'Scholarly, meticulously researched and packed full of juicy detail, this is not only a rip-roaring slice of 17th-century England, from the fall of Charles I to the Restoration, but also an intriguing story of art, double-dealing and trickery. Readable history at its best' Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth 'Sprezzatura scholarship: Jerry Brotton dazzlingly combines the history of English art, politics, courtly life and connoisseurship with the compelling story of the life and death of a king' Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
'Brotton has taken on a cracking good story, confidently snaking through the complicated politics of seventeenth-century European art-dealership, from Venice and the Low Countries to the Escorial and back into the side-streets of turbulent London and the thousand-odd rooms of Whitehall Palace. He beds this vast mass of convoluted activity with its great cast of characters from de Critz to Van Dyck its rivalries, frauds, enthusiasms, bankruptcies, brinkmanship and U-turns deeply into the political, social and artistic context of the time. This is no pillow book: that Brotton maintains his authorial grip on both the grand sweep and the elaborate detail while controlling the drive of his multi-layered narrative is a superb achievement' Kate Colquhoun, Daily Telegraph 'Provocative admirably researched and compellingly narrated' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times 'Jerry Brotton, a young historian with an enviable command of the secondary literature, both historical and art-historical, and a good understanding of the way objects and works of art assume ideological significance, has told the amazing story of Charles I's collection and its subsequent sale in full' Charles Saumarez Smith, Literary Review 'Jerry Brotton holds a magnifying glass to the amassing of the royal collection and its later dispersal bustles with fascinating detail' History Today 'Admirable' The Times 'Colourful' Observer 'Magnificent' Daily Express
Jerry Brotton is Senior Lecturer in Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London and director of the college's MA in Renaissance Studies. He is a regular reviewer and broadcaster for both radio and television, appearing in the BBC documentary Leonardo and The Medici on Channel 4. He is the author of several books, including the acclaimed Renaissance Bazaar and The Sale of the Late King's Goods, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.
Brotton has taken on a cracking good story, confidently snaking through the complicated politics of seventeenth-century European art-dealership, from Venice and the Low Countries to the Escorial and back into the side-streets of turbulent London and the thousand-odd rooms of Whitehall Palace. He beds this vast mass of convoluted activity with its great cast of characters from de Critz to Van Dyck its rivalries, frauds, enthusiasms, bankruptcies, brinkmanship and U-turns deeply into the political, social and artistic context of the time. This is no pillow book: that Brotton maintains his authorial grip on both the grand sweep and the elaborate detail while controlling the drive of his multi-layered narrative is a superb achievement' Kate Colquhoun, Daily Telegraph Provocative admirably researched and compellingly narrated' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times Jerry Brotton, a young historian with an enviable command of the secondary literature, both historical and art-historical, and a good understanding of the way objects and works of art assume ideological significance, has told the amazing story of Charles I's collection and its subsequent sale in full' Charles Saumarez Smith, Literary Review Jerry Brotton holds a magnifying glass to the amassing of the royal collection and its later dispersal bustles with fascinating detail' History Today Admirable' The Times Colourful' Observer Magnificent' Daily Express
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