Dairy Queens : The Politics of Pastoral Architecture from Catherine de' Medici to Marie-Antoinette / Meredith Martin.
2011
NA2543.W65 M37 2011eb
Linked e-resources
Linked Resource
Online Access
Details
Title
Dairy Queens : The Politics of Pastoral Architecture from Catherine de' Medici to Marie-Antoinette / Meredith Martin.
Author
Martin, Meredith, author.
ISBN
9780674059474
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2011]
Copyright
©2011
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (336 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674059474 doi
Call Number
NA2543.W65 M37 2011eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
728/.92
Summary
Though Meredith Martin is primarily an art historian, this book goes way beyond art history. It examines "pleasure dairies," built by the French aristocracy to be sites of leisure, healing, and simple luxury, from the vantage point of cultural studies as well as social and political history. The traditional historical narrative, still deeply resonant, is that these dairies were little more than frivolous excess or attempts to imagine "common life" by people so wealthy they could not even imagine poverty. But Martin complicates this picture. She examines the social, cultural, and political uses of these dairies, showing that they were in fact instrumental as sites that both reinforced and challenged definitions of femininity. The dairies provided strategic venues for noble women to assert their status and identity while at the same time appearing to retreat from power. They served the functions of a spa, where fresh milk and beautiful scenery helped women recover their health. They also are tangible evidence of the new valorization of country living, which was expressed also in political debates about improving the countryside and reforming the aristocracy, especially elite women.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Dez 2022)
Series
Harvard Historical Studies ; 176
Linked Resources
Online Access
Record Appears in
Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources
All Resources
Table of Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Introduction
1. Catherine de' Medici, The French Cybele
2. Absolutism and the Sexual Politics of Pastoral Retreat
3. Health, Hygiene, and the Hermitages of Madame de Pompadour
4. Marie-Antoinette and the Hameau Effect
5. Regenerating the Monarchy: The Queen's Dairy at Rambouillet
Epilogue
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Contents
Introduction
1. Catherine de' Medici, The French Cybele
2. Absolutism and the Sexual Politics of Pastoral Retreat
3. Health, Hygiene, and the Hermitages of Madame de Pompadour
4. Marie-Antoinette and the Hameau Effect
5. Regenerating the Monarchy: The Queen's Dairy at Rambouillet
Epilogue
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index