The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales contains the most vivid and familiar passages from medieval English literature. Chaucer's pilgrims form a complete cross-section of the society of his day from the Monk and Merchant, the Doctor and Lawyer, through to the outrageous Miller and the corrupt Summoner. This illustrated edition of the Prologue features miniatures taken from the Ellesmere manuscript, and closely adheres to the authentic text of Chaucer. End notes provide all the information necessary for a complete understanding of the work. This unique book with its eye-catching and colourful design, celebrates one of the most significant periods in English history.

Canterbury Tales: Illustrated Prologue

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Scala Publishers

Antiques & Collectibles

Scala Arts & Heritage

The mosques of Istanbul represent the splendour of Islamic architecture. Their central domes, rising above the skyline of the city, convey both the ideals and ambitions of powerful Ottoman Sultans and the brilliance of the architects who created them. This book places these buildings in their historical, religious and social context. It traces the evolution of the Ottoman mosque from small, fourteenth century examples in the first Ottoman capitals, Bursa and Edirne, to those built after the capture of Constantinople in 1453, and to the vast centralised structures commissioned by Suleyman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. The daring experiments in space, light and structure devised by Michelangelo s Ottoman contemporary Mimar Sinan constitute a high point of the book, but the innovations of the Baroque and Neoclassical eras which followed are also fascinating. The author shows how these buildings are set in complexes of social and educational buildings that form the nuclei of neighbourhoods. He also offers insights into Ottoman life and the patronage of the sultans and viziers, as well as powerful women of the court. With full colour illustrations and a lively, informative text, Mosques of Istanbul is indispensable both to visitors to the city and to those wishing to understand Ottoman architecture. The book concludes with maps and itineraries for walking tours in Istanbul, Bursa and Edirne that lead visitors through carefully planned sequences of mosques by easy and convenient routes.

Mosques of Istanbul

Reference

The Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitcria was built by order of King Don Jo?o I as a result of a vow made to the Virgin after his glorious victory over the Castilian army in the Battle of Aljubarrota (1385) which brought Portugal its independence from Spain. Works started one year later under the Portuguese architect, Afonso Domingos, and throughout the centuries, the building underwent a variety of architectural styles from flamboyant Gothic to a more restrained look in the mid-fifteenth century to the style reflecting the Italian Renaissance in the sixteenth century. The Manueline style was also born at the Batalha Monastery and spread from there throughout Portugal. Of particular note are the medieval stained glass windows, used for the first time in Portugal (c.1430-1440) at Batalha, having been brought by master craftsmen from Germany and Flanders. In 1980, the Monastery was transformed into a Museum and, three years later, it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This magnificent

Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitoria, Batalha

Arts & Photography

da Silva, Jose Custodio Vieira

Architecture

The Endless Column Ensemble, by famed Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), has been hailed as one of the great works of twentieth-century public art. Commissioned by the National League of Gorj Women to honour the soldiers who had defended the town of Tfrgu Jiu against a German force in 1916, the tripartite ensemble, erected between 1937 and 1938, is composed of the Endless Column, a 30-metre-high column of zinc and brass-clad, cast-iron modules, and two stone monuments: the Gate of the Kiss and Table of Silence. Over the years the elements took their toll on the sculpture, and although the Column s modules had been replated several times since its construction, by the 1990s it was in dire need of conservation. This stunningly llustrated volume celebrates the history of this extraordinary work of art and tells the story of its recent restoration, landscaping and presentation, supported in large part by the World Monuments Fund (WMF). Brancusi s Endless Column Ensemble launches a s

Brancusi's Endless Column: Targu-Jiu, Romania (World Monuments Fund)

Beck, Ernest

History & Criticism

Seattle Art Museum (SAM) will re-open with a 70% increase in gallery space, offering a stellar gathering place for visitors and a site for major installations by international contemporary artists. SAM's third and fourth floors now join the new North Building galleries to the existing South Building galleries and create a worthy setting for the museum's varied collection of art. While planning the new installation, the curators established three principles for using the collection's diversity to its utmost benefit: show the best of SAM's collection; address the cultural context of the works of art; and when possible, create bridges between cultures and time periods. The guide highlights the many different ways in which the museum's permanent collection may now be experienced, with details and insights of selected artworks. The Forum installation leads the way to the spacious Modern and Contemporary galleries. American art from the 18th to 19th centuries has been intentionally sited adjacent to the

Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Presents a special collection of images selected from White House archives that show the fine and decorative art objects related to George Washington and his presidency

George Washington: Selections from the White House Collection

white-house-historical-association

Details the work that has been undertaken to restore, stabilise and preserve the labyrinth within the walls of this 12th century Buddhist monastic complex.

Preah Khan Monastic Complex: Angkor, Cambodia (World Monuments Fund)

Coe, Michael D.

David Bates

Spring, Justin

Individual Artists

The Shanghai Museum is the finest museum of modern China - in terms of wealth of collection, display and architecture. Originally built in 1952 on the site of the old race course, it re-opened in 1993 in a startling new building in Renmin Square in the heart of central Shanghai. Designed in the shape of an ancient bronze ding, opposite the new City Hall and the new Opera House, it provides an iconic symbol of the staggering new wealth, power and taste of the city of Shanghai. The building was financed largely by the Shanghai City government. The collections have been hugely enhanced by a large number of gifts from outside China, many from prominent overseas Chinese collectors. Each of the nine galleries is of world class in its own right. The displays are among the most modern in the world, and the most sophisticated. Alone amongst China's major museums, a large proportion of its collection of 120,000 objects is displayed. The lighting, presentation and labelling (in English as well as Chinese) is

The Shanghai Museum

London Editions Limited

Great Collectors of Our Time is the first major survey of contemporary collecting and collectors since Douglas Cooper's Great Private Collections, published in 1963. It examines many of the greatest collectors of our time in Europe, North America and the Far East, and follows their tastes - whether in the Old Masters or the avant garde - from the 20th century into the 21st. In 1945, Paris was still the cultural capital of the world, but its culture was being increasingly challenged by America. American collecting was soon to pull up its European anchor and move across the Atlantic, in growing acceptance of America's own art, the decline in the domination of three European schools of art - Italian Renaissance, English 18th century and French 19th century Impressionism - and the rise of the New York School and contemporary art. Prior to 1939, collecting was a private pleasure, sometimes intellectual and scholarly, but more often about enhancing surroundings - 'la douceur de vivre'. Today, colle

Great Collectors of our Time: Art Collecting Since 1945

Stourton, James

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