The eighteenth century was a true golden age for the visual arts in Portugal. The discovery of fabulous deposits of gold, diamonds, and emeralds in Brazil suddenly made Portugal's court the wealthiest in all of Europe, enabling patronage of the arts on a lavish scale. This handsome volume is the first major work in English to be devoted to this period of Portuguese art and history.
Written by historians such as Kenneth Maxwell and specialists in art and architectural history such as Hellmut Wohl and Jennifer Montagu, the book tells the story of this unique age--its politics, society, and...