A beautifully illustrated exploration of opulent tastes and the power of patronage in 18th-century Britain

The central decades of the eighteenth century in Britain were crucial to the history of European taste and design. One of the period’s most important campaigns of patronage and collecting was that of the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland: Sir Hugh Smithson (1712–86) and Lady Elizabeth Seymour Percy (1716–76).

This book examines four houses they refurbished in eclectic architectural styles―Stanwick Hall, Northumberland House, Syon House, and Alnwick Castle―alongside the innumerable objects they collected, their funerary monuments, and their persistent engagement in Georgian London’s public sphere. Over the years, their commissions embraced or pioneered styles as varied as Palladianism, rococo, neoclassicism, and Gothic revival. Patrons of many artists and architects, they are revealed, particularly, as the greatest supporters of Robert Adam. In every instance, minute details contributed to large-scale projects expressing the Northumberlands’ various aesthetic and cultural allegiances. Their development sheds light on the eclectic taste of Georgian Britain, the emergence of neoclassicism and historicism, and the cultures of the Grand Tour and the Enlightenment.

本书探讨了18世纪英国的奢华品味和赞助权力。

18世纪中叶的英国对欧洲品味和设计的历史至关重要。这个时期最重要的赞助和收藏活动之一是诺森伯兰第一公爵休·史密森爵士（1712-86）和公爵夫人伊丽莎白·西摩·珀西女士（1716-76）的活动。本书研究了他们以折衷的建筑风格翻新的四座房子：斯坦威克厅、诺森伯兰府、西恩府和阿恩威克城堡，还有他们收集的无数物品、葬礼纪念碑和在乔治亚时代伦敦公共领域的持续参与。多年来，他们赞助的作品拥抱或开创了帕拉迪奥主义、洛可可风格、新古典主义和哥特式复兴等多种风格。他们是许多艺术家和建筑师的赞助人，尤其是作为罗伯特·亚当的最大支持者。在每个例子中，微小的细节都有助于大型项目，表达了诺森伯兰的各种美学和文化忠诚度。它们的发展揭示了乔治时期英国的折衷主义品味，新古典主义和历史主义的出现，以及大旅行和启蒙运动的文化。