Incendiary Art: The Representation of Fireworks in Early Modern Europe (Bibliographies and Dossiers Series)

Rating:
Summary: A valuable contribution to fireworks literature
Review: The overwhelming majority of books on a 'fireworks' theme may be grouped into a small number of categories: histories of fireworks makers (or fireworks-making families), explanations of the process or chemistry of fireworks manufacture, or books for children. Few attempt an examination of fireworks within a broader social context. Fortunately Kevin Salatino has written something out of the ordinary which will be appreciated by those with an interest in fireworks, art and/or social history.

The book includes an extensive selection of art-works from early modern Europe (both black-and-white and colour plates), explaining the social and historical context in which the fireworks displays were organised and the art-works created. He discusses the manner in which fireworks displays were used as a mechanism of conveying not only the power of monarchs and states but also the cultural values of the period.

This is a valuable contribution to the historical literature concerning fireworks, not just for the depth of Salatino's analysis but also because the book brings together and presents much which is not normally available to those who are not dedicated researchers.

The work leaves me wanting more - a comparable analysis of the representation of fireworks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries!