Grand Tour: The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century

Andrew Wilton (Ed); Ilaria Bignamini (Ed); et al.

London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 1996. Softcover. Color pictorial glued wraps. 328 pp. 160 color and 110 bw illustrations. VG. Item #133391
ISBN: 9781854371881

From cover: "The Grand Tour, the journey made by noblemen and gentlemen of many nations to Italy in search of antique and modern culture, reached its apogee in the eighteenth century and come to an end with the Napoleonic Wars in the 1790s. This catalogue looks at this vital aspect of European civilisation in the age of Enlightenment from the point of view of several countries and includes the work of foremost artists of the period, amongst them Canaletto, Fragonard, Pompeo Batoni, Joseph Wright of Derby and Joshua Reynolds. The vast majority of Grand Tourists were British, and the show emphasises their key role as patrons and collectors." Accompanies an exhibition held at the Tate Gallery, London, Oct. 10, 1996-Jan. 5, 1997 and the Palazzo delle esposizioni, Rome, Feb. 5-Apr. 7, 1997. Contents as follows: Preface / Francis Haskell -- Grand Tour: The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century / Cesare de Seta -- Discovering Italy: British Travellers in the Eighteenth Century / John Ingamells -- Grand Tour: Open Issues / Ilaria Bignamini.