Download or read book Michelangelo God s Architect written by William E. Wallace and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As he entered his seventies, the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo despaired that his productive years were past. Anguished by the death of friends and discouraged by the loss of commissions to younger artists, this supreme painter and sculptor began carving his own tomb. It was at this unlikely moment that fate intervened to task Michelangelo with the most ambitious and daunting project of his long creative life. 'Michelangelo, God's Architect' is the first book to tell the full story of Michelangelo's final two decades, when the peerless artist refashioned himself into the master architect of St. Peter's Basilica and other major buildings. When the Pope handed Michelangelo control of the St. Peter's project in 1546, it was a study in architectural mismanagement, plagued by flawed design and faulty engineering. Assessing the situation with his uncompromising eye and razor-sharp intellect, Michelangelo overcame the furious resistance of Church officials to persuade the Pope that it was time to start over. In this richly illustrated book, leading Michelangelo expert William Wallace sheds new light on this least familiar part of Michelangelo's biography, revealing a creative genius who was also a skilled engineer and enterprising businessman. The challenge of building St. Peter's deepened Michelangelo's faith, Wallace shows. Fighting the intrigues of Church politics and his own declining health, Michelangelo became convinced that he was destined to build the largest and most magnificent church ever conceived. And he was determined to live long enough that no other architect could alter his design."--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book The Eye of the Lynx written by David Freedberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2003-08-01 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some years ago, David Freedberg opened a dusty cupboard at Windsor Castle and discovered hundreds of vividly colored, masterfully precise drawings of all sorts of plants and animals from the Old and New Worlds. Coming upon thousands more drawings like them across Europe, Freedberg finally traced them all back to a little-known scientific organization from seventeenth-century Italy called the Academy of Linceans (or Lynxes). Founded by Prince Federico Cesi in 1603, the Linceans took as their task nothing less than the documentation and classification of all of nature in pictorial form. In this first book-length study of the Linceans to appear in English, Freedberg focuses especially on their unprecedented use of drawings based on microscopic observation and other new techniques of visualization. Where previous thinkers had classified objects based mainly on similarities of external appearance, the Linceans instead turned increasingly to sectioning, dissection, and observation of internal structures. They applied their new research techniques to an incredible variety of subjects, from the objects in the heavens studied by their most famous (and infamous) member Galileo Galilei—whom they supported at the most critical moments of his career—to the flora and fauna of Mexico, bees, fossils, and the reproduction of plants and fungi. But by demonstrating the inadequacy of surface structures for ordering the world, the Linceans unwittingly planted the seeds for the demise of their own favorite method—visual description-as a mode of scientific classification. Profusely illustrated and engagingly written, Eye of the Lynx uncovers a crucial episode in the development of visual representation and natural history. And perhaps as important, it offers readers a dazzling array of early modern drawings, from magnificently depicted birds and flowers to frogs in amber, monstrously misshapen citrus fruits, and more.

Download or read book Michelangelo written by William E. Wallace and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-25 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this vividly written biography, William E. Wallace offers a new view of the artist. Not only a supremely gifted sculptor, painter, architect and poet, Michelangelo was also an aristocrat who firmly believed in the ancient, noble origins of his family. The belief in his patrician status fueled his lifelong ambition to improve his family's financial situation and to raise the social standing of artists. Michelangelo's ambitions are evident in his writing, dress and comportment, as well as in his ability to befriend, influence and occasionally say 'no' to popes, kings and princes. Written from the words of Michelangelo and his contemporaries, this biography not only tells his own stories, but also brings to life the culture and society of Renaissance Florence and Rome. Not since Irving Stone's novel The Agony and the Ecstasy has there been such a compelling and human portrayal of this remarkable yet credible human individual.

Download or read book The French Descent into Renaissance Italy 1494 95 written by David Abulafia and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The French invasion of Italy under Charles VIII in 1494-95 has long been seen as inaugurating a new and wretched era in Italian history. The present volume, the work of an international team of contributors, seeks to question that assumption by focusing anew on the intricate politics of Renaissance Italy and the long history of Angevin attempts to impose their rule in southern Italy. It was later invasions, it is argued, that did most to reshape the politics of the Italian peninsula. These studies also look at social and economic effects of the French invasion, as well as its cultural aspects, not least the impact of Renaissance culture in France itself. Combining survey papers and research articles, this volume presents a new introduction to the history of late 15th-century Italy. The appendix, listing the Ilardi collection of microfilms, will also provide an invaluable guide to the diplomatic history of the era.

Download or read book Vilfredo Pareto Dal Carteggio Con Carlo Placci written by Vilfredo Pareto and published by . This book was released on 1957 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Carteggio 1809 1830 written by Luigi Pellico and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-09-11 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Silvio Pellico aveva in fratello quasi coetaneo (Silvio era nato il 24 giugno del 1789, mentre il fratello era nato il 13 gennaio del 1788) che si chiamava Luigi e che fu sempre per lui un amico e un confidente di progetti letterari, difficoltà economiche, speranze e delusioni d'amore. Secondo Carlo Curto, curatore delle Opere scelte del Pellico per la Utet, Luigi che ebbe una vita avventurosa quasi quanto quella di Silvio avrebbe meritato un volume dedicato integralmente a lui e non solo dei brevi riferimenti nei libri dedicati al più famoso fratello. Questa frase, letta all'epoca del dottorato, mi era rimasta in mente e, approfondendo nel corso degli anni la figura di Silvio Pellico, mi sono accorta che effettivamente anche suo fratello possedeva una personalità interessante, una personalità che le sue lettere a mio parere possono rivelare pienamente.

Download or read book Benedetto Croce and the Birth of the Italian Republic 1943 1952 written by Fabio Rizi and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2019-01-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As president of the Italian Liberal Party, Benedetto Croce was one of the most influential intellectuals involved in Italian public affairs after the fall of Mussolini. Placing Croce at the centre of historical events between 1943 and 1952, this book details his participation in Italy’s political life, and his major contributions to the rebirth of Italian democracy. Drawing on a great amount of primary material, including Croce’s political speeches, correspondences, diaries, and official documents from post-war Italy, this book illuminates the dynamic and progressive nature of Croce’s liberalism and the shortcomings of the old Liberal leaders. Providing a year-by-year account of Croce’s initiatives, author Fabio Fernando Rizi fills the gap in Croce’s biography, covering aspects of his public life often neglected, misinterpreted, or altogether ignored, and restores his standing among the founding fathers of modern Italy.

Download or read book Filippo De Filippi esploratore in Asia centrale Il carteggio con Marc Aurel Stein 1911 1938 written by Nico Mastropietro and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-11-18 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Il carteggio tra Filippo De Filippi e Marc Aurel Stein ha inizio nel 1911 e prosegue, per ben 27 anni, fino al 1938, anno della scomparsa dell'italiano. I materiali consultati consentano di ricostruire in maniera puntuale i modi ed i tempi con i quali i due esploratori si scambiavano notizie relative sia alle rispettive attività scientifiche che alle vicende della vita quotidiana, offrendoci in sostanza - e questo è probabilmente l'aspetto di maggior interesse - uno spaccato di quasi trent'anni di esistenza di Filippo De Filippi e di Marc Aurel Stein.

Download or read book Visual Cultures of Secrecy in Early Modern Europe written by Timothy McCall and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secrets in all their variety permeated early modern Europe, from the whispers of ambassadors at court to the emphatically publicized books of home remedies that flew from presses and booksellers’ shops. This interdisciplinary volume draws on approaches from art history and cultural studies to investigate the manifestations of secrecy in printed books and drawings, staircases and narrative paintings, ecclesiastical furnishings and engravers’ tools. Topics include how patrons of art and architecture deployed secrets to construct meanings and distinguish audiences, and how artists and patrons manipulated the content and display of the subject matter of artworks to create an aura of exclusive access and privilege. Essays examine the ways in which popes and princes skillfully deployed secrets in works of art to maximize social control, and how artists, printers, and folk healers promoted their wares through the impression of valuable, mysterious knowledge. The authors contributing to the volume represent both established authorities in their field as well as emerging voices. This volume will have wide appeal for historians, art historians, and literary scholars, introducing readers to a fascinating and often unexplored component of early modern culture.

Download or read book Galileo written by John Joseph Fahie and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Companion to Vittoria Colonna written by Abigail Brundin and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-09-07 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547) was the genre-defining secular woman writer of Renaissance Italy, whose literary model helped to establish a decorous and wholly assimilated voice for women within the field of Italian literature. The Companion to Vittoria Colonna brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of leading scholars to assess Colonna’s contribution, both as a writer, a role model, and a contributor to important religious debates of the era. This book, while amply fulfilling the remit of providing a useful and comprehensive handbook to meet the needs of students and scholars at earlier and advanced levels, aims in addition to do more than this, by drawing into a single volume for the first time scholarship from across disciplines in which Vittoria Colonna’s influence has been felt, including literary criticism, religious history, history of art and music. Contributors are: Abigail Brundin, Stephen Bowd, Emidio Campi, Eleonora Carinci, Adriana Chemello, Virginia Cox, Tatiana Crivelli, Maria Forcellino, Gaudenz Freuler, Anne Piéjus, Diana Robin, Helena Sanson, and Maria Serena Sapegno.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Life Writing written by Margaretta Jolly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-04 with total page 3905 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2001. This is the first substantial reference work in English on the various forms that constitute "life writing." As this term suggests, the Encyclopedia explores not only autobiography and biography proper, but also letters, diaries, memoirs, family histories, case histories, and other ways in which individual lives have been recorded and structured. It includes entries on genres and subgenres, national and regional traditions from around the world, and important auto-biographical writers, as well as articles on related areas such as oral history, anthropology, testimonies, and the representation of life stories in non-verbal art forms.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies written by Gaetana Marrone and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-12-26 with total page 2258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies is a two-volume reference book containing some 600 entries on all aspects of Italian literary culture. It includes analytical essays on authors and works, from the most important figures of Italian literature to little known authors and works that are influential to the field. The Encyclopedia is distinguished by substantial articles on critics, themes, genres, schools, historical surveys, and other topics related to the overall subject of Italian literary studies. The Encyclopedia also includes writers and subjects of contemporary interest, such as those relating to journalism, film, media, children's literature, food and vernacular literatures. Entries consist of an essay on the topic and a bibliographic portion listing works for further reading, and, in the case of entries on individuals, a brief biographical paragraph and list of works by the person. It will be useful to people without specialized knowledge of Italian literature as well as to scholars.

Download or read book Stradivari written by Stewart Pollens and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-11 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A highly illustrated biography and study of Stradivari, the greatest violin maker, including colour photographs of his most famous instruments.

Download or read book Carteggio del conte Federico Confalonieri ed altri documenti spettanti alla sua biografia written by Federico Confalonieri and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Michelangelo written by Carmen C. Bambach and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2017-11-05 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consummate painter, draftsman, sculptor, and architect, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) was celebrated for his disegno, a term that embraces both drawing and conceptual design, which was considered in the Renaissance to be the foundation of all artistic disciplines. To his contemporary Giorgio Vasari, Michelangelo was “the divine draftsman and designer” whose work embodied the unity of the arts. Beautifully illustrated with more than 350 drawings, paintings, sculptures, and architectural views, this book establishes the centrality of disegno to Michelangelo’s work. Carmen C. Bambach presents a comprehensive and engaging narrative of the artist’s long career in Florence and Rome, beginning with his training under the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and the sculptor Bertoldo and ending with his seventeen-year appointment as chief architect of Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The chapters relate Michelangelo’s compositional drawings, sketches, life studies, and full-scale cartoons to his major commissions—such as the ceiling frescoes and the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, the church of San Lorenzo and its New Sacristy (Medici Chapel) in Florence, and Saint Peter’s—offering fresh insights into his creative process. Also explored are Michelangelo’s influential role as a master and teacher of disegno, his literary and spiritual interests, and the virtuoso drawings he made as gifts for intimate friends, such as the nobleman Tommaso de’ Cavalieri and Vittoria Colonna, the marchesa of Pescara. Complementing Bambach’s text are thematic essays by leading authorities on the art of Michelangelo. Meticulously researched, compellingly argued, and richly illustrated, this book is a major contribution to our understanding of this timeless artist.

Download or read book The Pontificate of Clement VII written by Sheryl E. Reiss and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pontificate of Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) is usually regarded as amongst the most disastrous in history, and the pontiff characterized as timid, vacillating, and avaricious. It was during his years as pope (1523-34) that England broke away from the Catholic Church, and relations with the Holy Roman Emperor deteriorated to such a degree that in 1527 an Imperial army sacked Rome and imprisoned the pontiff. Given these spectacular political and military failures, it is perhaps unsurprising that Clement has often elicited the scorn of historians, rather than balanced and dispassionate analysis. This interdisciplinary volume, the first on the subject, constitutes a major step forward in our understanding of Clement VII's pontificate. Looking beyond Clement's well-known failures, and anachronistic comparisons with more 'successful' popes, it provides a fascinating insight into one of the most pivotal periods of papal and European history. Drawing on long-neglected sources, as rich as they are abundant, the contributors address a wide variety of important aspects of Clement's pontificate, re-assessing his character, familial and personal relations, political strategies, and cultural patronage, as well as exploring broader issues including the impact of the Sack of Rome, and religious renewal and reform in the pre-Tridentine period. Taken together, the essays collected here provide the most expansive and nuanced portrayal yet offered of Clement as pope, patron, and politician. In reconsidering the politics and emphasizing the cultural vitality of the period, the collection provides fresh and much-needed revision to our understanding of Clement VII's pontificate and its critical impact on the history of the papacy and Renaissance Europe.