Palaces of Reason

Palaces of Reason
Author: Robin L. Thomas
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2023-11-09
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0271096594

Palaces of Reason traces the fascinating history of three royal residences built outside of Naples in the eighteenth century at Capodimonte, Portici, and Caserta. Commissioned by King Charles of Bourbon and Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony, who reigned over the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, these buildings were far more than residences for the monarchs. They were designed to help reshape the economic and cultural fortunes of the realm. The palaces at Capodimonte, Portici, and Caserta are among the most complex architectural commissions of the eighteenth century. Considering the architecture and decoration of these complexes within their political, cultural, and economic contexts, Robin L. Thomas argues that Enlightenment ideas spurred their construction and influenced their decoration. These modes of thinking saw the palaces as more than just centers of royal pleasure or muscular assertions of the crown’s power. Indeed, writers and royal ministers viewed them as active agents in improving the cultural, political, social, and economic health of the kingdom. By casting the palaces within this narrative, Thomas counters the assumption that they were imitations of Versailles and the swan songs of absolutism, while expanding our understanding of the eighteenth-century European palace more broadly. Original and convincing, Thomas’s book will be of interest to historians of art and architectural history and eighteenth-century studies.

Architecture and Geometry in the Age of the Baroque

Architecture and Geometry in the Age of the Baroque
Author: George L. Hersey
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2001-03
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0226327833

The age of the baroque -- a time of great strides in science and mathematics -- also saw the construction of some of the world's most magnificent buildings. In this book, George L. Hersey explores the interrelations of the two developments, explaining how the advancements of geometry and the abstractions of mathematicians were made concrete in the architecture of the day. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Palaces of Naples

Palaces of Naples
Author: Donatella Mazzoleni
Publisher: Rizzoli International
Total Pages: 332
Release: 1999
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:

Stretching across the Bay of Naples and at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, Naples is home to numerous palaces, estates, and grand residences. Though some palaces have been abandoned or damaged, many have been restored to their historical glory. In the midst of this modern, vibrant, multicultural city, these remnants of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian aristocracy remain. Through glorious color photography and illuminating text, Palaces of Naples tells the stories behind this fascinating and fabulous homes. Thirty estates and palaces are featured here, each with its own style and its own story. From the famous portico of the Palazzo Filomarino to the mirrored walls and inlay figures of the eighteenth-century duke's study in the Palazzo Corigliano, the architectural details of the palaces are examined. In addition, the intriguing stories and rumors behind the homes-such as the reported ghost sightings and mysterious wails and blue lights emanating from the Palazzo Donn'Anna, left half-built by Anna Carafa, wife of the duke of Medina, when her husband fell from favor. With stunning color photography and engaging text, Palaces of Naples brings readers to thirty of the most beautiful estates and palaces of Naples. The history of the city and of each residence featured are relayed in fascinating detail: the stories of the original owners, the architects, and the occupants throughout the centuries. Hundreds of color photographs display the palaces-many of which are partially closed or completely closed to the public-in all their glory.

Architecture and Royal Presence

Architecture and Royal Presence
Author: Sabina De Cavi
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9781443801805

This book offers the first interpretation of Spanish architectural patronage in Naples during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III of Spain. The principal architecutral protagonists are Domenico Fontana (1543-1607) and his son Giulio Cesare (1580-1627), whose projects in Naples and Spain are set within the context of the cultural politics of the Monarquia Hispànica. Rather than being seen as resistant to habsburg imperialism, Naples (the most loyal city) actually participated, on a number of different levels, in the imperial program of the monarchy. While focusing on engineering and secular architecture, this book also takes related projects into account, such as commissions for major public sculptures and one fresco cycle, as well as the restoration and reuse of existing monuments and spaces. In this book, Sabina de Cavi discusses the evolution of Neapolitan architecture in ca. 1600 in relation to Rome, Palermo and Madrid, and in doing so casts light on the local process behind public commissions, and suggests a tentative explanation for the delayed flowering of Baroque architecture in Naples.

The Clement Bible at the Medieval Courts of Naples and Avignon

The Clement Bible at the Medieval Courts of Naples and Avignon
Author: CathleenA. Fleck
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1351545531

As a 'biography' of the fourteenth-century illustrated Bible of Clement VII, an opposition pope in Avignon from 1378-94, this social history traces the Bible's production in Naples (c. 1330) through its changing ownership and meaning in Avignon (c. 1340-1405) to its presentation as a gift to Alfonso, King of Aragon (c. 1424). The author's novel approach, based on solid art historical and anthropological methodologies, allows her to assess the object's evolving significance and the use of such a Bible to enhance the power and prestige of its princely and papal owners. Through archival sources, the author pinpoints the physical location and privileged treatment of the Clement Bible over a century. The author considers how the Bible's contexts in the collection of a bishop, several popes, and a king demonstrate the value of the Bible as an exchange commodity. The Bible was undoubtedly valued for the aesthetic quality of its 200+ luxurious images. Additionally, the author argues that its iconography, especially Jerusalem and visionary scenes, augments its worth as a reflection of contemporary political and religious issues. Its images offered biblical precedents, its style represented associations with certain artists and regions in Italy, and its past provided links to important collections. Fleck's examination of the art production around the Bible in Naples and Avignon further illuminates the manuscript's role as a reflection of the court cultures in those cities. Adding to recent art historical scholarship focusing on the taste and signature styles in late medieval and Renaissance courts, this study provides new information about workshop practices and techniques. In these two court cities, the author analyzes styles associated with different artists, different patrons, and even with different rooms of the rulers' palaces, offering new findings relevant to current scholarship, not only in art history but also in court and collection studies.

Ancient Marbles in Naples in the Eighteenth Century

Ancient Marbles in Naples in the Eighteenth Century
Author: Eloisa Dodero
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 654
Release: 2019-09-16
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9004399100

In Ancient Marbles in Naples in the Eighteenth Century Eloisa Dodero aims at documenting the history of numerous private collections formed in Naples during the 18th century, with particular concern for the “Neapolitan marbles” and the circumstances of their dispersal.