Placing Faces by Gill Perry

Placing Faces by Gill Perry

English country houses are full of portraits of family members, Kings and Queens, politicians, military figures and other well-known characters. We find these portraits in serried ranks in long galleries, placed high above the bookshelves in libraries, prominently displayed over fireplaces and in private apartments. They range from full-length paintings in oil by renowned artists to intimate pastels by amateurs; from busts displayed within the house to monuments located in the grounds. This collection of essays by scholars including Alison Yarrington, Gill Perry, Kate Retford, Harriet Guest, Emma Barker and Desmond Shawe-Taylor explores the rich but understudied relationship between English country houses and the portraits they contain. Moving between residences as diverse as Stowe, Althorp, the Vache, Chatsworth, Knole and Windsor Castle, it unpicks the significance of various spaces - the closet, the gallery, the library - and the ways in which portraiture interacted with those environments. It explores questions around gender, display and ownership, investigating narratives of family and kinship in portraits of women including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, as well as issues of celebrity and scandal in the case of Giovanna Baccelli, mistress of the 3rd Duke of Dorset. The essays in the final section turn to the representation of great military figures, heroes such as Captain Cook and the Duke of Wellington, and examine the complex ties between families, their houses, and imperial conflict. This book will be essential reading for all those interested in the long eighteenth century especially those studying portraiture, country houses and heritage, gender and imperialism.

"the book provides valuable information that increases the reader's understanding of the crucial place portraits occupy in the political and familial role of the country house"

(Hugh Belsey, Art Newspaper, 01/07/2014)

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Gill Perry is Professor of Art History at the Open University

Kate Retford is Senior Lecturer in History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London

Jordan Vibert is a Freelance Researcher specialising in eighteenth-century art and culture

Hannah Lyons is a Researcher and Information Assistant at Tate Britain, London

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780719090394
ISBN 10	0719090393
Title	Placing Faces
Author	Gill Perry
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Manchester University Press
Year published	2013-10-31
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable