From Library Journal
Chastel completes his exquisite art historical trilogy (French Art: The Renaissance, 1430-1620, LJ 12/95; French Art: Prehistory to the Middle Ages, Flammarion, 1994) with this volume on the visual arts of the reigns of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. With an effortless command of both the material and its scholarship, he skillfully guides readers over the wonderfully wide-ranging achievements of French art of the 17th and 18th centuries. Not only are the monuments within the traditional universe of architecture and painting adeptly scrutinized; areas as diverse and significant as urban planning, garden and interior design, furniture, and the crafts also receive their due. Great and less-than-great works are succinctly evoked and ably placed within a context of period styles, function, and patronage. The significance of the salon, oral criticism, the Academy, and art theory is also ably suggested. All this is set within a flexible chronological embrace that sensibly unfolds the development of the national tradition. Although the volume is awash with beautiful color reproductions, its usefulness is somewhat vitiated by too numerous cited but unillustrated works. Still, this is highly recommended for all art collections.?Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
