Authors: Frederick Hartt. David Wilkins.
Paperback, 736 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Publication Date: 2006-04-13
Edition: 6th

Reviews :

   

This book focuses on works of art, their creators, and the circumstances affecting their creation. This revision is designed to provide readers with a more streamlined approach to understanding Italian Renaissance art without losing the enthusiasm and appreciation that Hartt demonstrated for this area and which earlier editions of this book conveyed so successfully. Italy and Italian Art; Duecento Art in Tuscany and Rome; Florentine Art of the Early Trecento; Sienese Art of the Early Trecento; Later Gothic Art in Tuscany and Northern Italy; The Beginnings of Renaissance Architecture; Gothic and Renaissance in Tuscan Sculpture; Gothic and Renaissance in Florentine Painting; The Heritage of Masaccio and the Second Renaissance Style; The Second Renaissance Style in Architecture and Sculpture; Absolute and Perfect Painting: The Second Renaissance Style; Crisis and Crosscurrents; Science, Poetry, and Prose; The Renaissance in Central Italy; Gothic and Renaissance in Venice and Northern Italy; The High Renaissance in Florence; The High Renaissance in Rome; High Renaissance and Mannerism; High and Late Renaissance in Venice and on the Mainland; Michelangelo and the Maniera.

...

Authors:
Hardcover, 192 pages
Publisher: National Geographic
Publication Date: 2006-04-06


Reviews :

    For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded. Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity, and which few experts had even thought existed–a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history’s ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero.

In this radical reinterpretation, Jesus asks Judas to betray him. In contrast to the New Testament Gospels, Judas Iscariot is presented as a role model for all those who wish to be disciples of Jesus. He is the one apostle who truly understands Jesus.

This volume is the first publication of the remarkable gospel since it was condemned as heresy by early Church leaders, most notably by St. Irenaeus, in 180. Hidden away in a cavern in Middle Egypt, the codex (or book) containing the gospel was discovered by farmers in the 1970s. In the intervening years the papyrus codex was bought and sold by antiquities traders, hidden away, and carried across three continents, all the while suffering damage that reduced much of it to fragments. In 2001, it finally found its way into the hands of a team of experts who would painstakingly reassemble and restore it.

The Gospel of Judas has been translated from its original Coptic in clear prose, and is accompanied by commentary that explains its fascinating history in the context of the early Church, offering a whole new way of understanding the message of Jesus Christ....

Authors: The (NY) Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hardcover, 40 pages
Publisher: Bulfinch
Publication Date: 1998-11-01
Edition: Min

Reviews :

    New from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, GIFTS OF THE MAGI is a wonderful Christmas time keepsake that explores the first Christmas gifts. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh - these were the precious gifts offered to the infant Jesus by the Magi, the three wise men who followed a star to the humble dwelling where the Christ child was born. But who were these men, and why did they chose those gifts? Why were frankincense and myrrh considered in biblical times to be as valuable as gold? This book tells the story of the Magi and their journey and explains the symbolism and the significance of their gifts. In addition, it discusses how frankincense and myrrh were grown, harvested, and transported in antiquity and their use in various cultures of the ancient world. The package includes a gift - 24-karat-gold in a glass bottle and frankincense and myrrh in mesh bags that allow their exotic fragrance to emanate....

Authors: Robin Cormack. Maria Vassiliki.
Hardcover, 496 pages
Publisher: Royal Academy Publications
Publication Date: 2008-11-01


Reviews :

    ...

Authors: Marianne Barrucand. Achim Bednorz.
Hardcover, 240 pages
Publisher: Taschen
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Edition: 25th

Reviews :

    Spain owes its special historical position in Europe very largely to his intensive encounter with the Orient. In the summer of 710, a small force under the command of a Berber named Tarîf ibn Mâlik landed to the west of Gibraltar. The Islamic armies that followed in its wake succeeded in conquering large areas of Spain within a short span of years. The conquerors gave the country the name of "al-andalus." Thus began a period of cultural permeation that was to last for almost 800 years. In spite of intolerance and animosity, there developed between Muslims, Christians, and Jews a shared cultural environment that proved the basis for great achievements.

Moorish-Andalusian art and architecture combine elements of various traditions into a new, autonomous style. Among the outstanding architectural witnesses to this achievement are the Great Mosque in Cordova and the Alhambra in Granada, recognized and admired as part of the world's heitage right up to the present day. They are described in detail in this book. The main centres of Hispano-Islamic art and architecture, the cities of Cordova, Seville and Granada, are discussed within the chronological framework of developments, both political and cultural, from 710 to 1492.

The author traces the changes in architectural forms over the centuries, and concludes with an attempt to identify those enduring characteristics which run like a thread through Hispano-Islamic architecture, for all the different influences to which it was subject. Alongside mosques, castle ruins, and splendid palaces, the reader will find detailed photographs of Moorish decorative art in all its thousand and one variations....

Authors: Raymond Clemens. Timothy Graham.
Paperback, 301 pages
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication Date: 2008-02-28


Reviews :

    Providing a comprehensive and accessible orientation to the field of medieval manuscript studies, this lavishly illustrated book by Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham is unique among handbooks on paleography, codicology, and manuscript illumination in its scope and level of detail. It will be of immeasurable help to students in history, art history, literature, and religious studies who are encountering medieval manuscripts for the first time, while also appealing to advanced scholars and general readers interested in the history of the book before the age of print.

Introduction to Manuscript Studies features three sections:

o Part 1, "Making the Medieval Manuscript," offers an in-depth examination of the process of manuscript production, from the preparation of the writing surface through the stages of copying the text, rubrication, decoration, glossing, and annotation to the binding and storage of the completed codex.

o Part 2, "Reading the Medieval Manuscript," focuses on the skills necessary for the successful study of manuscripts, with chapters on transcribing and editing; reading texts damaged by fire, water, insects, and other factors; assessing evidence for origin and provenance; and describing and cataloguing manuscripts.

o Part 3, "Some Manuscript Genres," provides an analysis of several of the most frequently encountered types of medieval manuscripts, including Bibles and biblical concordances, liturgical service books, Books of Hours, charters and cartularies, maps, and scrolls.

The book concludes with an extensive glossary, a guide to dictionaries of medieval Latin, and a bibliography subdivided and keyed to the subsections of the volume's chapters. Every chapter in this magisterial guidebook features numerous color plates that exemplify each aspect described in the text and are drawn primarily from the collections of the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge....

Authors: Henry Luttikhuizen. Dorothy Verkerk.
Paperback, 512 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Publication Date: 2005-07-08
Edition: 2nd

Reviews :

   

Describes the times in which the art was created as well as the issues of patronage, function, and ultimately, the public’s reception of the art as it was produced. Providing a magnificent overview of medieval painting, sculpture, and architecture–in Italy, Byzantium, Germany, and France from the 4th to the 14th centuries–including Early Christian, Byzantine, Pre-Romanesque Hiberno-Saxon, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, and Gothic art.

...

Authors: John Lowden.
Paperback, 448 pages
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Publication Date: 1997-04-24


Reviews :

    Working from the surviving material presented here with the help of superlative photographs, many specially taken for this book, John Lowden explains how and why Early Christian & Byzantine art was made and used. This is an accessible and authoritative book that will inspire anyone who is curious about the origins of Christian art....

Authors: Stella Panayotova.
Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Publication Date: 2008-11-17


Reviews :

    The first reproduction of this exquisite illuminated manuscript that brings medieval ways, beliefs, and thought to life.

Discoveries of real artistic treasures are exceptionally rare. The Macclesfield Psalter (c. 1335), a jewel of manuscript painting, was virtually unknown before its sale by Sotheby's in 2004.

The manuscript offers a window into the medieval world, an intimate view of the faith, sentiments, prejudices, follies, and aspirations of medieval people. Doctors, minstrels, mummers, farmers, dancers, jesters, and beggars mingle on the pages as they would have done on the streets of a busy town. And the marginal imagery tempts the viewer to leave the confines of the prayer book and enter a wonderland of literary conceits, visions, and fables, with naked wild men, a dog dressed as a bishop, or a giant fish swimming across a page.

The Macclesfield Psalter is a revealing product of artistic and patronage exchange in the Middle Ages. A complete reproduction of the manuscript at its original size is accompanied by an authoritative text that not only interprets the textual and artistic content but also beguiles the reader through its vivid descriptions and rich insights.

...

Authors: Dover.
Paperback, 48 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication Date: 2002-12-12
Edition: Pap/Bklt/C

Reviews :

    The bold, fanciful designs featured here have been adapted from authentic Viking metalwork, textiles, stone carvings, and ceramics. Depicted are interwoven motifs reminiscent of Celtic art, real and mythological creatures, dragon-slaying heroes on horseback, and much more. Illustrators, craftworkers, and admirers of dramatic, eye-catching designs will find this collection ideal for a host of projects in need of striking embellishment. Dover Original. One CD-ROM and paperbound book. Over 176 black-and-white illustrations.
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