Officina Libraria – serie

The catalogue presents Christ Carrying the Cross, recently rediscovered by Carlo Falciani in a private collection, which was born out of the intense friendship between the painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) with Bindo Altoviti (1491-1557), important banker and refined art collector and patron. The artwork was painted in 1553, just before Vasari's return to Florence to take service as court painter of the Duke Cosimo I de' Medici. The painting shows the extremely high quality reached by Vasari's production in Rome - where he was working for Pope Julius III and where the Florentine banker Bindo Altoviti had a palace and conducted business - and, at the same time, it shows the experimentations of his manner, characterised by the re-elaboration of modern and contemporary models, in this case works of Michelangelo, Francesco Salviati and Sebastiano del Piombo. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, Palazzo Corsini, Rome from 24 January-30 June 2019.Text in English and Italian.

Everett Fahy’s writings are of fundamental importance to the study of Tuscan Renaissance painting from the late 14th to the 16th century. An endeavour that lasted 50 years, starting with his 1965 essay on Piero di Cosimo and ending with his contributions for the 2015 Florentine exhibition on the same artist. In between Fahy wrote on some of the most acclaimed and loved artists (from Beato Angelico to Botticelli, from Ghirlandaio to the young Michelangelo), but also on lesser known masters such as Lorenzo di Nicolò, Spinello Aretino, the Master of the Campana panels, the Master of the Fiesole Adoration of the Magi, etc., and through his pioneering studies rediscovered minor artistic schools, such as the Lucca school. Fahy reconstruction of Fra Bartolomeo’s early career is considered a classic of art historiography. The selected texts (vol. 1) are arranged in the order of appearance, while the plates (vol. 2), following chronological order, make up an atlas of two centuries of Tuscan painting.With texts in English (36), French (1), and Italian (10).

Giovanni Battista Franco (before 1510 - 1561) was an Italian mannerist painter, draughtsman and engraver. Native of Venice, he spent the first part of his career in Rome, but by 1536 had settled in Florence. Back in Rome by 1542, he painted a fresco of the Capture of Saint John the Baptist for the Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato. In 1545 he was summoned by Duke Guidobaldo II to Urbino, where he painted frescoes in the Duomo (destroyed). The last ten years of his career were spent in Venice, where among his significant works are a Baptism of Christ for San Francesco della Vigna and the ceiling decoration of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi and the Biblioteca Marciana. Franco is better known as a draughtsman and recent scholars such as A. E. Popham found much to praise in 'Franco's extraordinary skill, with his rather scratchy but effective line, and his combination of Michelangelesque and Raphaelesque forms.' Among his drawings there are numerous studies of antique subjects taken from Roman sarcophagi.Text in French.

The masi are the equivalent of farms in the Alpine area of the Dolomites (Sudtirol/Alto Adige in northern Italy). Val Gardena, one of the valleys of Sudtirol, houses a great number of masi, some dating back to the thirteenth century. The historical importance of these farms resides in the richness and variety of their building techniques and the sheer beauty of their vernacular architecture perfectly integrated in the stunning landscape of the Dolomites. Recent socio-economic development and the difficulty to adapt the older masi to modern needs has endangered them. A movement to map and preserve these precious witnesses of the material culture of Val Gardena is taking place. Photographing and exhibiting the images of these buildings - shedding light on their cultural role, forms and the architectural elements - in the mountain villages and later in the Architecture Departments of universities in Italy and surrounding countries (Austria, Germany) is a way to increase awareness on the importance of preserving this distinctive vernacular architecture. Text in Ladin, German, Italian with short abstracts in English.

Baccio Bandinelli (Florence, 1493-1560) was one of the sculptors that worked for the house of Medici during the first half of the XVI century. A pupil of Giovan Francesco Rustici, he was strongly influenced by Michelangelo. One of his main works, 'Hercules and Cacus', is visible in the Piazza della Signoria and seen by millions of tourists each year. He also worked in Rome where he had been called by pope Clement VII. But, while his talent for sculpture was put in doubt by critics and rivals (Benvenuto Cellini, for instance), Bandinelli's extraordinary drawing skills were universally appreciated - Vasari declared him "unrivalled" in this domain. Over two hundred drawings held in the Louvre are analysed in this scholarly publication: they include autograph drawings, those by his workshop and those rejected.

Painter and draftsman of animals for Louis XIV, Pieter Boel (1626-1674) is now widely recognised as one of the best animal painters of the past.This large-size book presents 40 paintings and drawings of this extraordinary observer of nature. His pieces were particularly lively because he was inspired by the living birds and mammals he was able to observe in the Versailles Menagerie, established by Louis XIV in 1664 and soon a model for all the European courts.The studies were used as models for animals reproduced in the foreground of the famous Gobelins tapestries, which decorated several royal mansions. They are replete with details of the animals, seen from different viewpoints, and are admired for the quasi-tactile rendering of fur or feathers. The drawings included show Boel's keen eye for rendering movement.

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne is, with the Battle of Anghiari, Leonardo's most ambitious project of his later years. This masterpiece has been under restoration and it will be exhibited in its newly found splendour at the Louvre. There, for the first time, it will be flanked by cartoons with the same subject (but with St. John the Baptist) held at the National Gallery, London, and by preparatory sketches and drawings, thus allowing the public to gain new insights in Leonardo's method of work. The exhibition and the catalogue present 131 works by Leonardo and other contemporary artists, such as Raphael and Luini, placing the St. Anne in its proper art historical context. This great work has had an enduring influence on the development of art in the High Renaissance (Michelangelo, Solario, Andrea del Sarto, etc.), but its effects are seen on paintings much more recent, such as those of Odilon Redon and Max Ernst.Text in French.Contents:The construction of formThe cartoon of 1501First studies for the St. Anne of the LouvreThe cartoon for the the St. Anne of the LouvreNew studies; the second version of the compositionLast studiesThe drawings on the reverseEmulation in FlorenceThe St. Anne in Milan: copies and variationsThe St. Anne in FranceThe fascination for the St. Anne

Since 1972, the Drawings and Prints Department of the Louvre has published the reportoire of the Italian drawings held in its collections. This volume, the tenth in the series, is dedicated to the Bolognese and Emilian artists of the 17th century. Seicento is considered by all as the golden age of Bolognese painting, which not only enriched the city with many masterpieces but saw many of its main artists going to Rome, the capital of Baroque, to decorate its churches and palaces (from the Galleria Farnese by Annibale Carracci to the many domes frescoed by Lanfranco).The volume includes close to 1000 drawings by artists such as Ludovico and Annibale Carracci, Bartolomeo Cesi, Bartolomeo Schedoni, Guido Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco, Elisabetta Sirani, Giuseppe Maria Crespi e Donato Creti and it traces the evolution of draughtmanship in Bologna and Emilia, from the Accademia degli Incamminati to the spreading of classicism and baroque.Text in French.Contents: Preface by Henri Loyrette (President of the Louvre); Introduction; The Teaching of the Carraccis; Contemporary Artists of the Carraccis; The Influcence of Bologna; Baroque and Classiscism in Bologna and Emilia; Bibliography; Tables of Concordance; List of the Artists; Index of the CollectorsAlso available:Battista Franco ISBN 9788889854457Baccio Bandinelli ISBN 9788889854631

Essential to art libraries and art historians who study Leonardo and the Renaissance. The first book to have the photos of the restored masterpiece, complete with many new details As the recent blockbuster Leonardo exhibit - the fastest-selling exhibit ever held at the National Gallery in London - proved, the interest in Leonardo is huge. The Virgin and Child with St. Anne is, with the Battle of Anghiari, Leonardo's most ambitious project of his later years. This masterpiece has been under restoration and it will be exhibited in its newly found splendor at the Louvre. There, for the first time, it will be flanked by cartoons with the same subject (but with St. John the Baptist) held at the National Gallery, London, and by preparatory sketches and drawings, thus allowing the public to gain new insights in Leonardo's method of work. The exhibition and the catalogue present 131 works by Leonardo and other contemporary artists, such as Raphael and Luini, placing the St. Anne in its proper art historical context. This great work has had an enduring influence on the development of art in the High Renaissance (Michelangelo, Solario, Andrea del Sarto, etc.), but its effects are seen on paintings much more recent, such as those of Odilon Redon and Max Ernst.

Alphacats are an elite breed: they are cats with a pedigree (well, most of them ) and painted almost hair by hair by scientific illustrator Gabriella Gallerani and here honoured in alphabetical order. Beautifully rendered in full colour, to each, their own letter - around which to climb, hide, stretch, play, yawn or simply show off. Thus, A for Angora, B for Bengal, C for Ceylon, D for Devon Rex - but Alphacats are also the cats that have made history - literature, movies, cartoons, music and the happiness of writers, scientists, kings and politicians. The names of over 300 "alpha" cats, with just as many witty stories and feline anecdotes, creates a repertoire of the unique and memorable characters that make each cat worthy of a name. From Boise, Hemingway's favourite, to Pulcinella, who inspired Scarlatti's Cat's fugue sonata, from Brillant, Louis XV's beautiful Angora to Socks, the Clintons' pet during their White House tenure, each letter of the alphabet has many inspiring names.