No chimneys in Spain
... no chamber pots in all the country
The Spain Samuel Pepys visited in 1683 was a once great imperial power reduced to second-class status. But what is meant by a country in decline? In a short series on Spain in the 17th.
18th and 19th centuries, John II. Elliott.
Professor of History at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Princeton, reflects on the paradox that a period of political and economic decline coincided with a Golden Age of artistic and literary creativity. Series producer JUDITH BUMPUS
IEIG Greco to Goya: the taste for Spanish
Paintings in Britain and Ireland at the National Gallery. London, until 29 November)