Foundation, Dedication and Consecration in Early Modern Europe

Archaeologists, historians, and art historians investigate how foundation acts were performed, described, theorized, and appropriated; and how they formed part of a larger network of similar acts across time and space. They cover foundation and the Humanist quest for origins, foundation and re-foundation as purification and appropriation, consecrated ceremonies after Trent, and new beginnings. Among the topics are founding an ideal city in Filarete's Libro Architettonico, Pope Sixtus IV and the foundation of Ponte Sisto in 1473, building a sense of belonging with the foundation of Valletta in Malta, constructing a counter-reformational architecture in the southern Netherlands, and the foundation of the Paris Observatory on 21 June in 1667. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Maarten Delbeke, Ph.D. (2001) in Architecture, Ghent University, is Associate Professor at Ghent University, and researcher at the LUICD of Leiden University. He has published on Early Modern theory of art and architecture, as well as modern architectureMinou Schraven, Ph.D. (2006) in Art History, Groningen University, is postdoctoral fellow at Leiden University. She has published on early modern material and festival culture, including her Festive Funerals in Early Modern Italy. Cultures of Conspicuous Commemoration (in press, Ashgate).