This is the first book on the history of the virtually unknown phenomenon of the importation of Continental church furniture into England since the early 19th century, fuelled by the Romantic mediaevalising enthusiasm of Pugin and the Catholic Revival, as well as the eccentric whims of the Anglican Squiresons. It is well illustrated throughout, with over 100 pieces, from pulpits to choir stalls, discussed in detail. There is also an invaluable gazeteer of the main English churches containing fragments of this material.

Parisian churches are revered around the globe. Their stunning stained-glass windows and intricate Gothic architecture are accomplishments of unrivalled elegance. Churches of Paris gathers 37 of the finest in the City of Light, spanning the 12th to the 19th centuries. Each entry is embellished with beautiful colour photography and behind-the-scenes historical commentary. 

Offering insight into the buildings’ construction and genesis, this book narrates how each church was shaped by war, revolution and time. With information on restoration and preservation, this is an invaluable guide for Francophiles and curious armchair travellers alike. 

Featured churches include: Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Basilique Sainte-Clotilde, Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis, Notre-Dame Cathedral, La Chapelle de l’Epiphanie des Missions Etrangères et la Salle des Martyrs, La Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse, La Chapelle Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, La Madeleine, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, Cathedral Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky, Saint-Augustin, La Sainte-Chapelle, Sainte-Élisabeth-de-Hongrie, Sainte-Marguerite, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, La Sainte-Trinité, Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile, Saint-Eustache, Saint-François-Xavier, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais, Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes, Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Saint-Louis-en-l’Île, Saint-Merry, Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, Saint-Roch, Saint-Séverin, Saint-Sulpice, Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, The American Cathedral in Paris

“Seldom does a collection of art history essays leave readers yearning for a second volume…”—Barbara Wisch, Renaissance Quarterly
Roman church interiors throughout the Early Modern age were endowed with rich historical and visual significance. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in anticipation of and following the Council of Trent, and in response to the expansion of the Roman Curia, the chapel became a singular arena in which wealthy and powerful Roman families, as well as middle-class citizens, had the opportunity to demonstrate their status and role in Roman society. In most cases the chapels were conceived not as isolated spaces, but as part of a more complex system, which involved the nave and the other chapels within the church, in a dialogue among the arts and the patrons of those other spaces. This volume explores this historical and artistic phenomenon through a number of examples involving the patronage of prominent Roman families such as the Chigis, Spadas, Caetanis, Cybos and important artists and architects such as Federico Zuccari, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno, Alessandro Algardi, Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Maratta.

St Mark’s Church in Björkhagen, one of Stockholm’s southern districts, is one of Sigurd Lewerentz’s (1885-1975) key designs. But unlike Lewerentz’s other famous church, St Peter’s in Klippan, no book has been published to date that constitutes a fitting tribute to this masterpiece of brick brutalism.

This opulent new building monograph now fills this gap. Some 300 new colour photographs and especially drawn explanatory plans, alongside essays by distinguished authorities on Lewerentz’s architecture, turn this book into a visual feast. It demonstrates the exquisitely atmospheric St Mark’s Church both as a standalone object and in the context of its surrounding urban landscape. Moreover, it picks out many details, such as the floor coverings, furnishings, lamps, banisters, the altar, and other liturgical features. The essays explore aspects of materiality and topics such as the church’s special acoustics and atmosphere in an attempt to reveal the secret of Sigurd Lewerentz’s church designs.

Explore England as you never have before with our captivating travel book! From bustling London to picturesque villages like the Cotswolds, experience charming streets, medieval towns, and authentic fishing villages. Our enchanting photography captures the true essence. A perfect companion with a beautifully illustrated map and practical insights.
Explore the locals’ favourite spots, from cosy pubs and traditional tea houses to charming bookstores and hidden gem shops. Our enchanting photos capture the authentic atmosphere of Good Old England and will surely captivate you. Dive into the old English hospitality and atmosphere and let yourself be seduced by England in all its beauty!

England and Wales offer an abundance of cultural and natural experiences – for both the tourist and for the native. England is a country steeped in impressive history, and has a past that still influences the present. Occupied for at least 5,000 years, no other country in Europe has quite so many mighty castles, monumental medieval cathedrals, and remarkable palaces. Nature and the countryside have plenty to offer: rolling hills, mysterious moors, spectacular cliff-lined coasts, and more than 30 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; prehistoric monuments abound too. Vibrant cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and of course London, stand out with their mix of modern and ancient architecture and exciting cultural life. Neighbouring Wales also boasts plenty of variety: from an epic 1,680 miles of coastline, to the snow-covered mountains of Snowdonia, its highest summit; from inviting small villages, in between imposing fortresses, to three National Parks that protect an impressive 20% of Wales. This book is a celebration of both countries.

When the survival of the Catholic Church was threatened during the Republic and Catholic shelter churches were not allowed to be recognisable from the street, what was not allowed to be shown on the outside was compensated for on the inside. In the 17th century, the robes became gold, silver and silk expressions of silent resistance, but also of a feminist agenda of the makers. Behind closed doors, everything was literally and figuratively pulled out to propagate the Catholic faith. Worn ball gowns with colourful flowered French, English and Chinese fashion fabrics were donated to the church by rich, pious women so that beautiful and special church vestments could be made from them. So it could easily happen that a priest in a pink robe with flowers stood at the altar.

Walk in Jane Austen’s footsteps with this unique travel guide – the first book to explore England in relation to its most beloved Regency author. Rambling across the rolling fields of Hampshire, along the bustling streets of London and around the golden crescents of Bath, Jane Austen’s England is the perfect companion for any Janeite planning a pilgrimage. Functionally arranged by region, each chapter tracks down the most iconic scenes from both the big and little screen, as well as the key destinations where Jane lived, danced and wrote. Descriptions of each location are interspersed with biographical anecdotes and local history. Subsections focus on various stately homes that have been featured in every adaptation of every novel, from the beloved Pride and Prejudice television series (1995, Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). With a compilation of websites, seasonal opening hours and tour details, this compact book contains everything you need to immerse yourself in Austen.

“…the panorama of a self-forgotten milieu.”  — Monopol
“Toffs behaving badly: 1980s high society in photos.” — The Times

“The pictorial equivalents of Evelyn Waugh’s sentences.” — The New Yorker

“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline. Unmissable listening.” — Country & Townhouse podcast

“Wonderfully ironic, every point in the picture ignites and knows how to entertain very well.” — Lovely Books

“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.” — The Hollywood Reporter

“I wondered if the party guests I’d photographed were just re-enacting a nostalgic fantasy, an imaginary version of England that already no longer existed.” – Dafydd Jones

Throughout the 1980s, award-winning photographer Dafydd Jones was granted access to some of England’s most exclusive upper-class events. Now, the author of Oxford: The Last Hurrah presents this irreverent and intimate portrait of birthday parties and charity balls, Eton picnics and private school celebrations.

With the crack of a hunting rifle and a spray of champagne, these photos give an almost cinematic account of high-society England at its most riotous and its most vulnerable. Against the backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain, globalisation, the Falklands War, rising stocks and dwindling inherited fortunes, Jones reveals the inner lives of the established elite as they party long into the night-time of their fading world.

Praise for Oxford: The Last Hurrah

‘Sublime vintage photographs…’ – Hermione Eyre, The Telegraph

‘In The Last Hurrah…we see familiar faces from British high society poised on the brink of adulthood.’ – Eve Watling, Independent

This alternative guidebook is travel writer Ellie Walker-Arnott’s personal ode to her stunning and always intriguing home country. She takes you off the beaten track to hundreds of curious and unexpected places and reveals hidden places that tell an interesting story and will make you marvel. The book covers an eclectic range of alluring themes such as seaside secrets, historic spas, modernist architecture, adrenaline adventures, chocolate-box villages, sleepovers in incredible buildings and many more.

Leiko Ikemura’s (*1951) exhibition project In Praise of Light at St. Matthew’s Church in Berlin was created at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A space of light and colour, specific to the time and yet timeless, began a dialogue with the church: paintings on glass and canvas, sculptures, and a light installation that filled the apse of the church transformed the church, designed by Friedrich Stüler, into an open, interior space of protection and light, creating a vivid locale for debate and conversation, ad hoc concerts, worship services, and performances. The conversations published in the book reflect the dialogic creation of the exhibition and document the artistic resonance of the show, which was curated by Hannes Langbein and Alexander Ochs.

Text in English and German.

The Iron Bridge was opened to traffic in 1781, and, in 1986, the structure was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An expert survey conducted in 2000 and in-depth research on materials, surfaces, and construction techniques resulted in a detailed conservation plan, which was successfully carried out in the following years.

Text in English and German.

Medieval towns, dreamy landscapes with picturesque villages, mysterious stone circles, mighty fortresses, magnificent cathedrals and modern urbanity – these are some of the contrasts that characterise England and Wales. From the chalk cliffs and nostalgic seaside resorts in the South via the world city of London to the tranquil waters of the Lake District in the North, this amazing part of the world boasts a surprisingly grand diversity. All this and the charming eccentricity of its inhabitants are what make the country of William Shakespeare and King Arthur so unique.

This detailed travel atlas features stunning photographs, accompanied by practical travel tips.

For the past 15 years, Michael L. Horowitz has been photographing the interiors of Manhattan’s historic churches and synagogues. Though their exteriors are often unassuming and overlooked by passers-by, their interiors are spectacular, uplifting worshippers and architectural devotees alike. In this book, Horowitz takes us from Lower to Upper Manhattan, from the colourful wall paintings of Bialystocker Synagogue, to the jewel-like stained glass windows of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, to the awe-inspiring wooden ceiling of the Holy Name of Jesus and Saint Gregory the Great Parish. A lively and informative text by Elizabeth Anne Hartman tells the stories behind each of the 65 houses of worship featured. These sacred edifices reflect the hopes and aspirations of the many different communities that helped build the metropolis, expressed in numerous architectural and artistic styles. And many of these interiors bear the imprint of notable personalities in Big Apple history, from Clement Moore of The Night before Christmas to pioneering Black philanthropist Pierre Toussaint. This handsome volume, nourishing to the eyes and soul, offers a new perspective on the city to New York residents and visitors alike.

This beautifully illustrated book, with numerous essays by an international roster of leading art historians, examines Jacopo Tintoretto’s masterpiece Angel Foretelling the Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, painted between 1560 and 1570 for the Church of San Geminiano in Venice. It was displayed in this location for some 250 years until the church was demolished in 1807, and in 1818 the painting was sold into private hands. It was, famously, the centrepiece of the late rock star David Bowie’s collection, being one of the first artworks he acquired. He had it for nearly 30 years, and named his record label after the artist (the Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC). In 2016 it was purchased at auction by a private collector and donated to the Rubens House in Antwerp, where it is on long-term loan. This book accompanies the display of the painting, back in Venice for the first time in 200 years as part of an exhibition at Palazzo Ducale.

In what ways did the Jesuits deploy the Baroque visual language of the time to persuade the public of their vision on humankind, religion and society? In this beautifully illustrated book, which includes numerous artworks by Peter Paul Rubens and others, diverse authors rise to the challenge of finding answers to this complex question.

The setting is Antwerp in the 17th century. At that time, the city was the Jesuit Order’s headquarters in the Netherlands and a bastion against the Calvinism in the Northern Netherlands Republic. The fine arts were flourishing there like never before. Painters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck produced works for the Jesuits and participated in the Catholic community life organised by the order, with large groups of fellow believers. This publication takes a close look at the Baroque Saint Ignatius Church, now the Saint Charles Borromeo Church on Hendrik Conscienceplein, for which Rubens created magnificent ceiling paintings. The authors also show how more modest forms of art, such as religious folk prints, illustrated lives of the saints, schoolbooks, emblemata books and prayer books, were used to kindle the enthusiasm of as many believers as possible, both in their own country and in distant overseas territories.

Baroque Influencers – Jesuits, Rubens and the Arts of Persuasion presents written contributions from researchers affiliated with the Universities of Antwerp, Louvain and Stuttgart and various heritage institutes.

“A total delight, a brilliant vignette of 17th-century Rome, the Baroque and the Catholic church – warts and all – rolled into an erudite narrative…. with an ease of writing that is rare in art history.” – Simon Jenkins

By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome, celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world) had lost its pre-eminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile and a mania for building, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the must-visit destination for Europe’s intellectual, political and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist: no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Velazquez.

Together, Alexander VII and Bernini made the greatest artistic double act in history, inventing the concept of soft power and the bucket list destination. Bernini and Alexander’s creation of Baroque Rome as a city more beautiful and grander than since the days of the Emperor Augustus continues to delight and attract.

A Guide to Rubens’ Antwerp highlights the life and work of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in a comprehensive and accessible way. The Antwerp museums and churches contain about a hundred paintings, drawings, designs and sketches by Rubens. A large part of those are public. Antwerp is the only city in the world that is so deeply rooted with Peter Paul Rubens and his baroque heritage. A Guide to Rubens’ Antwerp allows you to experience Rubens and the Baroque in an intense way. This multifaceted acquaintance with Rubens goes hand in hand with a dive into the glorious past of the vibrant city of culture, where the master’s life largely took place. A mapped walk takes you to the various places in Antwerp where Rubens’ work can be seen. You can visit his house with the studio, where so many masterpieces came about. You also visit the homes of his friends Balthasar Moretus and Nicolaas Rockox, and you can admire paintings of him in the historic churches in the rooms for which they were made.

Text in German.

Rubens’ Antwerp: A Guide highlights the life and work of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in a comprehensive and accessible way. The Antwerp museums and churches contain about a hundred paintings, drawings, designs and sketches by Rubens. A large part of those are public. Antwerp is the only city in the world that is so deeply rooted with Peter Paul Rubens and his baroque heritage. Rubens’ Antwerp: A Guide allows you to experience Rubens and the Baroque in an intense way. This multifaceted acquaintance with Rubens goes hand in hand with a dive into the glorious past of the vibrant city of culture, where the master’s life largely took place. A mapped walk takes you to the various places in Antwerp where Rubens’ work can be seen. You can visit his house with the studio, where so many masterpieces came about. You also visit the homes of his friends Balthasar Moretus and Nicolaas Rockox, and you can admire paintings of him in the historic churches in the rooms for which they were made. 2018 is the official Rubens’ year.

Raphael arrived in Rome in 1508 and remained there until his death in 1520, working as painter and architect for popes Julius II and Leo X and for the most prestigious patrons. Here the artist changed his painting style several times, looking at the works of Michelangelo, Sebastiano del Piombo and the vast repertoire of ancient painting and sculpture. In the Eternal City Raphael practised architecture for the first time, designing buildings that reflected the models of Antiquity such as the Pantheon, the descriptions deriving from written sources such as Vitruvius’ treaty on architecture, and the examples of modern architects like Donato Bramante.

This guide supplies essential and up to date information on all the civil or religious buildings designed or built by Raphael in Rome, and the frescoes and paintings, housed in churches or museums, whether executed in the city or arrived there at a later stage.

The palaces built in Rome in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are some of the most magnificent buildings in Europe – yet they remain relatively unfamiliar. This is the first stand-alone overview guide ever published. We produce it as a companion volume to our revised edition of Anthony Blunt’s seminal A Guide to Baroque Rome: The Churches.

In this volume, Anthony Langdon draws on an encyclopaedic knowledge of the hugely productive scholarship in the field, which he distills with elegance, acumen and wit. Over the last 30 years all aspects of the design, construction, decoration and functions of these great houses have been examined and our understanding of the period has been transformed. Scholars and visitors will find this volume stimulating, concise and eminently readable.

The rich illustrations include over 140 contemporary prints, as well as plans, elevations, and specially taken photographs. Full references and indexes complete this indispensable aid to further research.

Aidan Dodson’s British Royal Tombs covers all the burials of the kings, queens (and lords protector) of England, Scotland and the United Kingdom, from the occupant of the great Sutton Hoo ship burial, to George VI, last Emperor of India, including of course the long-lost Richard III. This fully revised edition of a book that became an immediate classic of its kind will be equally interesting to the interested visitor and the student. The career of each ruler is briefly described, followed by what is known about his or her burial arrangements and the subsequent history of the tomb and its contents. Each tomb is illustrated as far as possible by at least one photograph or drawing. The posthumous fate of royal spouses is also included, together with information on each of the cathedrals, churches, chapels and other structures that house or once housed royal tombs; there are detailed diagrams for the major sites. A list of monarchs, family trees and an extensive bibliography complete the book.