Free Ebook The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen
Right here, we have various e-book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen as well as collections to review. We additionally serve variant types as well as type of guides to search. The enjoyable e-book, fiction, past history, unique, scientific research, and also various other sorts of books are available here. As this The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen, it turneds into one of the favored e-book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen collections that we have. This is why you are in the ideal website to view the impressive publications to possess.
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen
Free Ebook The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen
Make use of the sophisticated technology that human establishes now to discover guide The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen quickly. However initially, we will certainly ask you, just how much do you love to check out a book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen Does it consistently until finish? For what does that book check out? Well, if you really enjoy reading, try to check out the The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen as one of your reading compilation. If you just checked out guide based on requirement at the time as well as incomplete, you have to aim to such as reading The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen first.
This letter may not influence you to be smarter, but the book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen that we offer will stimulate you to be smarter. Yeah, at the very least you'll know greater than others that do not. This is just what called as the high quality life improvisation. Why must this The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen It's considering that this is your favourite theme to check out. If you such as this The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen style around, why do not you review guide The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen to improve your conversation?
The presented book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen we offer below is not type of common book. You understand, reading now does not imply to deal with the printed book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen in your hand. You can obtain the soft file of The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen in your gizmo. Well, we indicate that guide that we proffer is the soft data of guide The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen The material and all points are very same. The distinction is only the forms of the book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen, whereas, this condition will specifically pay.
We discuss you likewise the method to obtain this book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen without visiting the book store. You can continuously go to the link that we provide and prepared to download The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen When many people are active to look for fro in the book establishment, you are very easy to download and install the The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen right here. So, what else you will go with? Take the motivation here! It is not only offering the right book The Escorial: Art And Power In The Renaissance, By Henry Kamen however additionally the appropriate book collections. Here we constantly offer you the most effective and most convenient means.
Few buildings have played so central a role in Spain’s history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposing—even forbidding—in appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics, and one of the greatest libraries of its time. Constructed over the course of more than twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a “wonder of the world.” Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travelers every year.
In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission construction of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philip’s motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design, and its place in Spanish culture. It represents a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance, in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion, and power are analyzed in the context of this remarkable building.
- Sales Rank: #1079455 in Books
- Published on: 2010-07-13
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.20" h x 1.40" w x 6.10" l, 1.50 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 336 pages
Review
"The perfect subject for Henry Kamen, who has dedicated his life to challenging just about every myth and unquestioned assumption about Spain and its history. He takes on all interpreters, but above all, he takes on the ghosts of Philip II conjured up by his detractors and admirers."—Carlos Eire, Yale University (Carlos Eire)
About the Author
Henry Kamen has been a professor at universities throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain, and was until recently a professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, Barcelona.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
"Oooh, aren't I bad?" As it turns out, no.
By Hatbox Dragon
I hadn't originally intended to visit San Lorenzo de El Escorial on a recent trip to Spain, but changed my mind because my father was very keen to hear what it was like. I went with almost no idea of what to expect, and because I absolutely hate audioguides, I wandered through what proved to be a really interesting, impressive, and in many ways very attractive, building complex with nothing but the minimal written information to guide me. So I've completely missed the mythology that has apparently grown up around the Escorial and its founder, Philip II. As a consequence, I may not have been the best audience for Kamen's book, which is largely concerned with dispelling that mythology. Yet I'm glad I read it for the insight it gave me into a place I really enjoyed visiting, and its examination of the preconceptions and historiographical shortcomings that seem to dog this particular field.
This is not a book about Spanish history or the process of designing and constructing the Escorial. Instead, Kamen presents a short examination of the design influences, purpose and status of the Escorial. The book is focused on Philip's lifetime, with little information on the Escorial's subsequent history. Since the Escorial was a personal project of Philip, his actions and beliefs form a significant part of the book. Each chapter is short and easy to read, with extensive footnotes. Since they are thematic rather than chronological, it's an easy book to dip in and out of, but requires some effort to keep track of the framing dates and events (which makes the timeline provided helpful). A general background in European history of the 16th century would be a pre-requisite for reading this, I think. The colour plates are relevant and reproduced well (though some of the photos look rather old), but weren't directly referenced in the text.
While I found this book a good read and would definitely recommend it, it is not without flaws. Kamen's insistence that Philip must have seen and been inspired by the the monastery complex of Ettal, stating it as fact at times when he admits that there is no direct evidence, sits awkwardly with his critiques of others for sub-standard research and reasoning. Also, Kamen seems more concerned with what the Escorial is not than what it is. Debunking is all very well, and I do like to see it done well as it is here, with frequent reminders of the importance of establishing the basics and going back to primary sources, but it can create a negative feel that makes the reading experience less pleasant than it might have been. This is purely a question of style, I admit, but I find it hard to believe that Kamen couldn't have chosen an approach that would highlight and examine the achievement the Escorial represents, and Philip's motivations for building it, in a more positive way.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
The Escorial: Restoring historical balance and correcting the myths
By Michael J. Rosenthal
I visited Spain and the Escorial in March. I was enchanted and overwhelmed. Before going to Spain I had read several histories and the recent biography of "Isabella, the Warrior Queen", so was fairly familiar with the historical setting. My wife and I spent a day there and still couldn't take it all in. Our guide turned me onto the works of Henry Kamen, certainly the preeminent contemporary historian of Spain. His "Spanish Inquisition," "Phillip of Spain" and "Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763" are all wonderful reads and each spends an appropriate amount of copy correcting the centuries old misinformation about Felipe II, but none does it quite as well as he is able to do in addressing the inextricably intertwined subjects of the Escorial and the man who created it.
A tremendous amount of mythology has also grown up around the Escorial. Much of it is related to the conjecture about Felipe II and his motivations in its construction. Most of it is negative. There is so much misinformation that it seems like it would be an overwhelming task to address it and essentially correct the “historical” record, but Kamen does it quite successfully.
Kamen comes across as an excellent modern reporter relying heavily on a reporter’s natural inclination toward skepticism. He is simply asking those historians and historical figures who have been so quick to express opinions based on nothing more than erroneous intuition, “Show me the evidence!” Then he points out that there is none and the errors usually are contradicted by the facts.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By fsc2
as prmised
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen PDF
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen EPub
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen Doc
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen iBooks
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen rtf
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen Mobipocket
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance, by Henry Kamen Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar