Mandragora – serie

Equipped with all you need to know on the history and traditions of the Chianti region, you will be guided on half-day or full-day drives out from Radda in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti. Four itineraries with maps and commentary will lead you through historic sites and stunning landscape - with places to stop for an espresso, a leisurely lunch, an ice cream snack, some shopping, and a superb dinner.

This monograph is the first title in a new series titled Opera Maestra, specifically focused on the work and itinerary of the artists who made history, from an unprecedented perspective. The series begins with Leonardo da Vinci, captured by the expert Marco Versiero.At the core the analysis is the specific soul, among the thousands of Leonardo's, that Marco Versiero wants to underline: his mirror-soul; namely, Leonardo's eye between Human and Nature. In other words, the eye that allowed the artist to mediate between his favourite dimensions (the human and the natural one), and allowed them to communicate with each other without cancelling themselves, but rather managing to reflect one in the other's light, like in front of a mirror.An essential biographical note introduces the reader to Marco Versiero's pages, enriched with 61 detailed pictures. The pictures, proposing not only a selection of Leonardo's paintings but also of his drawings, enhanced with comprehensive captions, tell the itinerary of the genius from the years of his apprenticeship in Verrocchio's workshop till the days of his maturity.

31 October 1737 Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, the Electress Palatine and last descendant of the grand ducal branch of the Medici, refused to stand by and watch the end of the dynasty that had marked the destiny of Florence for more than four centuries.She responded to the approaching Austrian rule by the House of Lorraine with a legal act under which all the assets that formed part of the Medici collections were bound to the city of Florence, establishing it definitively as a city of art.The protagonist of this book is the history of Florence, from its origins to that fateful day, narrated in the first person by the Electress Palatine herself, accompanied by her inquisitive and loyal servant Maria.

The Global Eye. Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese Maps in the Collections of the Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici is the companion catalogue to the exhibition of the same name. For the first time, it presents all 82 ‘Castello’ maps in colour. The maps are so named because from the end of the 18th century until their transfer to the Laurentian Library in 1921 they decorated the rooms of the Medicean villa of Castello outside Florence.From 1667 to 1669, the young Grand Duke Cosimo III conducted his grand tour, which took him to various countries in Europe. While in the Low Countries on his first journey he purchased 65 maps and hand-drawn views of cities; on his second, longer trip he arrived in Lisbon, where he bought copies of maritime maps. The collection of maps and colonial vistas from Holland, Portugal and Spain provide us with insight into the shape of the world in the mid-17th century as well as information about the circulation of people and ideas.The catalogue describes and accurately analyses each map while providing details on the places shown and the contents of the legends and captions, when these are present. The essays discuss the history of the maps, from the time of their purchase by the grand duke to their arrival at the Laurentian Library.

This publication discusses a bronze Laocoön recently sold at Bonham’s. Its new owners attributed it to Giuseppe Piamontini (1663–1744) ‘because of its manufacture and its extremely close proximity to the Doccia model’, the model employed for a porcelain Laocoön produced in the factory set up by Carlo Ginori (1702–57) in 1737 at Doccia near Florence.Labelled as French and belatedly returned to Late Baroque Florence (but to the wrong artist), this magnificent group has finally revealed its identity. It is one of the incunabula of an ambitious young sculptor measuring himself with the sculptors of Ancient Greece and their great Renaissance followers of his native Florence. During the day he copied them in the Galleria degli Uffizi and in the streets of the city. At night he gathered together with other pupils of Foggini in the Borgo Pinti studio to study together. The prominent career to which Della Valle obviously aspired prompted his move to Rome. Della Valle helped us interpret the bronze correctly, interpret correctly its attribution in the Doccia models’ inventory and by extension understand better that document itself. But most important, our understanding of Florentine Late Baroque sculpture and of Della Valle’s art has acquired another firm point of reference.

Father Andrew, an artist and priest of the Archdiocese of New York, recounts his impressions during a peripatetic retreat in Tuscany some years ago, under the guidance of Timothy Verdon an art historian and Catholic priest. Timothy Verdon’s hope was to help the listeners open to the spiritual as well as aesthetic beauty of the buildings, sculptures and paintings seen and Father Andrew’s book tells that something of this sort happened, at least in his case. A Tuscan Résumé is an ‘inspired’ work, in response to the same Spirit that touched the architects and artists whose masterpieces Father Andrew describes.

This is a colourful and entertaining survival kit for teenagers visiting (or living in) Florence. It was thought up, written and designed in collaboration with Amici Musei Fiorentini.

Following the success of Magic Moments in Florence, Adriana Silvestri explores another of Italy's historic cities. Her kaleidoscopic images and subtle variations on a theme offer new perspectives on what, in the age of mass tourism, have become all too familiar sights, capturing the true essence of the "Eternal City." Her eye zeroes in on all kinds of small details, there are even the stray cats of the Colosseum and the Fori Imperiali, whose long shadows stand out against the purple of cardinals' robes and the white marble of classical Rome.

Beauty and drama come together in a true and compelling story set in the colourful, turbulent world of late-15th-century Florence. The talented son of a successful banker and the beautiful daughter of an influential patrician: their marriage seemed made in heaven, but they were both to meet untimely and tragic ends. This book tells the story of two forgotten protagonists of the Florentine Renaissance: Lorenzo Tornabuoni (1468-97) and his wife, Giovanna degli Albizzi (1468-88). Unpublished documents from family archives allow us to glimpse their daily lives, while poems and works of art offer insight into their notions of love, marriage, birth, death and hopes of eternal life. The contradictions of Italian Renaissance culture clearly emerge, such as the tendency to combine a highly principled intellectual life and aesthetic refinement with self-glorification and political ruthlessness. The author shows how life and art were completely interwoven in this period, and explains the significance of works of art by the likes of Botticelli and Ghirlandaio and their place in the lives of Lorenzo and Giovanna.

From 22 September 2017 to 21 January 2018 Palazzo Strozzi will be hosting a splendid exhibition devoted to the art of the second half of the 16th century in Florence, the third and final act in a trilogy which began with Bronzino ISBN 9788874611546, in 2010 and was followed by Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino ISBN 9788874612161, in 2014. Curated by Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali, the show, and this accompanying book, explores the development of Florentine art in the second half of the century through the painting, sculpture, and draughtsmanship of such artists as Andrea del Sarto, Bronzino, Pontormo, Giorgio Vasari, Giambologna and Bartolomeo Ammannati. The exhibition will also provide a unique opportunity to celebrate the outstanding cultural and intellectual era that was marked by the Council of Trent and its Counter-Reformation, and by the figure of Francesco I de Medici, one of the most outstanding figures in the history of court patronage of the arts in Europe.

Caravaggio’s Portrait of a Gentleman with a Ruff, which is a recent arrival in the Klesch Collection, has a short critical history. It also has a very limited history as regards the associated bibliography and media coverage, perhaps because the painting came to the fore prior to the social media explosion characteristic of recent years and, above all, at a time when today’s almost obsessive interest in Caravaggio was certainly not so developed. This interest has since expanded to incorporate all levels of communication, even the most widely popular. The Portrait first came to people’s attention in 1992 and despite the fact that the artist already exerted an appeal that few other painters could boast at the time, Caravaggio’s following was far removed from what it is today.Text in English and Italian.

The volume takes the form of a refined collection of table settings used in the private residences of the most eminent Tuscan families. The narration complemented by images takes readers through a dazzling, multi-coloured world composed of precious pieces of porcelain, splendid silver objects and transparent crystals, in which the traditional and classical blend with design elements and modern tastes. What gives unity to the entire collection is undisputed taste and elegance.Author Claudia Pianetti Della Stufa is not only a sophisticated interpreter of mise en place but also a true enthusiast of the aesthetics of refined table settings in all their nuances. Her knowledgeable gaze accompanies readers through classical, contemporary and country chic arrangements.Text in English and Italian.