Quadreria
2132 Parma e la Francia
Edited by Andrea Calzolari and Armando Marchi. Texts by Henri Bédarida, Giorgio Cusatelli
1985 / vol. I: 252, vol. II: 264 PAGES
For Parma, the 18th century under the government of Filippo di Borbone and the minister Du Tillot was perhaps its most splendid and happy season. A breeze from Paris stirred and aroused the little capital immersed in the mists and miasmas of the Lower Po Valley
Parma is often known for its vague air of French lightness but few can identify the origin of this characteristic. The monumental text by the historian Henri Bédarida is dedicated to the glorious 18th-century season, the one most responsible for this influence. Piece by piece, Bédarida reconstructs a tiny and complicated universe, made up of diplomatic balance, financial exchanges and intellectual commerce and an entire complicated network of minor trade, arts and crafts, where dignitaries, special envoys, administrators, technicians and writers lent themselves more or less consciously to the game of the Bourbons. Among the protagonists was the finance minister Dutillot, who modernised industry, creating new needs and therefore new professions, and the architect Petitot, who redesigned the face of the city and its gardens.
A Parma, come a una donna amata, è dedicato questo nuovo volume della casa editrice di Franco Maria Ricci, un ritratto della città con immagini spettacolari e schede, una per ogni monumento importante o angolo curioso e poco conosciuto.