The Utility of Splendor: Ceremony, Social Life, and Architecture at the Court of Bavaria, 1600-1800

Klingensmith, Samuel John

ISBN 10: 0226443302 / ISBN 13: 9780226443300

Published by University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1993

About this Item

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. xx, 315 (9) pp, list of illustrations and plans, editor's preface, acknowledgments, preface, 1. Introduction: 2. The Residenz in Munich; 3. The Country Houses; 4. Apartments and Sale Issues of Program and Plan; 5. Elements of Everyday Life; 6. State Acts: Diplomatic Reception and Audiences; Appendices 1-10, notes, bibliography, index, plans with color b&w illustrations. First Edition, 1993. "The author discusses how, over the years, successive rulers reshaped the internal spaces of their residences to reflect changes in the elaborate ceremony that regulated daily life at court. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including building documents, correspondence, diaries, and court regulations, Klingensmith investigates the intricacies of Bavarian court practice and shows that Versailles was only one among several influences on German palace planning. Klingensmith offers a cogent, detailed understanding of the relations between architectural spaces and the ceremonial, social, and private life that both required and used them. Handsomely illustrated with photographs and plans, The Utility of Splendor will appeal to anyone interested in how life was lived among the nobility during the last centuries of the old regime." Not Price Clipped. Lightly bumped fore-edge corner tip, else, Pristine, no wear. Clean, tight and strong binding with no underlining, highlighting or marginalia. Brick-red half-cloth with cream paper-covered boards, and gilt lettering to spine. Size: Small 4to.

Seller Inventory # 002319

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Utility of Splendor: Ceremony, Social Life, and Architecture at the Court of Bavaria, 1600-1800
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226443302
• ISBN 13: 9780226443300
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • ARCHITECTURE

About this title

Synopsis

The grand palaces and princely villas of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty—Nymphenburg, Schleissheim, the vast Residenzschloss in Munich, and others—impress visitors with their great halls and intimate cabinets, dramatic stairhalls and seemingly endless rows of sumptuously decorated rooms. But these dazzling residences did not exist solely to delight the eye. In The Utility of Splendor, Samuel John Klingensmith discusses how, over the years, successive rulers reshaped the internal spaces of their residences to reflect changes in the elaborate ceremony that regulated daily life at court.

Drawing on a broad range of sources, including building documents, correspondence, diaries, and court regulations, Klingensmith investigates the intricacies of Bavarian court practice and shows that Versailles was only one among several influences on German palace planning. Klingensmith offers a cogent, detailed understanding of the relations between architectural spaces and the ceremonial, social, and private life that both required and used them. Handsomely illustrated with photographs and plans, The Utility of Splendor will appeal to anyone interested in how life was lived among the nobility during the last centuries of the old regime.

Samuel John Klingensmith (1949-1986) was assistant professor of art history at Tulane University.