Kings and Connoisseurs: Collecting Art in Seventeenth-Century Europe

In the 17th century, royal courts in Europe developed large collections of paintings, which transformed painting from an inexpensive to a costly art form. Jonathan Brown's book "Kings and Connoisseurs" explores the formation of new attitudes towards pictures, the emergence of the art dealer, connoisseurship, and the publication of picture books. It is a narrative of greed and passion set against the backdrop of international politics and intrigue.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Old master paintings are among the most valuable and prestigious of the visual arts, and the best examples command the highest prices of any luxury commodity. In Kings and Connoisseurs, Jonathan Brown tells the story of how painting rose to this exalted status. The transformation of painting from an inexpensive to a costly art form reached a crucial stage in the royal courts of Europe in the seventeenth century, where rulers and aristocrats assembled huge collections, often in short periods of time. By comparing collecting and collectors at these courts, Brown explains the formation of new attitudes toward pictures, as well as the mechanisms that supported the enterprise of collecting, including the emergence of the art dealer, the development of connoisseurship, and the publication of sumptuous picture books of various collections. The result is an exciting narrative of greed and passion, played out against a background of international politics and intrigue.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 202 x 255 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691252858