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Making Marvels

Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Making Marvels explores the dazzling fusion of innovation, technology, and spectacle in the decorative arts and furniture commissioned by European royalty from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Showcasing 150 extraordinary objects—from mechanical toys and automata to scientific instruments and timepieces—this volume reveals how luxury and scientific invention combined to create intricate works that were both status symbols and technical achievements. The book delves into the diverse materials used, the historical context of royal collections, and the artisans who crafted these marvels, illuminating a period when art and science were intertwined within the courts of Europe.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book will appeal to readers interested in the history of art, technology, science, and European royal culture, as well as collectors and enthusiasts of decorative arts and mechanical curiosities.

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Innovation, technology, and spectacle combine in wondrous works of decorative art and furniture that embody the splendor and luxury of the royal courts of Europe

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Innovation, technology, and spectacle combine in wondrous works of decorative art and furniture that embody the splendour and luxury of the royal courts of Europe.

At once beautiful works of art and technological wonders, the objects featured in Making Marvels demonstrate how European royalty from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment signalled their status through their collections of ingeniously crafted inventions. Featuring 150 exemplary objects ranging from mechanical toys to scientific instruments, timepieces to automata, this groundbreaking study brings to life a glorious period when luxury, a quest for knowledge, scientific invention, and political power combined to produce remarkable works of art. More than frivolous playthings, these works inspired technical innovations that influenced a broad spectrum of activities, including astronomy, engineering, and artisanal craftsmanship.

This remarkable volume explores works in a wide range of materials, including precious metals, gemstones, pietra dura, marble, ivory, wood, bone, shell, glass, and paper. The book’s compelling essays address the layered historical context in which these objects were fashioned and gathered into cabinets of wonder at courts throughout Europe; elucidate their complex blending of art and science; and provide fascinating details about the patrons who commissioned them and the specialists who made them.

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(November 25, 2019–March 1, 2020)

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

“Evokes an era when princes had laboratories and lathes, equipped with tools and machines that were great works of art - as well as the first executive toys” — James Hall, Times Literary Supplement 'Books of the Year'

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781588396778

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 10 December 2019

Country: United States

Imprint: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Illustration: 300 color illus.

Contributors:

  • Edited by Wolfram Koeppe
  • Contributions by Noam Andrews
  • Contributions by Florian Bayer
  • Contributions by Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie
  • Contributions by Peter Plassmeyer
  • Contributions by Paulus Rainer
  • Contributions by Dirk Syndram

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 241.0mm

Height: 298.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 308

Collections

Arts & Culture Non-Fiction

About the Author

Wolfram Koeppe is Marina Kellen French Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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