DOCSLIB.ORG

Sara Galletti Le Palais Du Luxembourg De Marie De Médicis 1611–1631 the Luxembourg Palace Is One of Those Rare Early Modern B

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sara Galletti Le Palais Du Luxembourg De Marie De Médicis 1611–1631 the Luxembourg Palace Is One of Those Rare Early Modern B Books Sara Galletti penetrates the restrictive and often-secretive building reports. Here, Galletti traces the Le palais du Luxembourg de Marie social life of the court, to show us how alterations made to the building as the de Médicis 1611–1631 many rooms there were, how they were property changed hands, from Maria’s Trans. Julien Noblet; Paris: Éditions Picard, used, and who was admitted to them. The death in 1642 through the mid-eighteenth 2012, 294 pp., 6 color and 165 b/w illus. second advance in our understanding of the century. As few of the original plans survive, €53.00, ISBN 9782708409354 building is contained in the final chapter, historians have often relied on later draw- which undertakes a careful architectural ings and depictions, made for different The Luxembourg Palace is one of those and iconographic reading of the palace. purposes. Some of these, as Galletti shows, rare early modern buildings that remains Inspired very self-consciously by the Pitti are more reliable than others. Casual read- central to the day-to-day life of a capital city. Palace in Florence, the Luxembourg reveals ers may find this chapter hard going. The This national landmark today houses the much about the perception and reception discussion is largely descriptive and, to Sénat, the upper chamber of the French of Italian architecture in France, during a the extent that it leaves behind the figure parliament, while from the garden, it is crucial period in the evolution of French of Maria, detaches itself somewhat from familiar to countless Parisians and tourists. classicism. the argument of the book as a whole. Its origins as a royal palace, however, lie in The first three chapters are concerned It is, however, admirably comprehensive. a radically different context. The palace to fix the chronology of the building. They Researchers interested in the later occu- was begun in 1615 for Maria de’Medici, cover the conception of the project, the pants of the palace will find this chapter a widow of Henri IV and regent to the young available visual sources, and the campaigns crucial resource. Louis XIII. Despite substantial changes in of construction. Some of this material has Chapter 3 returns to take up the thread both appearance and function, the palace been known for many years. Arthur Hustin, of the story, focusing on the fifteen-year still reflects something of the queen’s polit- in a fundamental study of 1910–11, pub- period from 1615 to 1631, during which ical position at that time, particularly as a lished much of the early documentation, the palace and its dependencies were foreigner and a female regent. This exem- in particular the contracts for the acquisi- largely completed. The subsections follow plary monograph by Sara Galletti recon- tion of the neighboring properties. Rosalys the principal actors involved in the work structs the early history of the building, Coope’s book on Salomon de Brosse treated at different stages. Here, too, several pre- offering new details and arguments to sev- the architecture in depth, and Alexandre viously unpublished sources serve to drive eral historiographical problems in which Gady’s more recent study on Jacques Le the discussion. A building survey under- the palace plays a leading role. Among the Mercier has done the same for the service taken in 1623 (Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal book’s many contributions, two stand out. and garden buildings.1 Galletti, however, 5995) provides a detailed description of The first is a new proposal for the sequence has cast a wider net for sources, and her the state of construction after eight years of rooms in the royal apartment. The ques- approach is more methodical than previ- of building work. Drawn up as part of tion has received considerable attention ous authors. She is not the first historian, Cardinal Richelieu’s litigation against from historians, due to the fame of Peter for example, to look for references to de Brosse, it relates to the architect’s early Paul Rubens’s large-scale series, the Life of Maria’s art patronage in the Medici diplo- and still-unexplained departure from Maria de’Medici, conceived expressly for matic correspondence in the Archivio di the project. As Galletti shows, the osten- the long gallery in the western wing. Galletti Stato in Florence, but she has exploited sible reason for the cardinal’s antipathy— this archive for references to the building de Brosse’s alleged mismanagement or Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 73, no. 2 to an unmatched extent. The result is an misdealing—is complicated by the fact that (June 2014), 277–297. ISSN 0037-9808, electronic ISSN 2150-5926. © 2014 by the Society of Architectural Histori- exhaustive, up-to-date, and eye-opening the architect left the site only to receive ans. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for study on a building we thought we knew. a commission for Richelieu’s château at permission to photocopy or reproduce article content Chapter 2 showcases the author’s sys- Limours. Whatever the explanation, Marin through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/ tematic method, meticulously correlating de la Vallée would take over as principal reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/jsah.2014.73.2.277. all the known visual evidence with written mason and contractor from 1624, entrusted 277 to complete the palace according to de containing each linked by the terrace that literature on the palace. Galletti redirects Brosse’s original designs. The chapter also runs across the entry pavilion. our attention instead to French prece- accounts for the palace’s interior decoration, The other distinguishing features of dents of the sixteenth century, particularly as well as its dependencies. A long section the Luxembourg were the large, salient to the architecture of Jacques Androuet on Marie’s agents Claude Maugis and pavilions that originally flanked the corps du Cerceau. In the hierarchical composi- Claude-Nicolas Fabri de Pieresc illustrates de logis, two on each of its extremities. The tion of volumes, the central pavilion hous- their responsibility for liaising with artists, resultant layout is anomalous and for ing a grand staircase, and the articulation Rubens in particular. There are new details historians of interior planning creates a of the entry pavilion, the Luxembourg about the famous garden—Galletti redates problem of interpretation, for the paired draws on several models presented in Tommaso Francini’s project to 1625—and pavilions seem to provide routes to two sepa- Du Cerceau’s Les plus excellents bastiments about the orangery, the aviary, and kitchens, rate apartments, each branching off from de France (1576–79), a source that relates which bordered the lower courts on either a common antechamber at the end of the more closely to de Brosse’s background side of the palace. The picture that emerges corps de logis. Was one apartment ceremonial (Du Cerceau was his grandfather) and from this chapter is that of a competent and the other private? Were they differen- to royal traditions of architectural repre- team of intermediaries who were able to tiated as winter and summer apartments? sentation. Where the Luxembourg does bring this complicated project to fruition, Scholars have offered several alternative clearly refer to the Pitti Palace are the despite frequent political and financial explanations for this state of affairs, and elevations, namely, the expressive use of setbacks. One paradoxical effect of their Galletti usefully reviews each, before put- the Tuscan order and its associated rusti- activity, however, is to shield our view of ting forward her own hypothesis. The pre- cation. Both of these elements might be the queen herself. Indeed, Maria’s absence cedent lies in Maria’s alterations in 1613 understood as emblems of the Florentine from the discussion is conspicuous. Galletti to her new apartment on the ground floor grand dukes, but Galletti is careful to point gives her credit for a sophisticated taste of the Louvre, which created two indepen- out the personal way that de Brosse has and an advanced policy of art patronage, dent spatial sequences within the same treated them. The articulation is subtler but her level of input in particular design wing, both following the antechamber. and the masonry more smoothly dressed. or budgetary choices remains obscure. One led, per tradition, to the bedchamber, The use of pilasters as opposed to half- The heart of the book is concerned whereas the other bypassed the bedchamber columns further deemphasizes the tectonic with the layout of the royal apartment, to offer a more intimate access to the queen expression of order in favor of a conti- and here Maria figures prominently.2 Like via a grand and petit cabinet. Rather than nuous ornamental skin. At the same time, the Tuileries palace and the château at multiplying rooms in the same sequence, the façades are littered with knowing Charleval, the Luxembourg was intended Maria appears to have distinguished the two references to royal palaces and châteaus, to house twin apartments: the king’s in the sets of rooms for different uses, allowing most notably Pierre Lescot’s wing at the eastern wing and the queen’s in the western. courtiers left behind in the antechamber to Louvre: the coupled orders, a frontispiece From the beginning, however, Henri’s apart- feel that they remained close to the royal crowned with a segmental arch, the narrow ment was intended to remain empty, both person. At the Luxembourg, this courtly windows set within an arcade. The Luxem- as a monument to the man and a constant practice is no longer cramped within the bourg, Galletti argues, adapts the archi- reminder of Maria’s claim to rule.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The View from Rome
    4/26/2019 The View From Rome » 2010 » April http://traditional-building.com/Steve_Semes/?m=201004 Go JAN FEB MAY ⍰ ❎ 51 captures 18 f 18 Feb 2012 - 8 Apr 2016 2011 2012 2013 ▾ About this capture The View From Rome Steven W. Semes Home About Steven W. Semes Our Other Blogs Clem Labine’s Traditional Building Clem Labine’s Period Homes Switcher Archive Archive for April, 2010 Can’t We Just Get Along? New and Old Buildings in Context April 15th, 2010 No comments What is the proper relationship between historical architecture and the production of new buildings and cities? Are architects and preservationists inevitably at odds, or is there a common objective that potentially unites them? Why do we assume that the architecture of the present and the architecture of the past are entirely different things that must be handled by entirely separate sets of experts? It is necessary to examine these questions in the light of a recovered traditional architecture and urbanism. The Louvre, Paris, shows how an architectural ensemble can grow over the course of centuries while maintaining essentially the same style. Within the courtyard, the central pavilion and the right half of the facade were designed by Jacques Lemercier to continue (and, in the case of the bays to the right of the center tower, to precisely imitate) the facade on the left half, built to the design of Pierre Lescot a century earlier. Photo: Steven W. Semes Historically, restoration or completion of old buildings and the design of new buildings were simply different aspects of a single discipline.
    [Show full text]
  • Place Saint-Michel the Place Saint-Michel Is
    Place Saint-Michel The Place Saint-Michel is simple – a triangle between two streets, uniform buildings along both, designed by the same architect, a walk of smooth cobblestone. The centerpiece is St. Michael defeating a devil; far above them are four statues symbolizing the four cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. This monument came to be because of the 1848 Revolution and a cholera epidemic in Paris that followed it which killed thousands. This idea of abstract concepts given human form had been popular during the Revolution, the big one, representing the kind of big virtues – like the Four Cardinal Virtues – that everyone could strive for, instead of a single human being whose actions and legacy would turn people against each other. Simultaneous with the creation of Place Saint-Michel, Napoleon III’s renovation brought the Boulevard Saint-Michel into being, and that is the next part of our walk. Facing the fountain with the river at your back, walk on Boulevard Saint-Michel, it’s the street to your left. Walk away from the river along that street. Ultimately, you’ll be turning left on Rue des Écoles, but it’ll be about five minutes to get there, and you can listen to the next track on the way. Boulevard Saint-Michel The character of the street you’re on – wide-open space lined with trees and long, harmonious buildings, plus, often, a view of some landmark in the distance – was a central part of the renovation plan, or the Haussmann plan, as it’s also known.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparative Politics
    Dr.Rishu Raj Assistant professor Department of Political Science M.M.College(P.U) [email protected] COMPARATIVE POLITICS Comparative study of The Constitution of Switzerland and France THE SWISS PARLIAMENT The Federal Assembly THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY • The Federal Assembly is the legislative power of Switzerland. Its two chambers – the National Council and the Council of States –have the same powers but meet separately. Federal Assembly The National The Council Council of States The National Council • The National Council, or “lower chamber”, represents the people and comprises 200 members who are elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The number of representatives sent by each canton depends on the size of its population. As a rule of thumb, each canton may send one elected representative to the National Council for roughly every 40,000 inhabitants. • The Federal Constitution guarantees at least one seat per canton, even if the canton has fewer than 40,000 residents. The cantons of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden, AppenzellInnerrhoden, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Uri and Glarus send one National Council member each, whereas Zurich, the most heavily populated canton, currently has 35 seats. The Council of States • The Council of States, or “upper chamber”, represents the cantons and comprises 46 members, who are also elected directly by the people for a four-year term. Regardless of their population size, the cantons send two deputies, with the exception of the six half-cantons of AppenzellAusserrhoden, Appenzell-Innerrhoden, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land, which send one deputy each. • Council of States deputies represent their cantons but are not bound by any instructions from their cantonal government or parliament.
    [Show full text]
  • Spring Break in Paris
    Spring Break in Paris Friday, March 21st to Sunday, March 30th, 2014 What you’ll do . Friday, March 21st – You’ll depart from Huntsville or Nashville International Airport bound for Europe. Usually there is a stop in one of the major cities of the east coast in order to catch your trans-Atlantic flight to Paris. Saturday, March 22nd – After flying through the night, you’ll land at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. After collecting your luggage and passing through customs, you’ll transfer into the city, usually by train. On evening one, there’s a short time for resting and refreshing at the hotel before heading out into the city for dinner and some sightseeing. You will ascend the 58-story Tour Montparnasse for the best views of Paris as the sun goes down and the lights come on in the city. Sunday, March 23rd– You’ll visit the Royal Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris. In addition to touring the palace itself, you’ll want to visit the gardens, since Sunday is the only day the world-famous fountains are turned on. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Grand and Petit Trianon, small palaces built by the king on the grounds of Versailles in order to escape the pressures of palace life. Also not to be missed is the village-like hameau of Marie Antoinette. Later, you’ll head back to Paris for dinner and a visit to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre, the bohemian quarter of Paris. In Montmartre, you’ll also visit the Place du Tertre, where an artist will paint your portrait for a price.
    [Show full text]
  • Paris History Early History Julius Caesar Conquered Paris in 52 BC It
    Paris History Early History Julius Caesar conquered Paris in 52 B.C. It was then a fishing village, called Lutetia Parisiorum (the Parisii were a Gallic tribe), on the Île de la Cité. Under the Romans the town spread to the left bank and acquired considerable importance under the later emperors. The vast catacombs under Montparnasse and the baths (now in the Cluny Mus.) remain from the Roman period. Legend says that St. Denis, first bishop of Paris, was martyred on Montmartre (hence the name) and that in the 5th cent. St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, preserved the city from destruction by the Huns. On several occasions in its early history Paris was threatened by barbarian and Norman invasions, which at times drove the inhabitants back to the Île de la Cité. Clovis I and several other Merovingian kings made Paris their capital; under Charlemagne it became a center of learning. In 987, Hugh Capet, count of Paris, became king of France. The Capetians firmly established Paris as the French capital. The city grew as the power of the French kings increased. In the 11th cent. the city spread to the right bank. During the next two centuries—the reign of Philip Augustus (1180–1223) is especially notable for the growth of Paris—streets were paved and the city walls enlarged; the first Louvre (a fortress) and several churches, including Notre-Dame, were constructed or begun; and the schools on the left bank were organized into the Univ. of Paris. One of them, the Sorbonne, became a fountainhead of theological learning with Albertus Magnus and St.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political Role of the Louvre's Workshops Chandra
    1 Chapter 1 Artisans and the Construction of the French State: The Political Role of the Louvre's Workshops Chandra Mukerji Accounts of state formation in the social sciences tend to focus on institutional transformations, such as military and legal reform, or the capture of the elites, treating what are functional outcomes of state formation as causes. They do not seek explanations of how institutional restructuring became possible when it had not been possible before. They assume that early states could only become institutionally effective by capturing or organizing known forms of power (Adams 2005; Beik 1997; Brewer 1989; Kettering 1986; Mettam 1988; 1975; Wallerstein 1974). Yet this is precisely what weak states could not do. Their empowerment depended instead on a shift in political logics that made entrenched political formations less compelling. It required a cultural change. In the 17th century, the French state went from being particularly weak (Machiavelli and Donno 1966) to particularly strong-- an absolutist state according to Anderson (1974). The administration did not achieve this shift by wresting control of the army from nobles or impoverishing those at court, but rather, by constructing an art world (Becker 1982). Long after Louis XIV ascended the throne, nobles 2 still supplied troops to the army even as the state trained them (Lynn 1997), and nobles in favor with the king at Versailles gained special economic opportunities (Cole 1964). It took an organized program of cultural production, an art world nestled in the administration, to advance state power. Political change required a change in political imaginaries, and the state's art world did the imagining.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Walking Tour 4
    King François I, France’s “Renaissance Prince”, and his Italian-born daughter-in- law Catherine de Medici, dominated 16th-century France both politically and architecturally. François I had his hand in buildings of every kind from the Louvre palace, to the huge church of Saint-Eustache, to the Paris city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. You’ll visit these sites on this tour. Catherine de Medici shared her father-in-law’s passion for building, although almost none of her construction projects survived. But you can and will visit the Colonne de l’Horoscope, a strange remnant of what was once Catherine’s grand Renaissance palace just to the west of Les Halles market. From there, the walk takes you through the bustling Les Halles quarter, stopping to admire the elegant Renaissance-style Fontaine des Innocents and the beautifully restored Tour Saint-Jacques. The walk ends in the trendy Marais, where three Renaissance style mansions can still be admired today. Start: Louvre (Métro: Palais-Royal/Musée du Louvre) Finish: Hôtel Carnavalet/ Musée de l’Histoire de Paris (Métro: Saint-Paul) Distance: 3 miles Time: 3 - 3.5 hours Best Days: Tuesday - Sunday Copyright © Ann Branston 2011 HISTORY Religious wars dominated the age of Catherine de Medici and her three Politics and Economics sons. As the Protestant reformation spread in France, animosities and hostilities between Protestants and Catholics grew, spurred on by old family The sixteenth century was a tumultuous time in France. The country was nearly feuds and ongoing political struggles. In 1562, the Huguenots (as French bankrupted by wars in Italy and torn apart repeatedly by internal political intrigue Protestants were called) initiated the first of eight religious civil wars.
    [Show full text]
  • Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before a Fountain
    NICOLAS LA1VCRET Dance Before a r~zfountain~ NICOLAS LA1VCRET Dance Before a r~Tfountain~ MARY TAVENER HOLMES WITH A CONSERVATION NOTE BY MARK LEONARD THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LOS ANGELES This book is dedicated to Donald Posner GETTY MUSEUM STUDIES ON ART Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data © 2006 J. Paul Getty Trust Holmes, Mary Tavener. Nicolas Lancret : Dance before a fountain / Mary Tavener Holmes ; Getty Publications with a conservation note by Mark Leonard. I2OO Getty Center Drive, Suite 5OO p. cm. — (Getty Museum studies on art) Los Angeles, California ^004^^-1682 Includes bibliographical references and index. www.getty.edu ISBN-I3: 978-0-89236-83^-7 (pbk.) ISBN-IO: 0-89236-832-2 (pbk.) I. Lancret, Nicolas, 1690—1743- Dance before a fountain. 2- Lancret, Christopher Hudson, Publisher Nicolas, 1690 —1743"Criticism and interpretation. 3- Genre painting, Mark Greenberg, Editor in Chief French — l8th century. I. Leonard, Mark, 1954 ~~ H- Lancret, Nicolas, 1690 — 1743. III. J. Paul Getty Museum. IV. Title. V. Series. Mollie Holtman, Series Editor ND553.L225A65 2006 Abby Sider, Manuscript Editor 759.4-dc22 Catherine Lorenz, Designer 2005012001 Suzanne Watson, Production Coordinator Lou Meluso, Anthony Peres, Jack Ross, Photographers All photographs are copyrighted by the issuing institutions or by their Typesetting by Diane Franco owners, unless otherwise indicated. Figures 14, 16, 18, 29, 3^, 43> 57» 60, Printed in China by Imago 63 © Reunion des Musees Nationaux/Art Resource, New York. Figures 21, 30, 31, 34, and 55 are use<i by kind permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London. Frontispiece: Michel Aubert (French, 1700 —1757)> Nicolas Lancret [detail], engraving, from Antoine Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (French, 1680 — 1765), Abrege de la vie des plus fameux peintres (Paris, I745~52)> vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Domaine National Du Palais Royal -Bury Fountain
    LOCATIONS N°49914 updated: 05/28/2020 Domaine National du Palais Royal -Bury fountain 75001 Paris France Contact the commission Film Paris Region, Ile-de-France Film Commission | +33 (0)1 75 62 58 07 Credits: www.l'artnouveau.com Credits: Commission du Film d'Ile-de-France Caption: Caption: Credits: Commission du Film d'Ile-de-France Credits: Commission du Film d'Ile-de-France Caption: Caption: Credits: Commission du Film d'Ile-de-France Caption: LOCATION TYPE CATEGORIES YARD Fountain ENVIRONMENT City GENERAL PRESENTATION LOCATION CONDITION TYPE Well maintained LOCATION HISTORY After the wall Charles V had built around Paris was torn down, Cardinal de Richelieu asked Jacques Lemercier to construct a monumental palace with a large garden near the Louvre (1634). For a long time, the palace was called the Palais Cardinal, before becoming what it is today: the Palais Royal. The prelate gave the house to the crown in 1636, and it was the residence of the Orléans family from 1661 and even became a center of power during the Regency. The main wing, which faces the Louvre, was finished and remodeled by Contant d’Ivry in the 18th century, then by Fontaine in the 19th century. The theater, today the seat of the Théâtre français, burned down on several occasions and was rebuilt in 1791. At the end of the 18th century, Louis-Philippe d’Orléans (the future Philippe-Egalité) needed money and launched a major real estate development project in 1780. He commissioned Victor Louis to build apartment buildings with identical facades around the three sides of the garden.
    [Show full text]
  • WALK 2 | Jardin Du Luxembourg Start – Metro Station, Line 4 St-Germain-Des-Prés Approximate Length: 3.4 Km
    WALK 2 | Jardin du Luxembourg Start – Metro Station, Line 4 St-Germain-des-Prés Approximate Length: 3.4 km 7 8 10 9 N U = Underground Metro Station = Optional route Emerging from the Metro station, you will be on Boulevard Saint Germain. Go to Place Saint Germain des Prés. Pass by the café Les Deux Magots, and in the middle of the plaza across from the church, you will find a Wallace Fountain. Fountain 7 Place St. Germain des Prés, 6th Arr. This fountain is near the entrance to the old abbey church, Saint Germain des Prés. In warm months, the fountain is surrounded by outdoor seating for nearby cafes and restaurants. One 7 cafe is Les Deux Magots, made famous by its former clientele - lost generation writers, surrealist artists, and existentialist philosophers. Today, the cafe attracts tourists and those who want to feel they rubbed shoulders with the ghosts of long dead French intellectuals. Perhaps Hemingway or Sartre drank from this Wallace Fountain after they had too much to drink at Les Deux Magots. Saint Germain des Prés is the oldest church in Paris with parts dating back to the sixth century. If you have time, look inside. Undergoing renovation, it is slowly being restored to its original glory. Cross Boulevard St-Germain and walk south on Rue Bonaparte until you arrive at Place Saint-Sulpice. In the square and across the street from the town hall of the 6th arrondissement is a Wallace Fountain. Fountain 8 Place Saint-Sulpice, 6th Arr. At the southwest corner of the square stands the fountain.
    [Show full text]
  • American History Tour in Paris, France (This Is a Proposed And/Or Sample Tour)
    American History Tour in Paris, France (This is a proposed and/or sample tour) Discover American History in Paris by Mary Jo Once you have been on this tour, you will forever have a deeper emotion on each 4th of July as Americans celebrate our historic declaration of independence from England and the results of the American Revolution. You will have a deeper affection for Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, because of the direct links between that city and our revolution. In addition, you will see the places where Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones and others lived and established themselves in both French and American history. While living in Paris, I learned much about the historic connections between France and the United States, especially in relation to the American Revolution. I discovered numerous plaques, statues, squares, streets, and churches all over Paris that refer to these historic connections. I was given a book by a friend that provides much information about these places and these connections. Now I am passionate that more Americans know where these places are, what the signs and plaques say (most of them are written in French), and why they are there. Come explore with me American History in Paris. You will see Paris in a different way – through the lens of American history. A Flexible Itinerary I have planned an itinerary that allows a good deal of free time so that you can fall in love with Paris in your own way. In addition, we will be a small group, no more than 12.
    [Show full text]
  • Baroque Architecture
    '"" ^ 'J^. rfCur'. Fig. I. — Venice. S. Maria della Salute. (See pp. 88-90.) BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE BY MARTIN SHAW BRIGGS A.K.I. B. A. " iAulhor of " In the Heel of Italy WITH 109 ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK ; ' McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY ^ y 1914 ,iMvMV NA (^Ay n^/i/j reserved) In all ages there have been some excellent workmen, and some excellent work done.—Walter Pater. PREFACE is commonly supposed that the purpose of a preface is to IT explain the scope of a book to those who do not read so far as the first page. There is a touch of cynicism in such an opinion which makes one loth to accept it, but I prefer to meet my troubles half way by stating at the outset what I have emphasized in my last chapter—that this book is not in any way an attempt to create a wholesale revival of Baroque Architecture in England. It is simply a history of a complex and neglected period, and has been prepared in the uncertain intervals of an architectural practice. The difficulty of the work has been increased by the fact that the subject has never been dealt with as a whole in any language previously. Gurlitt in his Geschichte des Barockstiles, published in 1887, covered a considerable part of the ground, but his work is very scarce and expensive. To students his volumes may be recommended for their numerous plans, but for details and general views they are less valuable. In recent years several fine mono- graphs have appeared dealing with Baroque buildings in specific districts, and very recently in a new international series the principal buildings of the period in Germany and Italy have been illustrated.
    [Show full text]