Raphael is a rare painter who was never out of fashion. This book addresses some of the interests of recent scholarship, which has changed the focus from concern with attribution and definition of Rap
Underlying the religious art of the Renaissance is a tension between the needs of the Church and the impulse to create great works. This beautifully illustrated book presents sacred images from the 15
Naples was by far the largest urban center on the Italian peninsula during the early modern period, and in the years covered by this book, from the early 1300s to the early 1600s, its inhabitants witnessed vast programs of building and decoration spurred by the cultural needs of royal, ecclesiastical, and baronial elites. Yet the city's many beautiful churches and palaces, stone sculptures, fresco cycles, and altarpieces have not received the sustained attention in Anglophone scholarship that has been lavished for generations on other major centers of artistic production, such as Florence, Rome, or Venice. This book surveys the visual arts in Renaissance Naples, offering diachronic overviews of urban design, ecclesiastical architecture, painting, tomb sculpture, and palaces, along with a substantial introduction to the complex social and political history of the city.
Michelangelo's Last Judgment was the most criticized and discussed painting of the sixteenth century. The subject of the Last Judgment has been a barometer of cultural mood throughout history. It can be interpreted, as Michelangelo did, as the moment when mortals attain immortal bliss or, in more unsettled times, as the terrifying moment when we face the justice of the Lord and are found wanting. The painting must hold in tension admonition and celebration. Michelangelo created his fresco in the final flowering of Renaissance humanism. Four years after its unveiling, the Council of Trent began meeting and the Counter-Reformation was under way. Caught on the cusp of a major shift of values, Michelangelo and his fresco were praised by lovers of art and condemned by conservative churchmen who sought a tool with which to exhort the wavering faithful, tempted to defect to Protestantism. This book explores the context, both historical and biographical, in which the fresco was created and the
Michelangelo's Last Judgment was the most criticized and discussed painting of the sixteenth century. The subject of the Last Judgment has been a barometer of cultural mood throughout history. It can be interpreted, as Michelangelo did, as the moment when mortals attain immortal bliss or, in more unsettled times, as the terrifying moment when we face the justice of the Lord and are found wanting. The painting must hold in tension admonition and celebration. Michelangelo created his fresco in the final flowering of Renaissance humanism. Four years after its unveiling, the Council of Trent began meeting and the Counter-Reformation was under way. Caught on the cusp of a major shift of values, Michelangelo and his fresco were praised by lovers of art and condemned by conservative churchmen who sought a tool with which to exhort the wavering faithful, tempted to defect to Protestantism. This book explores the context, both historical and biographical, in which the fresco was created and the
This book examines the promotion of the sensuous as part of religious experience in the Roman Catholic Church of the early modern period. During the Counter-Reformation, every aspect of religious and devotional practice was reviewed, including the role of art and architecture, while the invocation of the five senses to incite devotion became a hotly contested topic. The Protestants had condemned the material cult of veneration of relics and images, rejecting the importance of emotion and the senses and instead promoting the power of reason in receiving the Word of God. After much debate, the Church concluded that the senses are necessary to appreciate the sublime, and that they derive from the Holy Spirit. As part of its attempt to win back the faithful, the Church embraced the sensuous and promoted the use of images, relics, liturgy, processions, music and theatre as important parts of religious experience.
Revealing the power of color as physical medium, a key to interpretation, and a mediator of social and political change This expansive study of color illuminates the substance, context, and meaning of
This comprehensive history of the art of Rome studies the architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts of the High Renaissance together in their social, religious, political and economic con
Who am I? What do I want in relationships? How do I know what to believe? How do I manage the stresses of living?This is a guide to addressing life’s challenges and competing demands. It will help you