Adulterous Alliances

Shakespeare, Vermeer, Lope de Vega, Moliere, and Diderot don't usually keep company with one another. But in this book, Richard Helgerson shows that each contributed to a common project of great significance: the artistic promotion of the middle-class home. In a study that stretches over two centuries, Helgerson looks beneath European drama and painting to reveal an unexpected prehistory of modern domesticity.