Routledge
184 pages | 24 Color Illus. | 53 B/W Illus.
This book illuminates the original meanings of seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century mural paintings in Britain.
At the time, these were called ‘histories’. Throughout the eighteenth century, though, the term became directly associated with easel painting and, as ‘history painting’ achieved the status of a sublime genre, any link with painted architectural interiors was lost. Whilst both genres contained historical figures and narratives, it was the ways of viewing them that differed. Lydia Hamlett emphasises the way that mural paintings were experienced by spectators within their architectural settings. New iconographical interpretations and theories of effect and affect are considered an important part of their wider historical, cultural and social contexts.
This book is intended to be read primarily by specialists, graduate and undergraduate students with an interest in new approaches to British art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Introduction: Re-experiencing British murals
Chapter 1: Animating Histories
Chapter 2: Triumph and Return: bringing the gods onto man’s stage
Chapter 3: Murals and Metamorphoses
Chapter 4: Poetry, Painting and Politics: the early 1700s
Chapter 5: The frenzied age of mural painting
Conclusion: Defining mural painting as a genre
Routledge Research in Art History is our home for the latest scholarship in the field of art history. The series publishes research monographs and edited collections, covering areas including art history, theory, and visual culture. These high-level books focus on art and artists from around the world and from a multitude of time periods. By making these studies available to the worldwide academic community, the series aims to promote quality art history research.
