Kings and Connoisseurs: Collecting Art in Seventeenth-Century Europe

by Jonathan Brown

Book Overview

A vivid and exciting account of royal collectors, art dealers, and connoisseurs and the rise of old master paintings Old master paintings are now considered to be the most valuable and prestigious of the visual arts, and the best examples command the highest prices of any luxury commodity. In Kings and Connoisseurs , Jonathan Brown tells in vivid detail the story of how painting rose to this exalted status. The result is an exciting narrative of greed...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 069104497X
• ISBN13: 9780691044972
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 3.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.0" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

A fine addition to any European history collection

I first saw this book in a store display and was captivated by it's breathtaking and sweeping art work from talents ranging from Bosch to da Vinci. It captures 17th century European art with style and grace rarely found in other books. Being a big Anne Rice fan, I was most captivated by the painting Crucifixion Altar, by Roger van de Weyden, which depicts Veronica holding her famous veil, which plays a key role in Rice's book Memnoch the Devil. Other highlights include Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and Raphael's Archangel Michael. The color of the paintings are superb, and the text is a perfect match. Bearing in mind that 17th European paintings depict many religious icons, it's a wonderful book to posses, whether you're religious or not. A magnificent find.