Iconography in Nineteenth-Century Architectural Publications
In recent years architectural history writing has enjoyed increasing attention as a subject matter of scholarly study. This book of essays aims to investigate one aspect in this field: the hidden meanings of pictures in nineteenth-century architectural history publications.What developments did reproduction techniques undergo which are relevant to the translation of particular positions in architectural history between 1789 and 1914? How did notions such as rationalism (analysis) and romanticism (synthesis) influence formal aspects and meanings of representation? What was the rhetorical character of the picture as considered from the author's perspective and within its own autonomy? What was the function of the picture in relation to the motivations of the authors, their public, and the types of books they chose? Were authors with a general historical interest in architecture different from ‘specialists’ in the field? And finally, how did text and picture interact? To what degree did illustrations contribute to the text or interpret it (or vice versa), or did text and illustration merely affirm each other?The writers form an international group of outstanding researchers who work on an interdisciplinary basis. In their contributions to this volume they work with one or more of the above aspects or with the relationships between them.