Rome/Amsterdam: Two Growing Cities In Seventeenth Century Europe

In the seventeenth century, Catholic-aristocratic Rome and Protestant-bourgeois Amsterdam were expanding rapidly, both in a political and in a cultural way. In a multifaceted comparison of these two contrasting cultural and political trend-setters, this book describes how each of them dealt with this growth and change on the basis of their diametrically opposed viewpoints. Its concentration on socio-cultural aspects complements the traditional emphasis on the artistic relationship between the two cities. The book offers deeper insights into the socio-cultural life of the two cities and beautiful, illustrated descriptions.