ichly illustrated with stunning photographs and engaging bite-size texts, this new series gives a revealing insight into the diversities and attractions of the world's most fascinating cities. A comprehensive timeline provides a colourful account of the key events and influential people that have shaped the city, giving readers a real sense of what makes each destination what it is today. Packe…
"Each volume of the series Fascination Cities contains more than 500 breathtaking photos by the world s best urban photographers that will take you on a fascinating tour through each city, introducing you to the attractions, people, culture and unique atmosphere. Comprehensive captions provide detailed information on each image. Special pages devoted to art, culture, customs and more make for …
Presents a critical look at Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," focusing on the mysteries surrounding the painting, including who the woman in the portrait is and why the painting was unfinished.
Las Meninas by Velázquez, held by the Prado in Madrid, is one of the most celebrated paintings of all time. It was executed in the Spanish capital in 1656 and depicts the Infanta Margaret Theresa of Habsburg attended by her maids of honour (meninas) and in the company of Velázquez himself, portrayed at work.
The sublime synthesis of Piero della Francesca's art, the Montefeltro Altarpiece, now in the Pinacoteca di Brera, is one of the most famous works dating from the painter's maturity. It was executed in the refined context of the Urbino court, probably to be placed above Duke Federico da Montefeltro's tomb in the Church of San Bernardino. Napoleon's soldiers took it to Milan in 1811, and since th…
The fresco The School of Athens in the Vatican stages a scene with 58 characters, among whom, grouped around the central figures, Plato and Aristotle, the ancient world's most famous thinkers can be identified. Raphael masterfully synthesizes the history of thought and human wisdom, not only in the space he creates (a virtual temple of philosophy", humanistically speaking), but also in time, le…
Inspired by the story of Christ's first miracle as recounted in the Gospel of St. John, Paolo Veronese's dazzling, monumental painting The Wedding at Cana, held at the Louvre, was commissioned to be hung in the refectory of the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The artist stages a sumptuous banquet for the wedding guests at Cana, packed with intriguing details: a seemingl…
Renoir was renowned for his works with their vibrant light and color and the harmony of the lines he portrayed within his landscapes and figure paintings. At the beginning of his prolific career he employed the impressionist techniques. where detail was denied and replaced with soft fusions between characters and their surroundings. While he moved away from this style in the middle of his caree…