Casanova: The Seduction of Europe. Frederick Ilchman, C.D. Dickerson, Esther Bell.
In English. Hardcover, 343 pages, 24.8 x 19 x 3 cm. MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017.
From the salon to the boudoir: the world of Casanova as seen through the art of his time
In eighteenth-century Europe, while the old order reveled in the lavish excesses of the Rococo style and the Enlightenment sowed the seeds of revolution, the shapeshifting libertine Giacomo Casanova seduced across the continent. Although famous for the numerous amorous conquests he recorded in his remarkably frank memoirs, Casanova was equally adept at seducing the most elite social circles, through an inimitable mixture of literary ambition, improvisational genius and brazen deceit. In his travels through Europe and all levels of society, from the theatrical to the real environment, he also allowed himself to be seduced by the visual splendors he encountered.
This volume follows the first major art exhibition outside Europe to luxuriously recreate Casanova's visual world, from his hometown of Venice, city of masks, to the cultural capitals of Paris and London and the outposts of Eastern Europe. Bringing together the people he met and the urban landscapes, roads, salons, theaters, masquerade balls, boudoirs, game rooms and dining rooms he frequented, the book presents an overview of the important works of eighteenth-century European art, by masters such as Canaletto, Fragonard, Boucher, Houdon and Hogarth, along with exquisite decorative arts objects.
Twelve essays by prominent scholars illuminate multiple facets of Casanova's world, reflected in the arts of his time, providing a fascinating grand voyage through Europe led by a quintessential figure of the eighteenth century, as well as a splendid visual display of the spirit of the age.
