Baroque Architecture

A part of the series History of World Architecture originally published by Electa in Italian in 1971-7 under a general editorship of Pier Luigi Nervi, it was translated to English and published by Abrams in 1971-80 in b & w only, but at 10 x 11 1/4 inches. Subsequently, the series was reedited, shrunk to 8 5/7 x 9 1/2 inches, and published by Electa / Rizzoli in 1985-9 with a few color photos added including each front cover. In the early 2000's, the series was reissued by Phaidon unchanged except for the front cover photo. It is a pictorial "Ferrari" of history of architecture books. Almost every page contains one or - usually - more than one illustration as photo, plan, section, elevation, axonometric view, etc. of the highest quality. They depict the best examples of topical architecture covering the most significant ones. The text was written by one of the best experts in the field. While relatively concise, it is still comprehensive and complete enough even for students of architecture. (24 color and 315 black & white illustrations except for the Abrams edition with 395 black and white illustrations, including 8 maps and 20 diagrams.) PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS: The History of World Architecture is one of Electa's history series, a milestone in the evolution of architecture books, owing to the make-up of each individual volume and especially to its international scope. The presence of authoritative scholars, the combination of texts and illustrations and the careful use of accurate yet accessible terms, have contributed to the series' worldwide popularity. Baroque Architecture examines the principal seventeenth-century architectural themes - "capital city", "church" and "palace" - using the most famous examples of the period in Rome, Paris, Turin and Versailles. A large section is devoted to religious architecture, analysing works by Della Porta, Maderno, Mansart, Borromini, Bernini and Guarini, envisaged in both a local and European context. The book ends with a general survey of the diffusion of the Baroque in Europe up until the development of an "international style" in its various local versions. TABLE OF CONTENTS (Abrams edition): PREFACE by Pier Luigi Nervi 5 CHAPTER ONE The Baroque Age 9 CHAPTER TWO The City 27 CHAPTER THREE The Church 103 CHAPTER FOUR The Palace 293 CHAPTER FIVE The Diffusion of Baroque Architecture 303 NOTES 359 SYNOPTIC TABLES 371 BIOGRAPHIES 379 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 392 INDEX 394 LIST OF PLATES 401 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS 407 (Rizzoli edition): Chapter One THE BAROQUE AGE 7 Chapter Two THE CITY 19 Chapter Three THE CHURCH 62 Chapter Four THE PALACE 144 Chapter Five THE DIFFUSION OF BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE 174 NOTES 205 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 213 INDEX 215 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS 223