A Challenge for Painted Architecture in Early Modern Times

If specialists of painting look at figures - their movements and expressions -, architectural scholars examine drawings and buildings. Yet the convergence of these two disciplines remains largely marginalized. The aims of the publication is to remedy this situation, covering a wide range from painted facades and interiors of buildings to representations of architecture on paintings and frescoes. The theme contributes to the breaking down of boundaries between imagination and realization in the field of architecture and favors a more profound understanding of the permeability of the two spheres. Many different approaches are addressed in this publication, including examples from the sixteenth century in Italy and The Netherlands and the early eighteenth-century in France and Britain. The contributions in this publication are arranged according to four main themes. The first one focuses on The Temple of Solomon and the Old Testament, a favorite subject of the genre Architecturae Pictae. The second theme brings together several contributions which reflect on the significance that can be ascribed to architecture in paintings, some of which investigate the theoretical concepts that inform both architecture and painting. In the third theme, a number of case studies in Italy, the Low Countries, France and Britain, the contributions are much different from one other both in terms of content and methodology. As a final theme, a special topic is addressed, focusing on the important patrons of these buildings and liked to see themselves immortalized in painted architecture.