The story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England.
The royal palaces of the Tudor period - Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Greenwich Palace, St James' Palace, Nonesuch, Whitehall and Richmond Palace, amongst others - are the subject of this illustrated book, in which the author examines the way in which Tudor palaces functioned on the inside.
The book takes as its starting point the argument that the only way to understand fully a building such as Hampton Court is to set it in the political and social context of its time and to explore the lives and motivations of its builders. The picture that emerges is on the one hand intensely personal - one of architects and builders fulfilling the whims of kings and princes. On the other hand, it is bureaucratic: Hampton Court is revealed first as the royal household, then as a palace claimed by grace-and-favour residents and finally, by visitors and tourists as their own. The history of the building is taken right up to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The twentieth-century story of Hampton Court is one of conservation and of changing attitudes towards opening up the complex to the public - it covers everything from the agonising discussions as to whether to build public lavatories to an account of the private enterprise that caused an octogenarian to make a personal fortune out of opening the maze to the public. It includes also the story of the terrible fire of 1986 and its aftermath. Social history and architectural history sit side by side in this intriguing account. New and important attributions are made to the architects Hugh May, Nicholas Hawksmoor, William Talman, Colen Campbell and Edward Blore amongst others. Moreover, the palace and its setting are placed in their European context and their long-term architectural significance is gauged. The book is lavishly illustrated with original paintings, prints and drawings, while a specially commissioned suite of plans and reconstructions reveals the evolving form of the buildings.
The first modern history of St James's Palace, shedding light on a remarkable building at the heart of the history of the British monarchy that remains by far the least known of the royal residences In this first modern history of St James's Palace, the authors shed new light on a remarkable building that, despite serving as the official residence of the British monarchy from 1698 to 1837, is by far the least known of the royal residences. The book explores the role of the palace as home to the heir to the throne before 1714, its impact on the development of London and the West end during the late Stuart period, and how, following the fire at the palace of Whitehall, St James's became the principal seat of the British monarchy in 1698. The arrangement and display of the paintings and furnishings making up the Royal Collection at St James's is chronicled as the book follows the fortunes of the palace through the Victorian and Edwardian periods up to the present day. Specially commissioned maps, phased plans, and digital reconstructions of the palace at key moments in its development accompany a rich array of historical drawings, watercolors, photographs, and plans. The book includes a foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Published in association with Royal Collection Trust
The first modern history of St James's Palace, shedding light on a remarkable building at the heart of the history of the British monarchy that remains by far the least known of the royal residences In this first modern history of St James's Palace, the authors shed new light on a remarkable building that, despite serving as the official residence of the British monarchy from 1698 to 1837, is by far the least known of the royal residences. The book explores the role of the palace as home to the heir to the throne before 1714, its impact on the development of London and the West end during the late Stuart period, and how, following the fire at the palace of Whitehall, St James's became the principal seat of the British monarchy in 1698. The arrangement and display of the paintings and furnishings making up the Royal Collection at St James's is chronicled as the book follows the fortunes of the palace through the Victorian and Edwardian periods up to the present day. Specially commissioned maps, phased plans, and digital reconstructions of the palace at key moments in its development accompany a rich array of historical drawings, watercolors, photographs, and plans. The book includes a foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Published in association with Royal Collection Trust
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