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Based on the key concepts of 'pluralization' and 'authority', the series presents studies on early modern literature and culture from the 15th to the 17th century. The early modern period is increasingly recognized in cultural studies as an age whose cultural paradigms still largely depended on medieval norms and traditions but at the same time also created a set of conditions that facilitated Europe's transition to modernity. As opposed to established historical grand narratives such as modernization or secularization, the volumes in this series attempt to describe the dynamics of the period as a complex interaction of mutually competing world views, knowledge structures and behaviour patterns. The series explores these dynamics from an interdisciplinary perspective, including studies on literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, art, music and legal history.

The art of the Sistine Chapel, decorated by artists who competed with one another and commissioned by popes who were equally competitive, is a complex fabric of thematic, chronological, and artistic references. Four main campaigns were undertaken to decorate the chapel between 1481 and 1541, and with each new addition, fundamental themes found increasingly concrete expression. One theme in particular plays a central role in the chapel: the legitimization of papal authority, as symbolized by two keys-one silver, one gold-to the kingdom of heaven. "The Sistine Chapel: Paradise in Rome" provides a concise, informative account of the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. In unpacking this complex history, Ulrich Pfisterer reveals the remarkable unity of the images in relation to theology, politics, and the intentions of the artists themselves, who included such household names as Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Through a study of the main campaigns to adorn the Sistine Chapel, Pfisterer argues that the art transformed the chapel into a pathway to the kingdom of God, legitimising the absolute authority of the popes. First published in German, the prose comes to life in English in the deft hands of translator David Dollenmayer.

One of the most mysterious buildings in the Western hemisphere, King Henri Christophe's lavish neoclassical palace in the rain forest, enthrones the small Haitian town of Milot. Begun less than a decade after the Haitian Revolution for independence (1804) by the first black African king in the Americas, this massive monument was built to showcase Haiti's power and self-confidence. Despite its status as UNESCO World Heritage and a tourist attraction, the unusual building has never before been the subject of a study. On the basis of unpublished archival sources and exact photographic documentation, this book is the first to publish detailed information about the genesis this extraordinary architecture and the story of its builder.

Das Lexikon erlautert die zentralen Leitideen, Methoden und Hilfsmittel der Kunstgeschichte bis hin zu jungsten Forschungsansatzen. In etwa 150 Stichwoertern, z.B. Original, Falschung, Reprasentation, Kunsthandler, Kunstmarkt, Manierismus, Ende der Kunst, wird dabei auch die wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Entwicklung der Disziplin ausfuhrlich dargestellt. Damit steht das Werk ausser Konkurrenz. Die Autoren erlautern Begriffe und Theorien aus der Zeit vor der eigentlichen Begrundung der Kunstwissenschaft im 19.Jahrhundert, beginnend mit der Antike. Auf diese Weise erfahrt der Leser mehr uber die historischen Voraussetzungen heutiger Diskussionen uber Kunst und erkennt zugleich die Andersartigkeit der damaligen Kunstbetrachtung. Damit unterscheidet sich das unter Mitarbeit von 50 renommierten Kunsthistorikern entstandene Handbuch wesentlich von bisherigen, grossenteils personen- und sachkundlich orientierten Nachschlagewerken.

The visualization of power takes place until today quite significantly via visualizations of the body. Expressed pointedly: there is no power without pictures of the body. This also applies in particular to the European societies of the Middle Ages and early modern period, in which the body of the ruler was both a guarantee and a preferred projection figure for the political order. In this body, not only was power legitimized, but also constituted in the first place by means of countless documents of representation - and thus through pictures of the body in actu.This volume strives for the first time to "spell out" an "iconography of the political in action".

Reproduzierbar, leicht transportabel und verteilbar liefert die Kunstgattung der Portratmedaille fur das 16. Jahrhundert ein einzigartiges 'Who's who'. Dank der Dauerhaftigkeit des Materials hat sich eine grosse Anzahl an Medaillen erhalten, insbesondere aus den ehemals furstlichen Sammlungen wie Munchen, Wien und Dresden. Ausstellung und Katalog stellen mit rund 200 Beispielen erstmals umfassend das kulturhistorische Spektrum, die komplexe Medialitat und die dynamische Geographie der im deutschsprachigen Raum entstandenen und zirkulierenden Medaillen der Fruhen Neuzeit vor. Die Welt der Medaillen und der damit verwandten Kleinportrats bezeugt, inwiefern die 'deutsche Renaissance' als Feld ganz unterschiedlicher Formen von Wettstreit, Kulturbegegnung und Medienkonkurrenz betrachtet werden kann.