Emblems in the visual arts use motifs which have meanings, and in Emblems in Scotland Michael Bath, leading authority on Renaissance emblem books, shows how such symbolic motifs address major historical issues of Anglo-Scottish relations, the Reformation of the Church and the Union of the Crowns. Emblems are enigmas, and successive chapters ask for instance: Why does a late-medieval rood-screen show a jester at the Crucifixion? Why did Elizabeth I send Mary Queen of Scots tapestries showing the power of women to build a feminist City of God? Why did a presbyterian minister of Stirling decorate his manse with hieroglyphics? And why in the twentieth-century did Ian Hamilton Finlay publish a collection of Heroic Emblems?

In The Globalization of Renaissance Art: A Critical Review, Daniel Savoy assembles an interdisciplinary group of scholars to evaluate the global discourse on early modern European art. Over the course of eleven chapters and a roundtable, the contributors assess the discourse's goal of transcending Eurocentric boundaries, reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of current terms, methods, theories, and concepts. Although it is clear that the global perspective has exposed the artistic and cultural pluralism of early modern Europe, it is found that more work needs to be done at the epistemological level of art history as a whole. Contributors: Claire Farago, Elizabeth Horodowich, Lauren Jacobi, Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Jessica Keating, Stephanie Leitch, Emanuele Lugli, Lia Markey, Sean Roberts, Ananda Cohen-Aponte, and Marie Neil Wolff.

In Florentine Patricians and Their Networks, Elisa Goudriaan presents the first comprehensive overview of the cultural world and diplomatic strategies of Florentine patricians in the seventeenth century and the ways in which they contributed as a group to the court culture of the Medici. The author focuses on the patricians' musical, theatrical, literary, and artistic pursuits, and uses these to show how politics, social life, and cultural activities tended to merge in early modern society. Quotations from many archival sources, mainly correspondence, make this book a lively reading experience and offer a new perspective on seventeenth-century Florentine society by revealing the mechanisms behind elite patronage networks, cultural input, recruiting processes, and brokerage activities.

Suzanne Karr Schmidt's Interactive and Sculptural Printmaking in the Renaissance tells the story of a hands-on genre of prints: how innovative paper engineering redefined the relationship of early modern viewers to art, humanism, and science. Interactive and sculptural prints pervaded the European reading market of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Single sheets and book illustrations featured movable flaps and dials, and functioned as kits to build three-dimensional scientific instruments. These hybrid constructions-part text, part image, and part sculpture-engaged readers; so did the polemical, satirical, and, occasionally, erotic content. By manipulating dials and flaps, or building and using the instruments, viewers learned to think through images as well as words, interacting visually with desires, social critique, and knowledge itself.

The latest book in the Enjoying Great Art series deals with a topic near and dear to most of our lives: Fathers and grandfathers. They are a part of our everyday lives. But do we think of them when we think of great art? Here is a picture book for adults and students of all ages...A picture book of fathers in art In addition to dozens of famous and (not so famous) depictions of fathers and grandfathers throughout the years, this book includes scriptures and quotes that celebrate the importance of fathers. As with the other books in the "Enjoying Great Art" series, this one contains pictures that are appropriate for adults and children of all ages.(There is one picture of a dad and son that have just finished hunting.) All of the paintings selected for the book are child-friendly - but we aren't necessarily recommending all of the other paintings by these same artists If you and your children want to go exploring after this - please exercise caution.

Scriptures and paintings that involve water - water carriers, wells, fountains, water falls, lakes, and more: Water is an important part of our everyday life. But do we think of it when we think of great art? Here is a picture book for adults and students of all ages...A picture book of water in art Different colors, shapes, sizes...Some where water is only a small part of the painting, some where it's the focus of the painting. Note to parents: All of the paintings selected for the books in this series are child-friendly - but we aren't necessarily recommending all of the other paintings by these same artists If you and your children want to go exploring after this - please exercise caution.

Maps and globes have been a big part of our everyday life, at least in the past. But do we think of them when we think of great art? Here is a picture book for adults and students of all ages...A picture book of maps and globes in art In some of the paintings the globes or maps are props, in some they are wall decorations. In some they are only small parts of the painting, and in some they are more the focus of the painting. Note to parents: All of the paintings selected for the books in this series are child-friendly - but we aren't necessarily recommending all of the other paintings by these same artists If you and your children want to go exploring after this - please exercise caution.

The latest book in the "Enjoying Great Art" series takes a look at paintings of Venice across several centuries. See this wide variety of paintings of the canals, the buildings, and the people. Enjoyed by adults and students of all ages.

Some pastimes may look a bit different today than they did years ago. But as these paintings will show - some things haven't changed over the centuries. Here is a picture book for adults and students of all ages...A picture book of pastimes in art The book consists of paintings divided into several different sections - Board Games, Winter Fun, Summer Fun, and Indoor Fun. Examine the different paintings and see the various activities - many of which remain much the same even centuries later.