Random House New Releases - Art - History - Renaissance

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

2013-10-29T00:30:00-05:00

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Hardcover, 368 pages | Nan A. Talese | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe - Western | $30.50 | 978-0-385-49557-8 (0-385-49557-9)

From the inimitable and bestselling author Thomas Cahill, another popular history, focusing on the Renaissance and Reformation and how this innovative period changed the Western world.

In Volume VI of his acclaimed Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill guides us through the thrilling period of Renaissance and Reformation (late fourteenth to early seventeenth centuries), so full of innovation and cultural change that the Western world would not experience its like again until the twentieth century. Beginning with the continent-wide disaster of the Black Plague, Cahill traces the many innovations in European thought and experience that served both the new humanism of the Renaissance and the seemingly abrupt religious alterations of the increasingly radical Reformation. This is an age of the most sublime artistic and scientific adventure, but also of newly powerful princes and armies, and of newly found courage, as many thousands refuse to bow their heads to the religious pieties of the past. It is an era of newly discovered continents and previously unknown peoples. More than anything, it is a time of individuality in which a whole culture must achieve a new balance, if the West is to continue.

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

2013-10-29T00:30:00-05:00

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

eBook, 368 pages | Nan A. Talese | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe - Western | $14.99 | 978-0-385-53416-1 (0-385-53416-7)

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

2013-10-29T00:30:00-05:00

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Unabridged Compact Disc | Random House Audio | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe - Western | $40.00 | 978-0-307-96749-7 (0-307-96749-2)

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

2013-10-29T00:30:00-05:00

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe - Western | $20.00 | 978-0-307-96750-3 (0-307-96750-6)

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

2013-08-13T00:30:00-05:00

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

Trade Paperback, 368 pages | Vintage | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance | $17.00 | 978-0-307-74178-3 (0-307-74178-8)

In 1504, the informal rivalry between two of the most celebrated artists in Florence became a direct competition. Michelangelo was commissioned to paint a scene from the ancient battle of Cascina on a wall of the Palazzo Vecchio—in the same room where Leonardo da Vinci had already been commissioned to paint a scene from another great Florentine victory, the battle of Anghiari. As the paintings progressed, Michelangelo set out to prove that his work, not Leonardo’s, embodied the future of art. In fact, the influence of both is visible in the works of subsequent generations of artists.

Historian and art critic Jonathan Jones offers a riveting exploration of this great rivalry, which would become a turning point in the careers of both men, and brings to life an era of fascinating political and cultural transformation.

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

2012-10-23T00:30:00-05:00

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

Hardcover, 368 pages | Knopf | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance | $35.00 | 978-0-307-59475-4 (0-307-59475-0)

From one of Britain’s most respected and acclaimed art historians, art critic of The Guardian—the galvanizing story of a sixteenth-century clash of titans, the two greatest minds of the Renaissance, working side by side in the same room in a fierce competition: the master Leonardo da Vinci, commissioned by the Florentine Republic to paint a narrative fresco depicting a famous military victory on a wall of the newly built Great Council Hall in the Palazzo Vecchio, and his implacable young rival, the thirty-year-old Michelangelo.

We see Leonardo, having just completed The Last Supper, and being celebrated by all of Florence for his miraculous portrait of the wife of a textile manufacturer. That painting—the Mona Lisa—being called the most lifelike anyone had ever seen yet, more divine than human, was captivating the entire Florentine Republic.

And Michelangelo, completing a commissioned statue of David, the first colossus of the Renaissance, the archetype hero for the Republic epitomizing the triumph of the weak over the strong, helping to reshape the public identity of the city of Florence and conquer its heart.

In The Lost Battles, published in England to great acclaim (“Superb”—The Observer; “Beguilingly written”—The Guardian), Jonathan Jones brilliantly sets the scene of the time—the politics; the world of art and artisans; and the shifting, agitated cultural landscape.

We see Florence, a city freed from the oppressive reach of the Medicis, lurching from one crisis to another, trying to protect its liberty in an Italy descending into chaos, with the new head of the Republic in search of a metaphor that will make clear the glory that is Florence, and seeing in the commissioned paintings the expression of his vision.

Jones reconstructs the paintings that Leonardo and Michelangelo undertook—Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari, a nightmare seen in the eyes of the warrior (it became the first modern depiction of the disenchantment of war) and Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina, a call to arms and the first great transfiguration of the erotic into art. Jones writes about the competition; how it unfolded and became the defining moment in the transformation of “craftsman” to “artist”; why the Florentine government began to fall out of love with one artist in favor of the other; and how—and why—in a competition that had no formal prize to clearly resolve the outcome, the battle became one for the hearts and minds of the Florentine Republic, with Michelangelo setting out to prove that his work, not Leonardo’s, embodied the future of art. Finally, we see how the result of the competition went on to shape a generation of narrative paintings, beginning with those of Raphael.

A riveting exploration into one of history’s most resonant exchanges of ideas, a rich, fascinating book that gives us a whole new understanding of an age and those at its center.

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

2012-10-23T00:30:00-05:00

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

eBook, 368 pages | Knopf | History - Renaissance; Art - History - Renaissance | $17.99 | 978-0-307-96101-3 (0-307-96101-X)

Sacred Trash by Peter Cole

2011-04-05T00:30:00-05:00

Sacred Trash The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza
Written by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole

Hardcover, 304 pages | Schocken | History - Jewish; History - Medieval; Art - History - Renaissance | $26.95 | 978-0-8052-4258-4 (0-8052-4258-9)

NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST

Part of the Jewish Encounter series

One May day in 1896, at a dining-room table in Cambridge, England, a meeting took place between a Romanian-born maverick Jewish intellectual and twin learned Presbyterian Scotswomen, who had assembled to inspect several pieces of rag paper and parchment. It was the unlikely start to what would prove a remarkable, continent-hopping, century-crossing saga, and one that in many ways has revolutionized our sense of what it means to lead a Jewish life.

In Sacred Trash, MacArthur-winning poet and translator Peter Cole and acclaimed essayist Adina Hoffman tell the story of the retrieval from an Egyptian geniza, or repository for worn-out texts, of the most vital cache of Jewish manuscripts ever discovered. This tale of buried scholarly treasure weaves together unforgettable portraits of Solomon Schechter and the other heroes of this drama with explorations of the medieval documents themselves—letters and poems, wills and marriage contracts, Bibles, money orders, fiery dissenting tracts, fashion-conscious trousseaux lists, prescriptions, petitions, and mysterious magical charms. Presenting a panoramic view of nine hundred years of vibrant Mediterranean Judaism, Hoffman and Cole bring modern readers into the heart of this little-known trove, whose contents have rightly been dubbed “the Living Sea Scrolls.” Part biography and part meditation on the supreme value the Jewish people has long placed on the written word, Sacred Trash is above all a gripping tale of adventure and redemption.

Master of Shadows by Mark Lamster

2010-10-05T00:30:00-05:00

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens
Written by Mark Lamster

Trade Paperback, 336 pages | Anchor | Biography & Autobiography - Artist, Architect, Photographer; Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe | $17.00 | 978-0-307-38735-6 (0-307-38735-6)

Although his popularity is eclipsed by Rembrandt today, Peter Paul Rubens was revered by his contemporaries as the greatest painter of his era, if not of all history. His undeniable artistic genius, bolstered by a modest disposition and a reputation as a man of tact and discretion, made him a favorite among monarchs and political leaders across Europe—and gave him the perfect cover for the clandestine activities that shaped the landscape of seventeenth-century politics.

In Master of Shadows, Mark Lamster brilliantly recreates the culture, religious conflicts, and political intrigues of Rubens’s time, following the painter from Antwerp to London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome and providing an insightful exploration of Rubens’s art as well as the private passions that influenced it.

Master of Shadows by Mark Lamster

2009-10-20T00:30:00-05:00

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens
Written by Mark Lamster

eBook, 336 pages | Anchor | Art - History - Renaissance; History - Europe | $14.99 | 978-0-385-53223-5 (0-385-53223-7)

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Dark Water by Robert Clark

2009-10-06T00:30:00-05:00

Dark Water Art, Disaster, and Redemption in Florence
Written by Robert Clark

Trade Paperback, 368 pages | Anchor | Art - History - Renaissance; Travel - Europe - Italy | $16.00 | 978-0-7679-2649-2 (0-7679-2649-8)

Birthplace of Michelangelo and home to untold masterpieces, Florence is a city for art lovers. But on November 4, 1966, the rising waters of the Arno threatened to erase over seven centuries of history and human achievement.

Now Robert Clark explores the Italian city’s greatest flood and its aftermath through the voices of its witnesses. Two American artists wade through the devastated beauty; a photographer stows away on an army helicopter to witness the tragedy first-hand; a British “mud angel” spends a month scraping mold from the world’s masterpieces; and, through it all, an author asks why art matters so very much to us, even in the face of overwhelming disaster.

The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch by Kurt Falk

2008-09-16T00:30:00-05:00

The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch
Written by Kurt Falk

Trade Paperback, 116 pages | North Atlantic Books | Art - Criticism; Art - History - Renaissance | $29.95 | 978-1-55643-759-5 (1-55643-759-5)

The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516) have captivated and confounded observers for centuries, leading to wildly varying conclusions on the artist’s spirituality. Kurt Falk presents the first analysis of Bosch’s inner life in light of a hitherto unknown—and now lost—version of one of his seminal works, The Last Judgment, found by the author in Cairo in the mid-1930s.

With an introduction by spiritual psychologist Robert Sardello, The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch presents an entirely new way of looking at this art—not through the framework of art history or the notion of a school of painting, but through the spirit. Falk’s analysis reveals the ways in which Bosch addresses creation, including the exalted and fallen spiritual worlds so prevalent in his work. The author’s conclusions are startling but persuasive: that Bosch had strong links to Rosicrucianism, that many of the paintings feature a curious onlooker figure we now understand as a spirit-witness, and that Bosch had in fact developed the capacity to clairvoyantly know the extraordinary worlds he portrays in such exacting detail. The book’s high-quality reproductions, carefully rendered in the paintings’ true colors, offer powerful visual support for the author’s theories.

Random House New Releases - Art - History - Renaissance

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our WorldWritten by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our WorldWritten by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our WorldWritten by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our WorldWritten by Thomas Cahill

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel That Defined the RenaissanceWritten by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the RenaissanceWritten by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the RenaissanceWritten by Jonathan Jones

Sacred Trash by Peter Cole

Sacred Trash The Lost and Found World of the Cairo GenizaWritten by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole

Master of Shadows by Mark Lamster

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul RubensWritten by Mark Lamster

Master of Shadows by Mark Lamster

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul RubensWritten by Mark Lamster

Dark Water by Robert Clark

Dark Water Art, Disaster, and Redemption in FlorenceWritten by Robert Clark

The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch by Kurt Falk

The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch Written by Kurt Falk

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

Heretics and Heroes How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World
Written by Thomas Cahill

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

The Lost Battles Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance
Written by Jonathan Jones

Sacred Trash The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza
Written by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens
Written by Mark Lamster

Master of Shadows The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens
Written by Mark Lamster

Dark Water Art, Disaster, and Redemption in Florence
Written by Robert Clark

The Unknown Hieronymus Bosch
Written by Kurt Falk