FRA ANGELICO, known by various names, including Fra Giovanni Beato Angelico da Fiesole (1399?-1455), is one of the very few painters of the Italian Renaissance who painted religious pictures exclusively. Almost all Angelico's paintings are religious - he did not paint secular portraits, like, say, Giovanni Bellini or Ghirlandaio. It was Vasari who stressed Angelico's purity, holiness, faith, humility and devout nature, and this description of Angelico as a holy monk-like painter persists throughout the centuries. John Ruskin called Angelico 'an inspired saint'.

This edition contains research works on a wide variety of topics by New Jersey high-school and middle-school students.

A fully illustrated survey of Early Netherlandish painting, featuring all of the major artists, and many lesser-known painters.

Raphael (1483-1520) was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. In this volume, numerous large-sized illustrations showcase the artist's oeuvre; authoritative texts illustrate the decisive stages in the artist's life and in the development of his work, explaining their significance in the context of his time and for the following generations of artists.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

"From the Attic of Civilization" can best be described by quoting a reviewer: 5 out of 5 stars "Dr. Girsh has a wonderful grasp of the complex nuances of Rembrandt's works, tying together Biblical references to other important figures in history. He shines light on hidden concepts that eludes even the most analytical of readers. A strong theme of "the origin of thought" branching into many subjects: languages, human thinking and behavior. Truly a masterpiece " The book also serves as a guide to the paintings in exhibition form enabling readers to enjoy the reproductions of great masterpieces of European art on Biblical themes, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. These are artistic interpretations of scenes in Genesis: Creation, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and the Binding of Isaac, Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph. Rembrandt, Poussin, Rubens and West are but a few of the prominent artists represented in "From the Attic of Civilization." For example, Rembrandt's masterpiece, "Isaac and Rebecca," sensitively depicts the love that Isaac had for his wife, Rebecca. The Biblical scenes are depicted by these classical artists whose art is part of our cultural evolution. "From the Attic of Civilization" has been honored by being sold at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Scotland. This book has been presented in exhibition format throughout the country and has been very well received. To quote a visitor present at an exhibition, "We were treated to a 'feast for our eyes' with some of the greatest Biblical art ever produced."

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR RENAISSANCE PORN STAR THE SAGA OF PIETRO ARETINO: THE WORLD'S GREATEST HUSTLER Sex, drugs, and the Medicis. A story of murder, revenge, art, pornography, and celebration with an all-star cast of characters: Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, a klatch of mafi a-don-style popes, and Shakespeare. A tale that turns deep, deep erudition into exquisite sweets for the heart and mind. -Howard Bloom, author of "The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism" If Jan Wenner had given Hunter S. Thompson an assignment to write a historical essay of Renaissance sexuality and literature, the resulting pages might have looked something like "Renaissance Porn Star": raw, uncensored, clearly mad, and quite brilliant. -Jess Winfi eld, author of "My name is Will" Like a buried treasure unearthed, "Renaissance Porn Star" sheds new light on how the Italian icon of the Renaissance, Pietro Aretino, helped shape an awakened world. Mark Lamonica mixes his amazing attention to historical detail and breathes new life into Shakespeare. -Thelma Reyna, Ph.D. author of "The Heavens Weep for Us" What art restoration has done for paintings, Mark Lamonica has done through a historical account of Pietro Aretino that wipes clean the whitewash of our puritanical perspective on the Renaissance over the past several hundred years. Not unlike a newly restored masterpiece, "Renaissance Porn Star" is both beautiful and shocking. -Adam Hall, Shakespeare scholar Mark Lamonica is an accomplished photographer and author of three highly acclaimed books: "Junkyard Dogs and William Shakespeare" (1997); co-author of "Rio LA: Tales from the Los Angeles River" (2001); named "a best book of the year" by the Los Angeles Times Book Review. "Whacking Buddha: The Mysterious World of Shakespeare and Zen Buddhism" (2005); hailed as a work of "spiritual literary dynamite." He is at work on a new book about the Devil.

Pater's graceful essays discuss the achievements of Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and other artists. included is his celebrated discussion of the Mona Lisa in a study of Da Vinci. This book concludes with an uncompromising advocacy of hedonism, urging readers to experience life as fully as possible. His cry of "art for art's sake" became the manifesto of the Aesthetic Movement, and his assessments of Renaissance art have influenced generations of readers. Oscar Wilde called this collection of essays the "holy writ of beauty."

The Art Mysteries series examines several highly regarded masterpieces in an attempt to unravel the mysteries that surround them. Edited by Marco Carminati and Stefano Zuffi, they present an up-to-date and spectacular reading of famous paintings, investigating key clues to previously unknown background information. According to a recent survey, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Louvre masterpiece, is still considered the most famous painting in the world; and yet, despite popular acclaim is still shrouded in shadow and mystery. Who is the women in the portrait? Why does she seem to be smiling at us? Why did Leonardo never finish nor sell the painting? Why is it now in France? These and other questions make this book a compelling read. Following the story of the Mona Lisa, we'll travel from luxurious Florentine palazzi to the magnificence of Versailles, from the austere rooms of the Louvre to World War II air raid shelters. Not to mention the sensational theft that, in 1911, had the whole word waiting with bated breath... Also available in the Art Mysteries series: Botticelli: The Birth of Venus ISBN: 9788866480501 Velazquez: Las Meninas ISBN: 9788866480556 Piero Della Francesca: The Montefeltro Altarpiece ISBN: 9788866480891 Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights ISBN: 9788866480884 Caravaggio: Stories of St Matthew ISBN: 9788866480853

The anthology of original sources from c.1400 to 1650, translated from Italian or Latin, and accompanied by introductions and bibliographies, is concerned with women's varied involvement with the visual arts and material culture of their day. The reader gains a sense of women not only as patrons of architecture, painting, sculpture and the applied arts, but as users of art both on special occasions, like civic festivities or pilgrimages, and in everyday social and devotional life. As they seek to adapt and embellish their persons and their environments, acquire paintings for solace or prestige, or cultivate relationships with artists, women emerge as discerning participants in the consumer culture of their time, and often as lively commentators on it. Their fervent participation in religious life is also seen in their use of art in devotional rituals, or their commissioning of tombs or altarpieces to perpetuate their memory and aid them in the afterlife. -- .

A family-friendly novel of Leonardo da Vinci's many productive years in Milan. Follow Leonardo as he works for the Duke of Milan, paints the Last Supper, studies architecture, and much more This novel is written at a young adult level; it has been enjoyed by adults, but also makes a great read-aloud for younger students. This book is the second in the series of historically based novels on da Vinci's life - The Life and Travels of Da Vinci. Chronologically it follows Leonardo the Florentine and precedes Masterpieces in Milan, but the books can be read and enjoyed in any order.

For just a few dollars more, you may also be interested in the new, larger size, full-cover edition of "Exploring da Vinci's Last Supper." When most of us hear the term "The Last Supper" we think immediately of Leonardo da Vinci's painting. In fact, it would appear on most people's "most famous paintings in the world" lists - often just above or below the Mona Lisa. And yet, most of us don't know much more about it than that Leonardo da Vinci painted it. Here, in a short book for Leonardo fans of all ages, Catherine gives you the background of da Vinci's painting.

"The Fat Woodworker" is a delightful story in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance "beffe," stories of practical, often cruel jokes. It is the tale of a prank engineered by the great Renaissance architect, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), played upon an unsuspecting (and perhaps less-than-brilliant) friend and woodworker named Manetto, in reprisal for the woodworker's social slight. While the prank is indeed cruel, it is so ingenious, and the victim is so comical, that the reader soon forgets the architect's - and the author's - malice and settles in for a delightful turn as part of the unfolding conspiracy set in motion by Brunelleschi's circle of friends. The tale brings the reader into the social world of Florence's craft- and tradespeople, its lawyers and judges, artists, architects and intellectuals and gives a vibrant sense of the city's close-knit social fabric, its packed streets and busy shops and offices. It is as much a portrait of the Renaissance city as of one very befuddled and delightful woodworker. Robert and Valerie Martone provide a solid contemporary translation that carries across the ironic distance of the original. They include an introduction to the story, its author and genre, and to the social and intellectual world of Brunelleschi and Renaissance Florence. Illustrated, introduction, bibliography. Fiction

Once considered marginal members of the animal world (at best) or vile and offensive creatures (at worst), insects saw a remarkable uptick in their status during the early Renaissance. This quickened interest was primarily manifested in visual images--in illuminated manuscripts, still life paintings, the decorative arts, embroidery, textile design, and cabinets of curiosity. In "The Insect and the Image," Janice Neri explores the ways in which such imagery defined the insect as a proper subject of study for Europeans of the early modern period.

It was not until the sixteenth century that insects began to appear as the sole focus of paintings and drawings--as isolated objects, or specimens, against a blank background. The artists and other image makers Neri discusses deployed this "specimen logic" and so associated themselves with a mode of picturing in which the ability to create a highly detailed image was a sign of artistic talent and a keenly observant eye. "The Insect and the Image" shows how specimen logic both reflected and advanced a particular understanding of the natural world--an understanding that, in turn, supported the commodification of nature that was central to global trade and commerce during the early modern era.

Revealing how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists and image makers shaped ideas of the natural world, Neri's work enhances our knowledge of the convergence of art, science, and commerce today.

Leonardo da Vinci is often presented as the 'transcendent genius', removed from or ahead of his time. This book, however, attempts to understand him in the context of Renaissance Florence. Larry J. Feinberg explores Leonardo's origins and the beginning of his career as an artist. While celebrating his many artistic achievements, the book illuminates his debt to other artists' works and his struggles to gain and retain patronage, as well as his career and personal difficulties. Feinberg examines the range of Leonardo's interests, including aerodynamics, anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, hydraulics, optics, and warfare technology, to clarify how the artist's broad intellectual curiosity informed his art. Situating the artist within the political, social, cultural, and artistic context of mid- and late-fifteenth-century Florence, Feinberg shows how this environment influenced Leonardo's artistic output and laid the groundwork for the achievements of his mature works.

Vasari's intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm, and artistic ability made it possible for him to put forth a new perspective on art which expresses a concern for success, a fascination for the antique, and a delight for virtuosity depicted in his religious and secular paintings. 192 pp.

Who are the Medici brothers? And who is trying to assassinate them? Why was the Pitti Palace never completed? And what part did Leonardo play in all of this? Leonardo da Vinci is remembered as an artist and inventor. But who was he before anyone knew his name? This family-friendly novel explores the history and the legends of his early years in Florence. It also weaves a mystery of politics and power. This novel is the first in the series of historically based novels - The Life and Travels of Da Vinci (followed by Leonardo: Masterpieces in Milan and Leonardo: To Mantua and Beyond)

Witches and ghosts, dream medicine, women's carnivals, masquerade, monsters, rebel angels, the ship of fools and the dance of death: Carnivals and Dreams explores the extraordinary world of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Renaissance surrealist, student of folklore and painter of dreams. In the generation between Rabelais and Shakespeare, the Reformation shook the foundations of the collective imaginary. As the old visual cultures of carnival, dreams and the dead were fragmented and demonised in the minds of Europeans, Bruegel became the first artist to make popular culture the subject of serious art. In his hands, it became an inexhaustible medium through which he could address the new anxieties of his contemporaries. Louise Milne shows how Bruegel's inventions express the shifting mental landscapes of the sixteenth century, arguing that his art marks nothing less than the genesis of the modern nightmare in art and culture. This is a book that can be read on many levels, a ground-breaking cultural history of art and the visual imagination, explored in clear lucid prose, through a dazzling range of new sources. Louise S. Milne is a Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art. "Wonderfully rich and thought-provoking... Essential reading for anyone interested in culture in general and the work of Bruegel in particular." Lynne Holden, Cosmos "One of the most searching and imaginative studies of Pieter Bruegel's art ever published... Milne takes seriously the idea that art is or can be a kind of continuation of dreaming. Marvellous and long awaited." Christopher Wood, Yale University

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, 28 years after Michelangelo completed the glorious and hopeful ceiling, "The Last Judgment" is full of stark images depicting the End of Days. Here, James Connor uncovers the secrets behind the fresco, and details the engrossing stories of conspiring kings, plotting popes, and murderous rivalries between noble families who were vying for control over Michelangelo and his art. This book combines enchanting storytelling with incisive historical detective work, demonstrating how Michelangelo was inspired by Copernicus and how the Counter-Reformation arose from the ashes of the Renaissance.

Shakespeare's Globe was first built in 1599 and it burnt down in 1613. Almost four centuries later, in 1997, it was rebuilt again in London. This rebuilt Globe is not a reconstructed version of the first, but it is often regarded to typify the amphitheatres of Shakespeare's time. But do we know what the first Globe and its stage really looked like? Is it impossible to reconstruct its features? This work attempts to analyse some of the most trustworthy evidence in order to reconstruct the stage of the first Globe. Non-literary sources such as contracts and sketches give information regarding various stage features, but, most interestingly, some of Shakespeare's plays contain the most fascinating pieces of evidence. In this work, the author looks for these pieces of evidence in various sources making an attempt to find out how trustworthy they are.