Anna Ferrari – författare

From antiquity, when the Great Pyramid was revered as a wonder of the ancient world, to the Cleopatra of Shakespeare’s stage, and from the medieval Arab scholars who sought hieroglyphs’ mystical wisdom, to the biblical stories still told today, Visions of Ancient Egypt explores how ongoing engagement with ancient Egypt has shaped centuries of art and design. Accompanying a ground-breaking exhibition, it unpicks the constructed fantasies of this ancient civilisation and charts how ancient Egypt’s iconic motifs and visual style have been re-imagined over time – revealing not just an enduring artistic fascination with Egypt, but a story of how Egypt’s own heritage has been reinvented and appropriated by different cultures over time, and a history closely entwined with imperial conquest and colonial politics. Beautifully illustrated throughout and with contributions by leading scholars, this book explores the imagined construction of ancient Egypt promoted through painting, sculpture, photography, architecture and film, as well as design, fashion and jewellery. It traces the journey across time, beginning with the ancient Romans who looted Egyptian monuments and adopted Egyptian gods into their Pantheon; to Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt, and the elite taste for all things Egyptian it prompted; as well as the Victorian creation of an Orientalist fantasy popularised at World Fairs. Presented in a nuanced way, the story is not Eurocentric. For the first time, it also places Egypt’s own story firmly into the narrative, exploring for example Egyptian artists’ responses to nationalist calls for independence spurred by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, while also addressing the popular impact of the ‘Tutmania’ craze in the West and its influence on Art Deco. The book also examines the enduring appeal of ancient Egypt in global contemporary art, across media from painting and sculpture, to film and multimedia installations. Artists both within and beyond Egypt continue to look to its ancient imagery to make statements about heritage, identity and race. The book invites readers to debate and to discuss this complex history of the construction of ancient Egypt in art and design, and to ask who these visions serve – both then and now.

A richly illustrated book that breaks new ground in exploring the relationship between science and power at the French court of Versailles – published to accompany the exhibition at London’s Science Museum.Between the 1660s and the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, the royal palace of Versailles – commonly associated with its architecture, gardens and courtly splendour – was also a place of serious scientific enquiry. This engaging book reveals how the French monarchy harnessed science to enhance its prestige and extend its global influence. Versailles: Science and Splendour explores the relationship between science and power during the reigns of kings Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI, a period when the practice of what we now call ‘science’ changed significantly, and highlights how science and empire were connected at Versailles.  This book, which accompanies a temporary exhibition at the Science Museum in London, features 16 chapters by experts from Britain, France and America. Each chapter is inspired by fascinating objects, from a stuffed rhinoceros to an exquisite astronomical clock. The stories covered range from the early days of the French Royal Academy of Sciences and the engineering behind Versailles’s fountains, to the menagerie of rare animals that lived in the grounds and the first hot-air balloon flight at the palace.