The Escorial

Art and Power in the Renaissance

The Escorial
Henry Kamen
RRP:
NZ$ 66.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 52.80
Paperback
h234 x 156mm - 324pg
7 May 2010 US
9780300253870
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Few buildings have played as central a role in Spain's history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposing - even forbidding - in appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics and one of the greatest libraries of its time. Constructed over the course of almost twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a 'wonder of the world'. Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travellers every year. In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission the building of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philip's motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design and its place in Spanish culture. The result is a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion and power are analysed in the context of this remarkable building.
"The perfect subject for Henry Kamen, who has dedicated his life to challenging just about every myth and unquestioned assumption about Spain and its history. He takes on all interpreters, but above all, he takes on the ghosts of Philip II conjured up by his detractors and admirers."-Carlos Eire, Yale University
Henry Kamen has been a professor at universities throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain, and was until recently a professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, Barcelona.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780300253870
Published: 7 May 2010
Published In: United States
Imprint: Yale University Press
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Paperback
Height: 234mm
Width: 156mm
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 501g
Pages: 324

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