An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration: From Pompeii to Art Nouveau - Hardcover

'Gorgeous is the only word for this book. Sweetly written, richly coloured, stuffed to bursting and lavishly packed' - Sir Hugh Casson, Observer 'Magnificent ... scholarly yet accessible ... a seductive page-turner' - Financial Times 'Has lost none of its charm ... a delightful combination of knowledgeable opinion, gossipy scene-setting and detailed description' - House & Garden

An indispensable reference source for anyone with an interest in period styles of furniture and decoration, this renowned book comprises a complete survey of domestic interiors portrayed in art from the ancient world to the late 19th century. Available again after some years out of print, it presents a wonderfully rich collection of pictures of a type seldom reproduced anywhere. Around 400 paintings and watercolours from all over Europe, Russia and America record with faithful accuracy rooms of all periods and their contents: the furniture, fabrics, carpets, pictures and wall-coverings. A classic text goes beyond scholarly commentary to present a fascinating cultural history of man in relation to his domestic surroundings.

Table of Contents

Introduction · Illustrations and Commentary: Greek and Roman Furnishings; The Medieval House; Late Medieval Interiors; Late Gothic Interiors; 15th-Century Italian Interiors; Interiors in the Paintings of Vittore Carpaccio; Interiors in Florentine Renaissance Painting; The Scholar’s Cell; 16th-Century Interiors in the Engravings of van der Straet; 17th-Century Flemish Interiors in the Paintings of Frans Franken; Dutch Interiors in 17th-Century Emblem Books; Opulent Flemish Interiors in the Paintings of van Bassen; Louis XIII Inter ior s in the Eng ravings of Abraham Bosse; Inter ior s in 17th-Centur y Dutc h Painting; Wunderkammer n and Patrician Galleries; English Interiors of the 18th Century; Gothic Taste in 18th-Century England; Louis XV Interiors: Innovations in Furniture and the Distribution of Apartments; The Classical Influence and the Development of the Louis XVI Style; An Interest in Humble Interiors and Precious Furniture; Early Neoclassical Interiors; Interiors by Percier and Fontaine: The Inspiration of Herculaneum; The Receuil of Percier and Fontaine: The ‘Bible of Empire Style’; Archaeological Trends in England: Interiors and Furniture by Thomas Hope; Empire Interiors; Watercolor Interiors by Garnerey; Empire Interiors in Naples; From Empire to Biedermeier; The Timelessness of Humble Interiors; The Biedermeier Stimmung in the Paintings of Georg Friedrich Kersting; Interior Views as Portraits of Famous Persons; The Bonapartes in Exile – The Round Table of Queen Hortense; Early 19th-century Florentine Interiors; Biedermeier Interiors of the Bourbons in Naples; Biedermeier Interiors at the Court of Marie-Louise at Parma; Bourgeois Interiors and the Sense of Intimacy; 19th-century kitchens; American and English Interiors of the early 19th century; Russian Interiors, 1820s–1850s; Danish Interiors of c.1830; Cafés, Osterie and Gathering Places; Artists’ Studios; The Chigi Album; Dutch Interiors, 1830–1840; The Album of Queen Sophia of Holland; Innovations: The Pouf; Character of the Furnishing–Character of the Owner; Children and Flowers; Around the Table; The World Outside; Influence of the Great Exhibition of 1851; Residences of Foreigners in Italy; Watercolour Interiors by Fernand Pelez; Exaltation of the Stuffed Chair; The Style Louis XVI–Impératrice; The Château de Ferrières of the Baron de Rothschild; The Twilight of the Biedermeier Spirit; The Styleless Interior; The Clutter of Bric-a-Brac and Junk: The Makart-Bukett; The Japanese Vogue and the Ecelecticism of the 19th Century; The Intimism of Interiors by Vuillard; Art Nouveau Interiors