost as texts. A substantial introductory essay considers each biographys author, genesis, and foundational role in the study of Bernini. Nine essays combining art-historical research with insights from philology, literary history, and art and literary theory offer major new insights into the multifarious connections between biography, art history, and aesthetics, inviting readers to rethink Berninis life, art, and milieu. Contributors are Eraldo Bellini, Heiko Damm, John D. Lyons, Sarah McPhee, Tomaso Montanari, Rudolf Preimesberger, Robert Williams, and the editors.Maarten Delbeke is Assistant Professor of architectural history and theory at the universities of Ghent and Leiden. Formerly the Scott Opler Fellow in Architectural History at Worcester College (Oxford), he is the author of several articles and a forthcoming book on Seicento art and theory.Evonne Levy is Associate Professor of the History of Art at the University of Toronto. She is also the author of Propaganda and the Jesuit Baroque (2004).

The Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series, previously known as SVEC (Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century), has published over 500 peer-reviewed scholarly volumes since 1955 as part of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford. International in focus, Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment volumes cover wide-ranging aspects of the eighteenth century and the Enlightenment, from gender studies to political theory, and from economics to visual arts and music, and are published in English or French.

The Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Massachusetts, is widely acknowledged to have one of the most important college collections in America, and its area of greatest strength is the modern era. This volume brings together 100 masterpieces, all reproduced in full colour, and illuminated by individual essays. The European art, by French, British, German, Spanish and Russian masters, ranges from a Houdon bust to works by Moore and Nicholson, and is particularly rich in Impressionism. The American works range from early portraits by Copley and Stuart to Abstract Expressionist works by Kline, Motherwell and Mitchell.

The John Rylands Library houses one of the finest collections of rare books, manuscripts and archives in the world. The collections span five millennia and cover a wide range of subjects, including art and archaeology; economic, social, political, religious and military history; literature, drama and music; science and medicine; theology and philosophy; travel and exploration. For over a century, the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library has published research that complements the Library's special collections. The editors invite the submission of articles in these fields and welcome discussion of in-progress projects. -- .

This fascinating catalogue documents the English obsession with marble sculpture, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. The display of classical sculpture was an essential requisite of every grand house in Britain during that period, and shaped the nature of the English country house - Holkham Hall, Kedleston Hall, Syon House, and many other equally famous examples. The master example was the Arundel collection, which itself drew on Italian precedents. There sculpture had been mounted in gardens, and the exedra as a means of display was taken over into English practice. The entrance hall with sculpture was then developed in unique form alongside the long gallery. Also to be considered are crypts and grottos, and study collections in the houses of men like Charles Townley, and indeed John Soane. This fascinating survey by Ruth Guilding gives valuable insight into an essential aspect of English 18th-century taste and culture. "...never forget that the most valuable acquisition a man of refined taste can make is a piece of fine Greek sculpture", as Hamilton wrote to Townley in 1771."

American artists and innovators Benjamin West (1738-1820) and John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) changed the way history was recorded in the 18th century and became America's first transatlantic art superstars. Initially friends but eventually bitter rivals, the artists painted contemporary events as they happened, illustrating the transformation of imperial power through diplomacy between British Americans and the Iroquois, and through transatlantic trade, exploration, and the natural history of the West Indies. Focusing on two iconic works, West's The Death of General Wolfe (1770) and Copley's Watson and the Shark (1778), American Adversaries charts the rise of contemporary history painting, and offers a compelling examination of American history and New World exploration. Featuring more than two hundred color reproductions of paintings, works on paper, and objects that informed the artists, this handsome volume also includes essays that shed new light on, among other subjects, West and Copley within the context of the Royal Academy and the use of Western and Native American objects in cultural diplomacy.

Inspired by the Classicism of the great Italian architect Palladio, designers such as Burlington, Campbell and Kent adapted his ideas to the English climate. They thus created a new style which was to pervade town and country house design throughout England and become a major influence in the colonies of North America. In this magnificent book, Steven Parissien explores the rise of Palladian villas in England and follows the style as it spread, through the use of pattern books, to the more average home. The book examines the origins, forms and development of the style through building materials, fixtures and fittings, as well as period colours and coverings, presenting the reader with a full picture of Palladian architecture, furnishings and decor.

Enjoy classical composer Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' as they were experienced in Vivaldi's own time. This new edition is a reproduction of the very first edition of The Four Seasons book and uniquely combines the music with the sonnets that inspired the concertos and the art work of Vivaldi's Venice. Rococo illustrations from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York capture the allure of Venice and illustrates how the '… peasant celebrates with dances and songs/The immense pleasure of the happy harvest.'

The accompanying compact-disc recording of the concertos by The Philharmonia Virtuoso allows the reader to live the full experience of the sonnets as Vivaldi intended.

In serveying how painting and sculpture were considered through the early 18th to the mid-19th century, this volume traces the development of modernism in art and theory.

Marie-Antoinette, the last queen of France, fascinated her contemporaries with her temperament and independent spirit, her escapades and her frivolity. Born in Austria, she married the future Lois XVI at age 15, and then charmed her entire court with her small blonde build and grace. Crowned queen in 1774, she quickly stepped forward and upstaged her king. A great lover and rebel, she lost herself in gambling and social activity, angering her subjects who would never forgive her excessive expenses. From her powder pink boudoirs, to her apartments filled with lacquer furniture, from the Trianon, where she brought her lovers, to her milk house, where she played farmer's wife, this book traces the journey of the woman who left her mark on her time with a feminism that was both flirtatious and glamorous.

Mary Delany was seventy-two years old when she noticed a petal drop from a geranium. In a flash of inspiration, she picked up her scissors and cut out a paper replica of the petal, inventing the art of collage. It was the summer of 1772, in England. During the next ten years she completed nearly a thousand cut-paper botanicals (which she called mosaicks) so accurate that botanists still refer to them. Poet-biographer Molly Peacock uses close-ups of these brilliant collages in The Paper Garden to track the extraordinary life of Delany, friend of Swift, Handel, Hogarth, and even Queen Charlotte and King George III. How did this remarkable role model for late blooming manage it? After a disastrous teenage marriage to a drunken sixty-one-year-old squire, she took control of her own life, pursuing creative projects, spurning suitors and gaining friends. At forty-three, she married Jonathan Swift's friend Dr. Patrick Delany, and lived in Ireland in a true expression of midlife love. But after twenty-five years and a terrible lawsuit, her husband died. Sent into a netherland of mourning, Mrs Delany was rescued by her friend, the fabulously wealthy Duchess of Portland. The Duchess introduced Delany to the botanical adventurers of the day and a bonanza of exotic plants from Captain Cook's voyage, which became the inspiration for her art. Peacock herself first saw Mrs Delany's work more than twenty years before she wrote The Paper Garden, but 'like a book you know is too old for you', she put the thought of the old woman away. She went on to marry and cherish the happiness of her own midlife, in a parallel to Mrs. Delany, and by chance rediscovered the mosaicks decades later. This encounter confronted the poet with her own aging and gave her-and her readers-a blueprint for late-life flexibility, creativity, and change.

A study of the Western interior and its decoration between 1620 and 1920. The scope of the book is international - from the Ukraine to Louisiana - and the homes portrayed encompass those of aristocrats and artists, of the "beau monde" and the bourgeoisie. The work is divided into six sections covering 50 year periods. Each has an introduction which discusses the prevailing tastes in architecture and furnishings, before moving through a series of illustrations. These range from designs for fireplaces, parquet flooring and window drapes to pictures of rooms - salons, studies, bedrooms, bathrooms - actually as they were lived in. For each image a commentary describes the important features and pinpoints the telling details that define each era's style.

This book documents the Persian - European artistic dialogue over four centuries. In particular it presents work by seven contemporary artists from Tehran and thus provides an insight into a new modern Persia in exchange with the global art world. At the same time the reader is offered a fresh view at ancient art shown in contrasting juxtaposition. Essays by Rudolph P. Matthee, Cyrus Ala'i, Birgitt Borkopp-Restle, Paulina Banas, Michael Chagnon, Gary Schwarz, Jennifer Scarce, Claudia Swann, Susann Wintsch, and Axel Langer."The Fascination of Persia" is published in conjunction with an exhibition at Museum Rietberg in Zurich (October 2013 to January 2014).

The tale of the shepherd girl Radha and the Hindu god Krishna is probably the most famous love story in India. Written by Jayadeva at the end of the twelfth century, the Gitagovinda narrates the highs and lows of Radha and Krishna's relationship. As a vivid metaphor for the human yearning for god, the work is today closely associated in India with the religiosity of Krishna. In the eighteenth century, in the former princely residence of Guler, the artist family of Nainsuhk and Manaku created the outstanding picture series of the second Guler Gitagovinda of 1775/80, which recounts the love story with an unparalleled elegance. This book retells the story using selected pieces from this series (printed in original size) and whisks the reader off into the atmospheric world of Indian miniature painting and poetry. This book accompanies an exhibition at Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 24 October 2019 - 16 February 2020. Text in English and German.

The life and times of one of the most important women painters - and celebrities - of the eighteenth century. A word was coined to describe the condition of people stricken with a new kind of fever when the Swiss-born artist Angelica Kauffman (1741 - 1807) came to London in 1766. 'The whole world', it was said, 'is Angelicamad.' One of the most successful women artists in history - a painter who possessed what her friend Goethe called an 'unbelievable' and 'massive' talent - Kauffman became the toast of Georgian England, captivating society with her portraits, mythological scenes and decorative compositions. She knew and painted poets, novelists and playwrights, collaborating with them and illustrating their work; her designs adorned the houses of the Grand Tourists she had met and painted in Italy; actors, statesmen, philosophers, kings and queen sat to her; and she was the force that launched a thousand engravings. Despite rumours of relationships with other artists (including Sir Joshua Reynolds), and an apparently bigamous and annulled first marriage to a pseudo Count, Kauffman was adopted by royalty in England and abroad as a model of social and artistic decorum. adaptations from classical antiquity and sentimental literature; a commercially successful celebrity yet also a founding member of The Royal Academy of arts; the virginal creator of sexually ambivalent beings who was one of the hardest-headed businesswomen of her age, Kauffman's life and work is full of apparent contradictions explored in this first biography in over 80 years.

This is a new edition of the book that helped to establish a new canon of country house studies and inspire a national series, county by county. Almost a new book, it incorporates the results of additional research in the last 12 years. The great wealth of documents, drawings and printed sources in archives and libraries has been systematically exploited to throw light on the history of more than a 130 significant houses. This book will have great appeal to students of architectural, social and local history and to the general reader alike.

The most acute, reliable and illuminating contemporary biography of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the father of English painting. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) was the first superstar of British art. Ambition and application turned a talent for painting into genius and made him the first English painter of European stature - an especially impressive feat considering that his chosen field, portraiture, was often disregarded. His own position at the very heart of British intellectual life, as the close friend of Johnson, Burke, Garrick, Fox, Goldsmith and Sheridan gave painting an importance it had never had - as talked about and occasionally as controversial as Britart today. Reynolds' social and intellectual success - he was also the author of the "Discourses", the most important work of art theory hitherto published - combined with his crucial role as the first President of the Royal Academy, transformed the way art was made, appreciated, and enjoyed in Britain. All aspects of this astonishing life and career are examined with an acute eye by Joseph Farington, a fellow painter and Academician of the next generation, and the best diarist of his day.Farington knew Reynolds and was close to many of his intimates. His account, the most penetrating and impressive of the contemporary writings about Reynolds, tells the story of the life and gives a fascinating assessment of Reynolds' importance to British art. This edition is the first publication since 1819 of "Farington's Memoirs". They are introduced by the leading expert on the painter, Dr. Martin Postle, who elucidates the historical and artistic context of the Memoirs and of the man who wrote them. 42 pages of colour illustrations cover the span of Reynold's astonishing output.

Animals, European Enlightenment, Dutch Painting, Economic Thought, Scottish Enlightenment