Christopher Walter's study of the cult and iconography of Byzantine warrior saints - George, Demetrius, the two Theodores, and dozens more - is at once encyclopaedic and interpretative, and the first comprehensive study of the subject. The author delineates their origins and development as a distinctive category of saint, showing that in its definitive form this coincides with the apogee of the Byzantine empire in the 10th-11th centuries. He establishes a repertory, particularly of their commemorations in synaxaries and their representations in art, and describes their iconographical types and the functions ascribed to them once enrolled in the celestial army: support for the terrestrial army in its offensive campaigns, and a new protective role when the Byzantine Empire passed to the defensive. The survey highlights the lack of historicity among the Byzantines in their approach to the lives of these saints and their terrestrial careers. An epilogue briefly treats the analogous traditions in the cultures of neighbouring peoples. Walter draws attention to the development of an echelon of military saints, notably in church decoration, which provides the surest basis for defining their specificity; also to the way in which they were depicted, generally young, handsome and robust, and frequently 'twinned' in pairs, so calling attention to the importance of camaraderie among soldiers. At the same time, this work opens a new perspective on the military history of the Byzantine Empire. Its ideology of war consistently followed that of the Israelites; protected and favoured by divine intervention, there was no occasion to discuss the morality of a 'just war'. Consequently, when considering Byzantine methods of warfare, due attention should be given to the important role which they attributed to celestial help in their military campaigns.

This compelling book is the result of a project intended to visually communicate the hardships endured by Iraqi communities. Utilizing art materials donated to camps by the Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq, these 350 drawings were created by some of the country's 1.8 million refugees, providing a necessary outlet for their immense suffering and struggles associated with being temporarily displaced from their vocations as lawyers, teachers, farmers, and mothers. Originally presented as an exhibition at the 2015 Venice Biennale, this publication features a large group of these drawings exclusively selected by the artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Harnessing the power of visual art as a means for both personal expression and socio-political awareness, this innovative book represents the humanistic effort to provide a voice for the underrepresented and their unimaginable strife. Mercatorfonds is donating all profits from the sale of this book to the refugee camps in Iraq. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

You can discover Japanese art like no other. Originally created by the artists of the ukiyo-e school of the floating world to advertise brothels in 17th-century Yoshiwara, these popular spring pictures (shunga) transcended class and gender in Japan for almost 300 years. These tender, humorous and brightly coloured pieces celebrate sexual pleasure in all its forms, culminating in the beautiful, yet graphic, work of iconic artists Utamaro, Hokusai and Kunisada. This catalogue of a major international exhibition aims to answer some key questions about what shunga is and why was it produced. Erotic Japanese art was heavily suppressed in Japan from the 1870s onwards as part of a process of cultural modernisation that imported many contemporary western moral values. Only in the last twenty years or so has it been possible to publish unexpurgated examples in Japan and this ground-breaking publication presents this fascinating art in its historical and cultural context for the first time. Within Japan, shunga has continued to influence modern forms of art, including manga, anime and Japanese tattoo art. Drawing on the latest scholarship and featuring over 400 images of works from major public and private collections, this landmark book sheds new light on this unique art form within Japanese social and cultural history. Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art is published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum from October 2013 to January 2014.

These 580+ juicy images capture the fact that throughout history, artists and artisans have depicted vegetables in remarkable ways. Still lifes, photographs, amusing antique postcards, seed packet art-all sorts of vegetable illustrations have been created to arouse physical and aesthetic appetites, and they are displayed here together with interesting botanical and historical insights. This wealth of vegetable art includes paintings by American artists like Lily Martin Spencer, Ernest Lawson, and Charles Demuth; engravings and lithographs by major printmaking companies like Louis Prang and Company; botanical illustrations; and commercial images drawn from vintage catalogs and seed packets. Vegetables are represented in colorful glory, from the hundreds we appreciate daily-like tomatoes, potatoes, peas, and carrots-to less-familiar vegetables like sea kale, cardoon, and walking onions.

Dave White introduces the simple but effective techniques that he uses to paint stunning, dramatic seascapes with beautiful and realistic skies. He demonstrates spattering, blending backgrounds, painting horizons, finger painting clouds and foam. There is expert advice on the anatomy of waves and how they rise and collapse, creating ripples, surf, foam and spray. Clear instructions show how to paint effective reflections and beaches to improve your seascapes. The sky section shows effective techniques for painting all types of cloud, with some innovative methods such as tipping up the surface to let dilute paint run, to create cirrus clouds. Dave's method of creating depth in sea, beach and sky using lines projected from the vanishing point will radically improve readers' seascapes. There is a section of moods and sunsets full of beautiful, dramatic examples. Finally three step by step projects show how to paint a beach panorama with a rolling wave, a spectacular sunset over a calm sea and waves crashing on rocks.

The "Dictionary of Artists' Models" aims to be an extensive reference work to identify and contextualize the lives and art history of individual artist's models. Another aim is to provide a much-needed body of research that can serve both as a reference tool and also as a springboard for further investigation of this frequently neglected subject. This dictionary provides information on over 200 artists' models, from the Renaissance to the present day. Most entries are illustrated and consist of a short biography, a selected list of further reading, and a signed interpretive essay. Each essay includes information about the model's life, the artists that they sat for, and discusses their specific contribution to the artist's work. These essays, on models as diverse as Costanza della Sommaia Doni, Cadamour, and Elizabeth Hollander, and written by experts in their field, should give the reader a richer understanding of the model's relevance to art historical study.

Survey of the growth and development of the magnificent shrines which reached their apogee during the middle ages. The cult of saints is one of the most fascinating manifestations of medieval piety. It was intensely physical; saints were believed to be present in the bodily remains that they had left on earth. Medieval shrines were created inorder to protect these relics and yet to show off their spiritual worth, at the same time allowing pilgrims limited access to them. English Medieval Shrines traces the development of such structures, from the earliestcult activities at saintly tombs in the late Roman empire, through Merovingian Gaul and the Carolingian Empire, via Anglo-Saxon England, to the great shrines of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The greater part of the bookis a definitive exploration, on a basis that is at once thematic and chronological, of the major saints cults of medieval England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation. These include the famous cults of St Cuthbert, St Swithun, and St Thomas Becket - and lesser known figures such as St Eanswyth of Folkestone or St Ecgwine of Evesham. John Crook, an independent architectural historian, archaeological consultant, and photographer, is the foremost authority on English shrines. He has published numerous books and papers on the cult of saints.

At the close of the eighteenth century, women began to discover a new sense of freedom, adventure, and self-determination, simply by walking in public unaccompanied. Previously, solitary walks by women were considered unseemly. An unaccompanied hike in the country was beyond imagination; to promenade by oneself on city boulevards was unthinkable. This book features evocative paintings of women doing just that, by a range of artists, from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, among them British portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, the scandalous Gustave Courbet, Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte, American masters Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, and Nabi artist Felix Vallotton. With paintings act her guide, Karin Sagner takes us on a visual journey through this vital yet oft-overlooked aspect of women's emancipation, from the promenades of the nobility to everyday walks in the city, on gentle strolls in the country or hikes up mountain summits. Quotes by luminaries like the Marquise de Sevigne, Jane Austen, and Simone de Beauvoir gracefully support her points. A thoughtful gift for graduates, teachers, or Mother's Day, this subtle but profound book is not only an illuminating history but a beautiful art historical survey and an inspirational guide.

The role of the visual arts in the assertion of European colonial power has been the subject of much recent investigation and redefinition. This book takes as a ground for discussion the representation of Indian scenery and architecture by British artists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Ira "Iraville" Sluyterman van Langewedye is a popular contemporary illustrator beloved for her charming watercolour illustrations of nature, small towns, idyllic scenes, and everyday life. This title brings together a collection of her best work in a giftworthy, lavishly presented hardback art book, which includes never-before-seen images, impressive portfolio pieces, insightful works in progress, beautiful photography, and the artist's own guides to handcrafting sketchbooks and watercolour paints at home. Supported by a Kickstarter campaign in summer 2018, Cozy Days: The Art of Iraville marks another high quality collaboration between 3dtotal Publishing and some of the best illustrators working today.

Money Matters in European Artworks and Literature, c. 1400-1750 focuses on coins as material artefacts and agents of meaning in early modern arts. The precious metals, double-sided form, and emblematic character of coins had deep resonance in European culture and cultural encounters. Coins embodied Europe's power and the labour, increasingly located in colonised regions, of extracting gold and silver. Their efficacy depended on faith in their inherent value and the authority perceived to be imprinted into them, guaranteed through the institution of the Mint. Yet they could speak eloquently of illusion, debasement and counterfeiting. A substantial introduction precedes essays by interdisciplinary scholars on five themes: power and authority in the Mint; currency and the anxieties of global trade; coins and persons; coins in and out of circulation; credit and risk. An Afterword on a contemporary artist demonstrates the continuing expressive and symbolic power of numismatic forms.

A stunning portrait of the nocturnal moths of Central and South America by famed American photographer Emmet Gowin American photographer Emmet Gowin (b. 1941) is best known for his portraits of his wife, Edith, and their family, as well as for his images documenting the impact of human activity upon landscapes around the world. For the past fifteen years, he has been engaged in an equally profound project on a different scale, capturing the exquisite beauty of more than one thousand species of nocturnal moths in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Panama. These stunning color portraits present the insects--many of which may never have been photographed as living specimens before, and some of which may not be seen again--arrayed in typologies of twenty-five per sheet. The moths are photographed alive, in natural positions and postures, and set against a variety of backgrounds taken from the natural world and images from art history. Throughout Gowin's distinguished career, his work has addressed urgent concerns. The arresting images of Mariposas Nocturnas extend this reach, as Gowin fosters awareness for a part of nature that is generally left unobserved and calls for a greater awareness of the biodiversity and value of the tropics as a universally shared natural treasure. An essay by Gowin provides a fascinating personal history of his work with biologists and introduces both the photographic and philosophical processes behind this extraordinary project. Essential reading for audiences both in photography and natural history, this lavishly illustrated volume reminds readers that, as Terry Tempest Williams writes in her foreword, "The world is saturated with loveliness, inhabited by others far more adept at living with uncertainty than we are."

We owe a great debt to Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery (1797-1849) for his Atlas of Anatomy, which was not only a massive event in medical history, but also remains one of the most comprehensive and beautifully illustrated anatomical treatises ever published. Bourgery began work on his magnificent atlas in 1830 in cooperation with illustrator Nicolas Henri Jacob (1782-1871), a student of the French painter Jacques Louis David. The first volumes were published the following year, but completion of the treatise required nearly two decades of dedication; Bourgery lived just long enough to finish his labor of love, but the last of the treatise's eight volumes was not published in its entirety until five years after his death. The eight volumes of Bourgery's treatise cover descriptive anatomy, surgical anatomy and techniques (exploring in detail nearly all the major operations that were performed during the first half of the 19th century), general anatomy and embryology, and microscopic anatomy. Jacob's spectacular hand-colored lithographs are remarkable for their clarity, color, and aesthetic appeal, reflecting a combination of direct laboratory observation and illustrative research. Unsurpassed to this day, the images offer exceptional anatomical insight, not only for those in the medical field but also for artists, students, and anyone interested in the workings and wonder of the human body.

In this volume, Charles Taliaferro and Jil Evans promote aesthetic personalism by examining three domains of aesthetics - the philosophy of beauty, aesthetic experience, and philosophy of art - through the lens of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, theistic Hinduism, and the all-seeing Compassionate Buddha. These religious traditions assume an inclusive, overarching God's eye, or ideal point of view, that can create an emancipatory appreciation of beauty and goodness. This appreciation also recognizes the reality and value of the aesthetic experience of persons and deepens the experience of art works. The authors also explore and contrast the invisibility of persons and God. The belief that God or the sacred is invisible does not mean God or the sacred cannot be experienced through visual and other sensory or unique modes. Conversely, the assumption that human persons are thoroughly visible, or observable in all respects, ignores how racism and other forms of bias render persons invisible to others.

The SuicideGirls are a collection of more than 2,500 pin-up girls devoted to changing your idea about what makes a woman beautiful ... and they are naked. Started in Portland, Oregon, by Missy Suicide and her friends in 2001, the SuicideGirls broke conventional notions of beauty and the pin-up girl ideal as defined by men's and women's magazines and the culture at large. This time around "SuicideGirls isn't redefining what it means to be beautiful or what it means to be a geek. They're celebrating the fact they've] always been here, they've] always been geeks, and they've] always been beautiful." "SuicideGirls: Geekology" casts the spotlight on the self-proclaimed geeks of the SuicideGirls population the video-game players, the comic-book readers, the Trekkies, and many other shining examples of the culture they're celebrating. There's something really wonderful about this book. There's something beautiful around the idea of showcasing girl geeks in all their glory: to go beyond the photos and find out that, to us, each piece of the picture means something. To find out how many hours we put into designing our cosplay and how attentive we are to the homages we create. We're not just playing dress up in a world we know nothing about. We were right there with it, helping to build popularity from the ground up: first in line, issue number one. Once a subculture of a subculture, women are now a full force in the geek community."

A Dog A Day began life with a Facebook post in 2013: 'My name is Sally Muir and this is a new gallery where I will add a dog drawing/painting every day, adding up to a massive 365 day dogfest.' As the Facebook page grew in popularity, so did Sally's dog portraits, leading to commissions, exhibitions at prominent galleries, and dog sketching events at venues including Anthropologie - who went on to commission an incredibly successful collection of dog-a-day crockery and textile-based household accessories. Drawing on artworks from the site, A Dog A Day is a lovingly curated collection and celebration of dogs. Containing 365 beautiful artworks of dogs of all shapes and sizes (big, small, pedigree, cross breed), the book includes a range of exciting mediums from loosely worked sketches, lithographs and potato prints to finished oil paintings. Delightfully packaged, this is the perfect gift for all dog lovers.

The official Royal Horticultural Society week-to-week desk diary contains a beautiful collection of plant illustrations, making this the perfect gift for all gardeners and plant lovers. The Royal Horticultural Society Diary 2024 brings together a selection of rare and beautiful works by artist Priscilla Bury (1799-1872) from the RHS Lindley Collections. The diary features work from the splendid publication A Selection of Hexandrian Plants alongside some of Bury's striking creations for The Botanist, showcasing her keen eye for detail. This beautifully produced diary is illustrated in colour throughout, with a silk ribbon marker and internal storage pocket, so you can organise your week in style. This desk diary is perfect for use in office, or to add a spot of colour to your home-working set up, the perfect gift for any avid gardener or nature lover!

Answers to how various mythological, Biblical, and literary themes have been treated in literature, art, music, and the performing arts can be found in this work. It provides an analysis of over 100 selected themes that reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of scholarly and academic work through the use of various iconographical sources. The alphabetical arrangement facilitates browsing, while the six indexes provide multiple access by considering, among others, references to the Bible; Judeo-Christian personages, places and concepts; and artists and works of art".--"Outstanding Reference Sources : the 1999 Selection of New Titles", American Libraries, May 1999. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.