Book Launch Magnificence in the Seventeenth Century at Leiden Art History

The Leiden Department of Art History organized the online presentation of 'Magnificence in the Seventeenth Century', edited by Gijs Versteegen, Stijn Bussels and Walter Melion and published by Brill in the series Intersections.
The editors talked 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, analyzing 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 reflected on the new insights the book gives on the concept of magnificence, as well as on the early modern period.