Villas and Gardens in Early Modern Italy and France

This volume focuses on selected villas and their gardens in France and Italy from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Interdisciplinary and fundamentally contextualizing in approach, the essays examine the relationship between landscape and court culture and statecraft; villas in their broader territorial setting; landscape and representation; gender and the garden; and the social history of garden construction, among other topics. Providing an overview of the new directions that are currently taken in cultural landscape studies, Villas and Gardens in Early Modern Italy and France also places these sites within the context of European intellectual history, material culture studies, and cultural landscape studies.

Reviews & endorsements

'This is an outstanding publication that anyone interested in early modern history will want to add to his or her collection. The introduction alone insures the essential value of the book; no student of Italian or French gardens will want to do without Mirka Benes's review of the literature which will now become the source of first reference for researchers. This collection of intelligently constructed and carefully researched essays will be an essential addition to both university and home libraries. Thankfully the original contributions are matched by the physical qualities of the volume, which is both well-produced and richly illustrated.' The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

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Product details

• Date Published: June 2001
• format: Hardback
• isbn: 9780521782258
• length: 448 pages

• dimensions: 262 x 188 x 34 mm
• weight: 1.259kg
• contains: 167 b/w illus.
• availability: Unavailable - out of print