These twelve essays provide an insightful foundation for more extensive study. The authors' diverse case studies explore a variety of themes and debates over the course of the book and thereby make an important contribution to both festival studies and the cultural dimensions of Habsburg hegemony.
-Jeremy Roe, Universidade Nova de Lisbo

"Festival Culture in the World of the Spanish Habsburgs is a must. This is a superb exploration of the monarchy's pluralistic language of self-representation through local and transnational cultural events articulated in the visual, historical, religious, musical, print, literary, and ephemeral forms. The result is an exhilarating and compelling book with an original approach to the culture of festivals in the Spanish empire during the Habsburg dynasty.' Carmen Fracchia, Birkbeck, University of London, UK 'This stimulating book presents the triumphant worlds of the Spanish Habsburgs through a myriad of historical perspectives, embracing Iberia, Rome, Milan, Palermo and Spanish America. Painting, sculpture, architecture and music are examined through the lens of festivals and celebrations during the baroque period. Edited by two experts in the field, with contributions by leading scholars, this will be an enormously useful work of reference for scholars and students alike." - Marjorie Trusted, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

"This edited collection makes a significant contribution to several areas of study. In treating Spanish Habsburg festivals as part of "one cultural system", it advances the scholarship of these ceremonies beyond the geographical compartmentalization that charactized the field. (...) To read this book is to encounter the early modern festival in all its richness and complexity." - Linda Briggs, University of Manchester, UK