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Architecture, Poetry, and Number in the Royal Palace at Caserta by George L. Hersey (1983, Hardcover)
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$37.77
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1983 hardcover with dust jacket. Some wear to dust jacket, some fading and wear to edges. Stored in box EBBDCF12 rpr 0425
- Buy It NowArchitecture, Poetry, and Number in the Royal Palace at Caserta - 1983 MIT hd dj
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherMIT Press
ISBN-100262081210
ISBN-139780262081214
eBay Product ID (ePID)104200
Product Key Features
Number of Pages344 Pages
Publication NameArchitecture, Poetry, and Number in the Royal Palace at Caserta
LanguageEnglish
SubjectRegional, History / General
Publication Year1983
TypeTextbook
Subject AreaArchitecture
AuthorGeorge L. Hersey
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight44.9 Oz
Item Length10.7 in
Item Width8.3 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
LCCN82-020815
Dewey Edition19
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal728.8/2/0945725
SynopsisThe great palace of Caserta, near Naples, probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century, became an archetypal expression of absolute monarchy. It was begun in 1752 for Carlo di Borbone, King of the Two Sicilies, who worked closely with its chief architect, Luigi Vanvitelli. Although Vanvitelli was one of the most notable architects of his century, as Caserta was one of its major buildings, this study by a leading scholar of Baroque and Neapolitan architecture is the first book in English on the architect and his masterpiece. The book offers a new view of the palatial and megapalatial in architecture. Although the monarch for whom it was built never spent a night under its roof, Caserta was designed to provide the royal family and the court with a grand residence and more. It was also intended to house the offices of the government bureaucracy, barracks, a national library, a university, and a national theater - not only to symbolize but to contain the organs of a large modern state. Caserta influenced much that came after: plans by BoullÉe for a new Versailles to return pride of size to France, buildings in both Imperial and Soviet Russia, palaces of the later British Empire, even the Pentagon. As Hersey notes, "if Carlo di Borbone could return from the grave and rule the United States, he would move the seat of executive power from the White House to the Pentagon." The book also provides intriguing insights into the relationships between poetry - painted and sculptured allegories - and number - architectural planning that has become a geometrical game. It sketches the intellectual background of Carlo's conception, emphasizing the king's mythical forebears and his love of mathematical order. It shows that the Neapolitan poet and philosopher, Giambattista Vico, influenced the king to incorporate such mythic figures as Hercules and Aeneas into his genealogy and Vanvitelli to introduce their likenesses into Caserta's art, which is in turn integrated with the geometry of the palace's gardens and the numerical sequences of its rooms. George L. Hersey is Professor of Art History at Yale., Although Vanvitelli was one of the most notable architects of his century, as Caserta was one of its major buildings, this study by a leading scholar of Baroque and Neapolitan architecture is the first book in English on the architect and his masterpiece.
LC Classification NumberNA7756.C3
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Ratings and Reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Oct 13, 2021
This book is only interesting to history fanatics.
I thought this would be a beautiful, coffee-table type book with stunning color photos of the palace's lavish interiors. It's not...at all. What a waste of money.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
