This monograph examines the most prestigious political paintings created in Britain during the High Baroque age. It investigates a period characterized by numerous social, political, and religious crises, in the years between the restoration of the Stuart monarchy (1660) and the death of the first British monarch from the House of Hanover (1727). On the basis of hitherto unpublished documents, the book elucidates the creation and reception of nine major commissions that involved the court, private aristocratic patrons, and/or civic institutions. The ground-breaking new interpretations of these works focus on strategies of conflict resolution, the creation of shared cultural memories, processes of cultural translation, the performative context of the murals and the interaction of painted images and architectural spaces.

As space conditions perception, the analysis of relationships between image and space is highly significant. The current popularity of immersive spaces proves the strong affective potential of space and forms part of a long art historical tradition, upon which this volume offers critical reflection. Building on the methodological considerations inspired by the "spatial turn" and the "pictorial turn," the authors bring together approaches from image and architectural studies to formulate a new image-space methodology. The ten case studies of profane and sacred image-space ensembles from different eras and cultures discuss the types and functions of such ensembles as well as their respective aesthetic strategies, the related reception mechanisms, and performative uses. Introduction in Methods of the Analysis of Image-Space Relationships Interpretations of Image-Space Ensembles from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century Study of the Relationship between Ideas of Space and Spatial Perception

English description: Twenty-two contributions by renowned specialists deal with the development of the gallery as architectural type and its function, as well as literary and visual illustrations of galleries. Examples from throughout Europe, dating from 1400 to 1800, illustrate national building and furnishing traditions and their interrelationship. Contributions in German, English, French, and Italian. German description: Ein und zwanzig Beitrage namenhafter Experten behandeln die Genese des Raumtyps Galerie und dessen Funktionen ebenso wie literarische und bildliche Galeriedarstellungen. Anhand von Beispielen aus ganz Europa aus dem Zeitraum 1400-1800 werden nationale Bau- und Ausstattungstraditionen sowie deren Wechselwirkung aufgezeigt.