The Leiden Department of Art History organizes the online presentation of Magnificence in the Seventeenth Century, edited by Gijs Versteegen, Stijn Bussels and Walter Melion and published by Brill.
Age of Magnificence
The editors will talk about how the concept of magnificence functioned as a social construction in seventeenth-century Europe. Although this period is often described as the ‘Age of Magnificence’, thus far no attempts have been made to investigate how the term and the concept of magnificence functioned. The book focusses on the way crucial ethical, religious, political, aesthetic, and cultural developments interacted with thought on magnificence in Catholic and Protestant contexts, analysing spectacular civic and courtly festivities and theatre, impressive displays of painting and sculpture in rich architectural settings, splendid gardens, exclusive etiquette, grand households, and learned treatises of moral philosophy.
Guido Guerzoni and Nafsika Athanasouli will reflect on the new insights the book gives on the concept of magnificence, as well as on the early modern period.
To register and for more information about this event, see this page.
For more information about the publication, see the publisher’s website.