Material Conditions for Everyday Life

Question 1

rural vs urban

Answer 1

in 1800 only 10% of people in Europe lived in towns with over 2500 people

Question 2

painting showing no divide between inside and outside

Answer 2

Peter Bruegel, Village Fair

Question 3

house with huge glass windows and front and back divide for sociability and hosting guests

Answer 3

Harvard House, 1590s, Stratford-upon-Avon

Question 4

house bought at the hight of his fame to improve social standing

Answer 4

Rembrandt’s house in 1639 in Amsterdam

Question 5

architect who designed town houses with great halls so each room can be access privately

Answer 5

Bristol architect in 1724

Question 6

what does the Bristol architect say about privacy?

Answer 6

“private door by the back stairs to retreat without being seen by people that are visiting, and the conveying away anything that should not be exposed to view”

Question 7

what does the Bristol architect advise about servants?

Answer 7

advises clerks and servants not to mix on same floors and converse together possibly to prevent the spread of gossip and scandal

Question 8

Lena Orlin

Answer 8

demonstrated how thin the walls in early modern houses were though conversations heard documented in court records where people heard crimes being committed through the walls

Question 9

Roger Pratt

Answer 9

argues need for privacy developed in relation to servants with separate floors and rooms created for servants

Question 10

Rafaella Sarti

Answer 10

argues there were so many servants in large stately homes that despite spatial segregation in the house, servants presence was still pervasive everywhere in the house

Question 11

Rafaella Sarti 15th C Milan Palazzo

Answer 11

words in latin above entrance read “public elegance and private comfort”

Question 12

Alvise Cornaro

Answer 12

a renaissance architect, argued “a dignified and charming building” is preferable to one that is “exquisitely beautiful and uncomfortable”

Question 13

Michael McKeon

Answer 13

argues wealth yeomen and merchants sought to replicate the changing domestic architecture of the higher classes, privacy motivated by class aspiration

Question 14

Matthew Johnson

Answer 14

houses represent social position and order in society, small entrance halls of farmers’ houses echo the great halls of Westminster and Kenilworth, showing common structure which expressed common social ordering

Question 15

Lisa Jardine

Answer 15

argues for new interpretation of Renaissance art not in terms of faith and religious iconography by focus on worldly goods, rich and exotic objects illustrated in paintings, art is “every bit as much a visual celebration of conspicuous consumption” as it is a religious tribute

Question 16

paintings showing all objects laid out in orderly fashion and table cloth represents cleanliness, reflects order in society

Answer 16

Heinrich Sulzer, 1643 portrait

Question 17

Vermeer’s paintings

Answer 17

focus on objects, house interiors and servants doing washing or cooking shows new significance and meaning in material goods

Question 18

Randle Holme

Answer 18

writing in the 1660s describes a dish as not only an instrument for eating and drinking but “also to adorn their country houses”