The history of Italian painting in the 18th century, analyzed with reference to regional schools and major cultural centers, with in-depth examination of different axes of influence, style and patronage, and a fine selection of illustrations.
[The 1700s] This book investigates the evolution of Italian painting in the 18th century, region by region, tracing a geo-historical profile of Italy in its moment of passage from the Late Baroque to Rococo, then to the academic encoding of the Baroque and the neoclassicist renewal of the end of the century. This was a moment in which many local schools of painting were leaning toward a super-national language, though with certain outstanding exceptions: Venice, with the sublime work of Giambattista Tiepolo, and Rome as a favorite pole of attraction for artists from all over the peninsula.
Particular attention is devoted to other aspects such as genre painting and the development of the Academies, going beyond a strictly regional overview. The book includes a fine range of illustrations, with reproductions of famous masterpieces as well as less familiar materials never previously published.