This fascinating book tells the story of a little-known masterpiece by the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822)-the statue of George Washington for the North Carolina State House, delivered in 1821 and destroyed by fire ten years later. It brings together for the first time Canova's full-sized preparatory plaster model, sketches, engravings, drawings, and a selection of Thomas Jefferson's letters about the commission. This is a major addition to the current body of published knowledge on the work of Antonio Canova, as well as on the classical revivalist sculpture of the early nineteenth century on both sides of the Atlantic.

Andrea Palladio's villa architecture is still admired for its elegance and harmony, but little is known about the person behind the buildings. Experienced Palladio researcher Guido Beltramini has worked meticulously on material from historical documents about Palladio's person and life, and assembled a full picture of the architect. Palladio in Private follows his career, his rise from being the ordinary miller's son Pietro della Gondola to become the architect Andrea Palladio. Beltramini does not just explore Palladio's origins, his training as a stonemason, and his complex relationship with powerful clients and scholars, but also his private life: his jovial character, his life as a married man with five children, and not least his profound conviction that architecture can and must enrich life. The text is complemented by numerous illustrations. Guido Beltramini, born in 1961, has been director of the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio in Vicenza since 1991. He has curated numerous exhibitions at venues including the Venice Biennale, the Royal Academy of Art, London, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal.