Nicholas Penny Knihy

Traces the life and career of the great Renaissance artist, provides a thorough historical background, and discusses the nature of Raphael's genius

. South Bank Centre, bright clean copy, no markings, Professional booksellers since 1981

This beautiful book surveys the sculpture of many civilizations—from ancient Egypt, Greece, and China to fifteenth-century Italy, nineteenth-century France, and twentieth-century North America. It provides a basic introduction to the nature of the materials used by sculptors, examining how these were regarded as well as how they were worked in different periods and in different cultures. The book begins with the hardest stones that are worked with abrasives, goes on to discuss marble and softer stones and organic materials, such as wood and ivory, considers plastic materials (clay, stucco, gesso, and wax), both as molded materials and modeled ones, and then describes the casting and tooling of metal. Each chapter defines the limitations and challenges special to the material, examining, for example, its availability, value, durability, versatility, size, and color. Considering the ways in which artists have transferred techniques from one medium to another and striven to imitate in one material effects associated with another—how, for example, ivory carving has influenced porcelain models and pieced wooden sculpture has influenced marble carving—Nicholas Penny questions and qualifies the most powerful idea in the education of the sculptor in this century—the relation of truth to material. Full of facts drawn from rare and obscure publications and taking account of newer research (some carried out at the author's own request), the book combines useful information with stimulating speculation. It will be welcomed by sculpture lovers everywhere and provides an essential guide for students.

The 1470s - the decade of Lorenzo de'Medici's rise to power - was a remarkable moment in Florence's history. It was a time of intense activity for the city's creative workforce. Beauty had long been an intrinsic part of the city's identity and prestige, and rich and powerful Florentine families saw cultivation of the visual arts as an essential way to assert their influence, commissioning artists and craftsmen to create impressive paintings, objects and monuments to enhance their status." "Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Gallery, London, this illustrated volume offers an introduction to the principal patrons, projects and artistic personalities within Florence during this period. It concentrates on the activities of the leading artists - Andrea del Verrocchio, Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo, Sandro Botticelli, Filippino Lippi and the young Leonardo da Vinci - illustrating their special contributions and highlighting their differences, common sources, ambitions and responses to each other.

In addition to the paintings, sketches, and personalia of Reynolds, the exhibition included paintings and prints by other artists (after Reynolds' works), and a section of (chiefly anonymous) satirical etchings from late 18th century London.