Folly
Related: Folies Bergères - madness - irrationality
Contrast: reason - seriousness
Titles: In Praise of Folly (1509|1511) - Desiderius Erasmus
Architectural follies were sometimes built as intentional ruins.
In Praise of Folly (1509|1511) - Desiderius Erasmus [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Folly (architecture)
Folly is also a synonym for foolishness; see stupidity. A folly is a silly error.
In architecture, a folly is an extravagant, useless, or fanciful building, or a building that appears to be something other than what it is.
The term comes from the fact that such structures have often been dubbed "[name of architect or builder]'s Folly", in the sense of foolishness or madness.
Follies are usually found in parks or large grounds of houses and stately homes; they may sometimes have been deliberately built to look partially in ruins. They were especially popular from the end of the 16th century to the 18th century.
The Parc de la Villette in Paris has a number of modern follies by different architects. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly [Jan 2006]
The praise of folly (2006 exhibition in Sint Niklaas)
My native town has an exhibition with the title The praise of folly (after the book by 16th century Dutch writer Erasmus). It features paintings by Antoine Wiertz, Félicien Rops, Léon Herbo, Armand Rassenfosse, Jan Steen, etc... and write-ups by Belgian writers. The exhibition is divided thematically in
- Luxuria
- Avaritia
- Acedia
- Ira
- Invidia
- Gula
- Superbia
Rosine à sa toilette (1865) - Antoine Wiertz
The Reader of Novels (1853) - Antoine Wiertz
Psyché () - Léon Herbo
Singulier Animal (1893) - Armand Rassenfosse
Couple in the Bedroom () - Jan Steen
See also: folly - Belgian arts
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