Ancient States of Italy (Antichi Stati)
Lepers and aristocrats, cardinals and brigands, doges and merchants, barons and Jesuits, courtesans and enlightened princes, coronations and famines, wars and conclaves, earthquakes and processions, pigtails and wigs, cocked hats and dress swords, kepis and feluccas, masks and daggers, secret conspiracies and palace intrigue... the motley, gaudy spectacle of the 18th-and 19th-century Italian States lives again in this collection through contemporary images and the words of eye-witnesses and protagonists: travellers, writers of memoirs, governors, generals, men of letters, reformers, secret, agents, abbots, ambassadors, ladies-in-waiting and adventurers. Each volume includes an introductory essay expressly written by a historian, and a rich anthology of texts, together with chronologies, geographical descriptions, family trees and biographies. The lavish illustrations reveal the official face of the Ancient States of Italy, often for the first time: portraits of sovereigns and governors, flags, uniforms, coins, seals, coats of arms, maps and views. The series is edited by Gianni Guadalupi, with the collaboration of numerous experts.
|
