Stefano Zuffi

V této sérii vychází: Louvre * Paříž Prado * Madrid National Gallery * Londýn Ermitáž * Sankt Peterburk Alte Pinakothek * Mnichov Metropolitan Museum * New York Uffizi * Florencie Rijksmuseum * Amsterodam Gallerie dell'Accadamia * Benátky Museé D'Orsay * Paříž Pinacoteca di Brera * Milán Kunsthistorisches Museum * Vídeň

Influenced by a revival of interest in Greco-Roman ideals and sponsored by a newly prosperous merchant class, fifteenth-century artists produced works of astonishingly innovative content and technique. The International Gothic style of painting, still popular at the beginning of the century, was giving way to the influence of Early Netherlandish Flemish masters such as Jan van Eyck, who emphasized narrative and the complex use of light for symbolic meaning. Patrons favored paintings in oil and on wooden panels for works ranging from large, hinged altarpieces to small, increasingly lifelike portraits. In the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice, and Mantua, artists and architects alike perfected existing techniques and developed new ones. The painter Masaccio mastered linear perspective, the sculptor Donatello produced anatomically correct but idealized figures such as his bronze nude of David, and the brilliant architect and engineer Brunelleschi integrated Gothic and Renaissance elements to build the self-supporting dome of the Florence Cathedral. This beautifully illustrated guide analyzes the most important people, places, and concepts of this early Renaissance period, whose explosion of creativity was to spread throughout Europe in the sixteenth century.

Born in 1571 and dead before he was 40, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is considered one of the great Italian masters. He developed a revolutionary painting style, easily recognizable for its unprecedented realism and approachability. Here, nine thematic chapters, including still lifes, the five senses, arms and armor, severed heads, and gestures, offer new insights into the work of this brilliant, enigmatic Italian painter and astonishing close-up views of his most popular paintings, including Bacchus, Medusa, David and Goliath, Judith and Holofernes, and The Fortune Teller. Caravaggio in Detail is the newest volume in the successful series that includes Bruegel in Detail and Bosch in Detail.

In the sixteenth century, the humanist values and admiration for classical antiquity that marked the early Renaissance spread from Italy throughout the rest of the continent, resulting in the development of a number of local artistic styles in other countries. Artists were highly valued and richly compensated during this period, with many receiving lucrative commissions from papal, royal, and private patrons. Among the sixty artists whose works are presented in this volume are towering figures of Western art, such as Michelangelo, Raphael, El Greco, and Titian. Venetian painters led the way, as oil on canvas supplanted fresco as the most popular medium. Italian Mannerists, such as Pontormo, deviated from classical forms, creating figures with elongated proportions and exaggerated poses. In countries that experienced the Protestant Reformation, such as England, many artists turned to portraiture and other secular subjects. This second volume in the "Art through the Centuries" series is divided into three sections that discuss the important people, concepts, and artistic centres of this innovative period.Important facts are summarized in the margins of each entry, and key facets of the illustrations are identified and discussed. New in the "Art Through the Centuries" series, it contains 400 full colour illustrations.

This is a magnificently illustrated and enlightening journey through the visual portrayal of love and sexuality in Western art. Even in the modern world where explicit imagery is manifest, an erotic painting from half a millennia ago can still manage to create a sensation. This new addition to the highly-acclaimed "Guide to Imagery Series" takes readers on a fascinating romp through the portrayal of love and sexuality in Western art - ranging from chaste tenderness to overwhelming frenzies of the senses, and from Classical allusion to sexual fantasy. Individual chapters focus on specific themes, with a detailed and informative reading of the significance and symbolic content of the individual works illustrating each theme.

In viewing the great works of sacred Western art, many people find difficulty in understanding the stories and identifying the figures portrayed in them. This informative guide decodes these often-mysterious scenes and reveals a vibrant world of images from the Christian tradition for museum visitors, students and art enthusiasts alike. "Gospel Figures in Art" examines depictions of stories and figures from both the New Testament's canonical gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the apocryphal gospels (early Christian writings excluded from the New Testament because of their unsubstantiated authorship). Both groups of texts served as rich sources of inspiration for medieval and Renaissance artists. Illustrated with masterpieces from many of the world's premier museums, the art works provided as visual references are carefully analysed. Sections are devoted to the principal figures in the life of Jesus Christ - his family and the evangelists - and to the major biographical turning points: his birth and baptism, his public life, the miracles and good deeds he performed, his crucifixion, resurrection and the events that followed. This resource makes the icons and narratives of sacred art come to life.

Leonardo in Detail - the Portable Edition

- Introduction to some of the world's most popular artists, looking at their works in incredible detail - Filled with superbly reproduced full-page, close-up details, offering new views of some of the world's most popular paintings Crowned the 'Prince of Painters' by Giorgio Vasari, Raphael (1483-1520) was one of the most popular artists of the Italian Renaissance. Famous for his serene and harmonious series of Madonnas and his work at the Vatican Palace, he was an extremely influential painter, both during and after his own lifetime. Pope Julius II hired Raphael as his chief architect and his first commission charged him with the task of decorating the papal apartments at the Vatican in 1509. Now known as the Raphael Rooms, these astonishing displays continue to attract visitors from all over the world. Raphael in Detail shows his beautiful masterpieces in unprecedented, large-format details. The art historian and specialist of the Italian Renaissance, Stefano Zuffi, takes the reader on a surprising voyage into Raphael's life and work. The book is organized thematically and includes a biography and a list of works.

Filled with great masterpieces by such artists as Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Mantegna and Titian, "Understanding Italian Renaissance Painting" takes a journey into their world. As in the acclaimed and innovative "How to Read a Painting", each spread uses an important painting as a way to explain a key concept, with numerous large details. Here, 180 works illuminate key ideas in Renaissance painting, from perspective and the golden section to grace and symbolism. In addition, there are brief biographies of the major artists. The result is an original, accessible and affordable volume that offers an introduction into the art and culture of the Italian Renaissance.