On Neoclassicism

Throughout Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century artists, architects and decorators turned with increasing enthusiasm to Classical subJects, motifs and decorative schemes. The discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the reaction against rococo extravagance and the influence of rationalism - all combined to inspire a delight in the simplicity and quiet grandeur of the Classical legacy Professor Mario Praz's well-known study of neoclassicism, now made available in paperback for the first time, surveys the many dIfferent manifestations of the style m interior design in the Adam and Empire modes, m architecture, in such northern cities as Dublin, Bath and St. Petersburg and in the Utopian projects of Ledoux, in sculpture, in the work of Canova and Thorwaldsen. Giving a comprehensive view of the style, he relates it to the literary and social background, from its seventeenth-century precursors to its continuing influence fostered by collectors - from the late nineteenth century onwards. One of the most learned and persuasive of all literary historians, Professor Praz is the author of The Romantic Agony and The Illustrated History of Interior Decoration.

«This wholly delightful volume»
(Apollo)

«Timely and refreshing ... Praz brings to the study of neoclassicism breadth of imagination and poetic insight»
(The Connoisseur)

«He writes splendidly… he quotes widely and unexpectedly and is always ready for provocative asides and digressions»
(Nikolaus Pevsner, in Architectural Review)