Analysing the decorative programmes of the most opulent European palaces of the time, Margaretha Rossholm Lagerlof investigates how meaning was conveyed through display and visual effects. She explores the visual meaning inherent in the scheme of spatial relations; in effects of scale, perspective, lighting, figures' positions and postures; and in relations among image types. The analysis concerns the interrelations of various kinds of images in the ensembles; the relations between images and physical site; and the address to the beholder. Lagerlof considers the visual impact of the imagery...