Encounter one of history's greatest civilisations through miniatures. In Persian Miniatures, the story of the magnificent Persian Empire is told by way of a small but vibrant artistic tradition. The colourful images, which are, in fact, elaborate book illustrations, introduce a curious world of adventures, heroes and sovereigns. The Mega Square layout highlights three details from each image and helps to discover amazing peculiarities.
Oscillating between the majesty of the Greco-Byzantine tradition and the modernity predicted by Giotto, Early Italian Painting addresses the first important aesthetic movement that would lead to the Renaissance, the Italian Primitives. Trying new mediums and techniques, these revolutionary artists no longer painted frescos on walls, but created the first mobile paintings on wooden panels. The faces of the figures were painted to shock the spectator in order to emphasise the divinity of the character being represented. The bright gold leafed backgrounds were used to highlight the godliness of the subject. The elegance of both line and colour were combined to reinforce specific symbolic choices. Ultimately the Early Italian artists wished to make the invisible visible. In this magnificent book, the authors emphasise the importance that the rivalry between the Sienese and Florentine schools played in the evolution of art history. The reader will discover how the sacred began to take a more human form through these forgotten masterworks, opening a discrete but definitive door through the use of anthropomorphism, a technique that would be cherished by the Renaissance.
Ce livre n'est pas un panégyrique surl'homosexualité. C'est une étude scientifique menée par James Smalls, professeur d'histoire de l'art.
Spécialiste de l'art du XIXe siècle européen, il s'intéresse particulièrement à la représentation de l'homosexualité dans l'art pictural et la photographie. En effet, cet ouvrage analyse l'acte de création et permet d'appréhender, sans aucune complaisance, l'apport de l'homosexualité dans l'évolution de la perception des émotions. À une époque où les tabous sont tombés, cette démonstration conduit à une relecture et une nouvelle compréhension des chefs-d'oeuvre de notre civilisation.
