ABSTRACT
Chapter 1, presents the basic themes of the book and gives an overview of what will follow. After that, central themes of the book will briefly be elaborated in a historical perspective. Significant historical examples of traditions and developments in the aesthetic staging of political power – both in artworks and in the self-presentation of power holders – will be analysed, serving as preliminary illustrations of the complex ways in which aesthetic forms are interwoven with and play a role in their specific historical contexts. Finally, the basic theoretical and methodological frame of reference of the book will be outlined.
