Search results for "tag:"Author Nathaniel Silver""
Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd Titian'S Rape of Europa
Book SynopsisNathaniel Silver, William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, tells the acquisition story behind The Rape of Europa (1562), one of the most infl uential and iconic Renaissance paintings in America. The purchase of Titian’s masterpiece from an English aristocrat marked the beginning of a new phase in Gardner’s business relationship with scholar and art dealer Bernard Berenson and made her the envy of every art collector in the United States. While Henry James nicknamed Isabella "daughter of Titian" and all of Boston fell at her feet, European contemporaries took note of their rapidly disappearing national patrimony. The same celebrity that would make Europa the crown jewel of Boston's newest museum fueled the widely publicized debate over England’s artistic heritage. "American despoilers" became the rallying cry of British museum directors, curators, and scholars who cast their country as the victim of New World rapacity, and Isabella its most brilliant villain.This volume further explores Europa in Titian’s own time. Here the legendary painter laid claim to the power of poetic invention, creating the last of the six mythological canvases to reach Philip II in three years between 1559 and 1562. Described by the artist as poesie (literally "painted poetries"), these celebrated pictures reimagined stories from antiquity and explored the epic consequences of encountersbetween gods and mortals. Titian’s staggeringly original interpretations solicited comparisons with Ovid’s poetry and ancient art. Completed over more than a decade, they fulfi lled part of a larger agreement to furnish the king with paintings both secular – and highly sensual in character – as well as altarpieces of religious subjects. Published here for the first time, dramatically enlarged details of the composition demonstrate Titian’s deft touch and dazzlingly technical accomplishment. These bravura passages recently revealed by the painting’s comprehensive cleaning – the first since its arrival in America – are accompanied by commentary from the conservator,Gianfranco Pocobene, who returned Europa to its original glory.
£17.05
Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd Bourdichon'S Boston Hours
Book SynopsisThis absorbing book explores the crown jewel of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's collection of rare books and manuscripts: Jean Bourdichon's Boston Hours. As court artist to King François I of France, Bourdichon produced paintings, books and even parade floats for the sovereign and his entourage. This publication accompanies the museum’s first ever exhibition dedicated to this spectacular illuminated manuscript. Painter to two kings, Jean Bourdichon remains today one of the most celebrated artists of the French Renaissance. By age twenty-four, he was already serving as "peintre du roy," a title which Bourdichon held for the rest of his life. His illustrious career at the French royal court led to a wide range of commissions - from portraits to wall maps to stained glass - but he is remembered principally for astonishing illuminated manuscripts. The peerless Grandes Heures for Queen Anne of Brittany remains the touchstone of this group which includes some of the most lavishly painted books of hours ever produced. One of these masterpieces - Bourdichon's Boston Hours - in the collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the subject of this book. Bourdichon's only intact book of hours in the United States was acquired by Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1890 and became the crown jewel of her collection of rare books and manuscripts. Leading scholars Nicholas Herman and Anne-Marie Eze explore its history in depth, shedding new light on the book’s patronage and provenance - from the shelves of a wealthy Catholic landowner in Lincolnshire to the shop of a Venetian art and antiques dealer. This book is the latest in the Gardner's Close Up series, each installment focusing on an individual, outstanding work of art in the collection. This publication is the first dedicated to this rare treasure, and precedes an exhibition opening in summer 2022.
£17.05
Princeton University Press Isabella Stewart Gardner
Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Isabella Stewart Gardner] shed[s] light on this complex woman and cut[s] through the misconceptions that have grown up around her."---Michael Patrick Brady, WBUR"A fascinating life story of a woman who defied convention to create an enduring legacy."---Sarah Cascone, ArtNet"Nathaniel Silver and Diana Seave Greenwald...have drawn on the personal archive of the celebrated philanthropist and collector, bringing to light new details about her art tastes and collecting activities along with her vision for her palazzo-style museum."---Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper "As befits an official biography, Silver and Greenwald approach their subject with decorum and respect: they neither hide nor emphasize potentially controversial elements, carefully outlining the sources of money in Isabella’s family and the old Boston Brahmin fortune of her devoted husband."---Peter Walsh, Arts Fuse
£19.00
National Gallery Company Ltd Pesellino: A Renaissance Master Revealed
Book SynopsisThis catalogue introduces the little-known Renaissance artist Pesellino, exploring his exquisite miniatures, his narrative cassone panels, and grand altarpieces During his brief but varied career, Francesco Pesellino (c. 1422–1457) rose to notable heights, receiving prestigious commissions from the pope and becoming a favourite of Florence’s ruling Medici family. His death at the age of only 35 cut short a rising star of the early Renaissance. Praised as a painter of “cose picole” (small things), Pesellino was a remarkable draughtsman and miniaturist, excelling in fine details and the characterful depiction of animals. His works were not limited to those on a small scale, however: he was also an accomplished painter of grand altarpieces. This catalogue introduces Pesellino’s work to a wider audience and celebrates his extraordinary abilities. Beautifully illustrated essays explore his life and work, and the recent conservation of the Gallery’s painted cassone panels depicting the story of David and Goliath, where the artist’s skill as a storyteller is matched by his technical mastery. The first publication in English dedicated to Pesellino, it provides a comprehensive overview of the artist, as well as new insights into his work. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The National Gallery, London (December 7, 2023–March 10, 2024)
£16.99
Yale University Press Simone Martini in Orvieto
Book SynopsisNew insights into the innovative multimedia work and early career of fourteenth-century Italian painter Simone Martini
£33.25
Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd Raphael and the Pope’s Librarian
Book SynopsisPublished in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, this engrossing publication accompanies an exhibition the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Raphael and the Pope’s Librarian brings together for the first time one of the most fascinating works in the museum’s collection – the Gardner Museum’s portrait of papal librarian Tommaso Inghirami – and a painting from the Vatican Museums depicting an episode in this life. This book tells the story of the first Raphael in America and explores Inghirami’s fascinating career.Nearly five centuries after his death in 1520, Raphael’s fame remains undiminished. Crowned “prince of painters” by Giorgio Vasari, he inspired both artists of his own time and others for centuries afterward. According to the celebrated writer Henry James, Raphael’s work was “semi-sacred.” Gilded Age American collectors swooned over his iconic religious images and masterly brushwork, and James’s contemporaries feverishly tried and failed to acquire Raphael’s rare paintings in a market flooded with copies, and the occasional forgery.Isabella Stewart Gardner took up the challenge, determined to buy a magnificent Madonna by Raphael. Following her gripping hunt, Gardner was the first collector to bring a work by Raphael to America, where its unexpected subject led to a mixed reception and generated surprising rumors in the years to follow. Despite any hesitations over the painting’s beauty, Gardner named an entire gallery of her new Boston museum after the Renaissance master and installed many of her most celebrated works of art around his portrait of the rotund cleric Tommaso Inghirami.Described by Erasmus as “the Cicero of our era”, Inghirami was a celebrity in the high Renaissance esteemed for his profound erudition and theatrical abilities. His unparalleled knowledge and understanding of classics made him the ideal choice for Vatican Librarian under Pope Julius II. Yet he achieved a lasting fame on stage, playing a leading role in the revival of ancient theatre and acquiring the nickname “Fedra” after starring as the lovesick Queen Athens in Seneca’s Greek tragedy Hippolytus (Phaedra). Inghirami’s friend Raphael offered him another role, recasting the Renaissance humanist as the congenial philosopher Epicurius in his legendary School of Athens fresco before memorializing him in the more worldly painted portrait at the center of this exhibition.Raphael and the Pope’s Librarian is the latest in the Close Up series of books accompanying a Gardner exhibition series, each installment of which sheds new light on an outstanding work of art in the permanent collection.
£999.99
