Review: The Notion of the Painter-Architect in Italy and the Southern Low Countries, edited by Piet Lombaerde

This book owes its title to an insightful essay by Frans Baudouin that appeared in 2002 in the first volume of the Brepols Architectura Moderna book series, also edited by Piet Lombaerde.¹ Baudouin describes how painters got a share in designing buildings and became architects as well, focusing on the role of the painter-architect within the building process by clarifying Peter Paul Rubens's part in the design of a Jesuit church and his own house, both in Antwerp. Baudouin makes clear that the cooperation between painters and craftsmen such as masons, stonecutters, and carpenters benefited both groups: the craftsmen could improve their designing skills as a result...