ROMAN BAROQUE Anthony Blunt 0 9529986 2 9 £9.95 128 pp with 98 b/w illustrations incl views, engravings and maps Pbk 207 x 150 mm portrait The Baroque, for many the most thrilling architectural style ever created, was born in Rome and reached its apogee in the work of three geniuses - Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), Francesco Castello Borromini (1599-1667) and Pietro Berretini da Cortona (1596-1669). Perhaps the greatest student of the Baroque was Anthony Blunt, who spent a lifetime studying and teaching the history of the buildings and their importance to us now. This elegant and concise introduction to the style and its flowering in Rome was first published in an anthology of essays in 1978, not long before Blunt died, and represents a summation of his work. We have republished it here separately for the first time, and illustrated it copiously with contemporary engraved views and measured drawings. Many of these ravishing images have not been republished since the beginning of the 18th century. The combination of scintillating text and superb illustrations make this a delightful book as well as a must have on any student's list. Anthony Blunt (1907-1983), art historian and communist spy, was director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, and professor of history of art at London University. A prolific writer, his major works include Artistic Theory in Italy (1940), Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 (1953, revised 1981), Picasso: The Formative Years (with Phoebe Pool, 1962), Nicolas Poussin (1967), Sicilian Baroque (1968), Neapolitan Baroque and Rococo Architecture (1975), Borromini (1979), and A Guide to Baroque Rome (1983, to be reissued in 2002 by Pallas Athene).