Introduction: The idea to solve the Voynich came to me when I first looked at the glyphs of the entire MS-408 when I first came across it online around 2009. It was a complete mystery and I desperately wanted to know what was behind the so called curtain of the code; like anyone else who has witnessed its very intense complex structure. A starting point for me was the astrology (Folio 67r) wheel and putting together a cipher to break it down. My understanding of astrology helped too and the wheel seldom had tarot side to it included. I counted the glyphs of the Voynich code that were similar and would number them in their perspective place marks. This enabled me to have at least a baseline for the highest and lowest number of Voynich letters to establish which alphabet I would have to find and match it up too. I tried Spanish first, because of the number of vowels and it did not pan out. Well French and German did not work either. Finally, my cipher unraveled nine words from the Rosetta Wheel (Folio 57v) in Italian and then I targeted the Astrology section with amazing results. My decrypting method included this scenario. First I went online and found a great Italian anagram engine which I inputted my cipher into so that it would rearrange the letters into readable Italian. Then I ran a string of sentences together that followed logic and well magic happened. It (Folio 58r) was a mind blowing experience for me knowing that I was making sense out of MS-408.

Old St Peter's Basilica in Rome stood for over eleven centuries until it was demolished to make room for today's church on the same Vatican site. Its last eyewitness, Maffeo Vegio, explained to the Roman hierarchy how revival of the papacy, whose prestige after the exile to Avignon had been diminished, was inseparable from a renewed awareness of the primacy of Peter's Church. To make his case, Vegio wrote a history founded on credible written and visual evidence. The text guides us through the building's true story in its material reality, undistorted by medieval guides. This was its living memory and a visualization of the continuity of Roman history into modern times. This volume makes available the first complete English translation of Vegio's text. Accompanied by full-color digital reconstructions of the Basilica as it appeared in Vegio's day.

New, full-color, larger size book When did Leonardo da Vinci paint the Last Supper? Why did Leonardo paint the Last Supper? How did he paint the Last Supper? Was Leonardo's Last Supper the first rendition of the Last Supper? Was it the last? Here in one convenient location you will find the answers to these, and many other, questions - with dozens of beautiful pictures of paintings that came before and after Leonardo's Last Supper - as well as many details about how he painted his mural, and the history of it over the last 500 years. A treat for art and history buffs alike Note: This book focuses on Leonardo da Vinci's well-known version of the Last Supper, with some of the before and after versions included. For even more versions of the Last Supper (with less text and more pictures), see Catherine's In Art: The Last Supper book.

Part of the "Enjoying Great Art" series by Catherine Jaime and Deirdre Fuller: Lighthouses may or may not be a part of your everyday life, depending on whether we live near a coast, or spend much time visiting in the area. But, either way, do we think of lighthouses when we think of great art? Here is a picture book for students of all ages...A picture book of lighthouses in art Different colors, shapes, sizes...Some that are only small parts of the painting, some which are the focus of the painting.

Another book in the "Enjoying Great Art" series: Self-Portraits - More than three dozen different self-portraits by artists from around the world and through the ages. Great fun for adults and students of all ages. (As with the other books in this series, all the paintings in this book are family-friendly - though, sadly, we can't say the same of all of the other paintings by the same artists.)

Word searches, drawings, quotes, and more...all arranged in both a topical and chronological order to help introduce students to the amazing work of Leonardo da Vinci. This book is a great compliment to Da Vinci: His Life and His Legacy, but it is also a great stand-alone title. Each topic - Leonardo the Mathematician, Leonardo and the Horse, Leonardo the Architect, and many others - includes a historical context and ideas for hands-on study of that topic. The ideas in the book have been classroom tested and kid-approved (This book includes everything from Catherine's Da Vinci Unit Study, Da Vinci Student Book, and more )

Accompanying a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, this book examines the remarkable drawings made by Du rer as a young man from 1490 to 1495, especially those made during his journeyman years, or Wanderjahre - considered the final part of a craftsman's training - and a second shorter trip which immediately followed and seems to have brought the artist to Italy. These trips form the framework for the book, which focuses on the young artist's figure studies and has at its heart the Courtauld Gallery's double-sided drawing of a Wise Virgin and Two studies of the artist's left leg. This superbly ambitious work serves as a springboard to explore in depth the role of drawing at this stage of Du rer's career. It allows us to address a series of crucial questions: how Du rer formed 'his hand', how he responded to artistic challenges presented by contemporary and earlier art (both on a stylistic and an iconographic level), how his pursuit of professional success was linked with the quest for an individual artistic identity, and how the strategy of recording his own creative achievements in drawings dovetails with his claim for a new status for the artist in his city. The scholarly and beautifully illustrated catalogue is introduced with five essays by distinguished experts. Stephanie Buck examines the documentary evidence and attempts to reconstruct the motivations and activities of Du rer's travels as a young man. David Freedberg discusses Du rer's obsessive observation and recording of himself in portraits and in studies of his limbs. These represent the first critical steps in the artist's developing understanding of the body, and of the ways in which its movements could not just show emotion, but rouse the equivalent sense of torsion, tension and pathos in the bodies and minds of his viewers. Stephanie Porras looks at Du rer's copies of drawings or prints circulating in Nuremberg workshops or acquired during the Wanderjahre, which were used as a means of seeking inspiration, of challenging himself to draw more sophisticated figures and dynamic compositions. Michael Roth asks the question of how the three strands of the art of the line- drawing, engraving and woodcut - structurally correspond in Du rer's work and, consequently, how drawing merges with certain manual aspects of printing. A final essay presents new technical research on Du rer's early drawings undertaken collaboratively in a number of leading collections of the artist's work, and aims to enrich our understanding of the young Du rer's approach to the medium of drawing.

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.

One of the most troublesome questions about Utopia is Thomas More's reason for writing it. Some of the ideas in it, such as the ease of divorce, euthanasia and both married priests and female priests, seem to be polar opposites of his beliefs and those expected of the devout Catholic that he was. The concept of religious toleration seems to jar particularly with the information we have about him as Lord Chancellor: that he was a keen persecutor of Protestants. Similarly, the criticism of lawyers comes from a writer who, as Lord Chancellor, was arguably the most influential lawyer in England.Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment.

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.

The Italian Renaissance is a pivotal episode in the history of Western culture. Artists such as Masaccio, Donatello, and Fra Angelico created some of the most influential and exciting works in a variety of artistic fields at this time. Evelyn Welch presents a fresh picture of this period in the light of new scholarship and by recreating the experience of contemporary Italians - the patrons, the viewing public and the artists. The book discusses a wide range of works from across Italy, examines the issues of materials, workshop practices and artist-patron relationships, and explores the ways in which visual imagery related to contemporary sexual, social and political behaviour.

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

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!

The contributions include Arnold Victor Coonin, Preface and Acknowledgments; Debra Pincus, "Like a Good Shepherd" A Tribute to Sarah Blake McHam; Amy R. Bloch, Perspective and Narrative in the Jacob and Esau Panel of Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise"; David Boffa, Sculptors' Signatures and the Construction of Identity in the Italian Renaissance; Meghan Callahan, Bronzino, Giambologna & Adriaen de Vries: Influence, Innovation and the "Paragone"; Arnold Victor Coonin, "The Spirit of Water" Reconsidering the "Putto Mictans" Sculpture in Renaissance Florence; Kelley Helmstutler Di Dio, From Medalist to Sculptor: Leone Leoni's Bronze Bust of Charles V; Phillip Earenfight, "Civitas Florenti a]e" The New Jerusalem and the "Allegory of Divine Misericordia"; Gabriela Jasin, God's Oddities and Man's Marvels: Two Sculptures of Medici Dwarfs; Linda A. Koch, Medici Continuity, Imperial Tradition and Florentine History: Piero de' Medici's "Tabernacle of the Crucifix" at S. Miniato al Monte; Heather R. Nolin, A New Interpretation of Paolo Veronese's "Saint Barnabas Healing the Sick"; Katherine Poole, Medici Power and Tuscan Unity: The Cavalieri di Santo Stefano and Public Sculpture in Pisa and Livorno under Ferdinando I; Lilian H. Zirpolo, Embellishing the Queen's Residence: Queen Christina of Sweden's Patronage of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Members of His Circle of Sculptors; Sarah Blake McHam's List of Publications. 1st printing. 338 pages. 117 illustrations. Preface, bibliography, index.

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 life, style and colours of the great master of the 16th-century Venetian painting. Tiziano Vecellio was a remarkably versatile painter, equally comfortable with a wide range of genres and subjects. Unlike many artists from history whose work has been appreciated only after their death, Titian enjoyed fame and success throughout his career, which spanned over seven decades. Based in Venice, Titian received commissions from many local patrons and the Venetian government, as well as many distinguished figures from further afield, such as the Pope, the German emperor and the King of Spain. This small book is a perfect introduction to the work of this original and influential Renaissance artist.

This edition prints all three parts of Dante's great poem about the journey of the soul - INFERNO, PURGATORIO and PARADISO - in the recent English translation by Allen Mandelbaum, with an introduction and explanatory notes on each canto by the noted Dante scholar, Peter Armour. This is the only reasonably priced hardback edition of one of the world's greatest masterworks and should prove to be the most accessible for students and general readers alike. It includes Botticelli's glorious and relatively unknown illustrations of THE DIVINE COMEDY, drawn in the 1480s.

"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."

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

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!