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	Leonardo Click picture to look inside One of the most fully achieved human beings who has ever lived, Leonardo remains the quintessential Renaissance genius. Creator of the world's most famous painting, scientist, philosopher, builder, he is credited with defining the accomplishments of the great flowering in human consciousness. And yet, so wide-ranging and prolific were his interests that he brought hardly any major undertaking to a final end. If Leonardo seems so modern, it is perhaps because of his non-speciality, his magpie mind and curiosity, and his thousands of notes and sketches. In these pages he would anticipate some of the great discoveries and inventions that would follow him, from key points in anatomy through to plans for armoured military vehicles, planes, helicopters and submarines. As well as all that, Leonardo also managed to advance numerous artistic techniques, and implicated a complex psychology into his paintings of the 'Last Supper' and the enigmatic 'La Gioconda', or 'Mona Lisa'. Famous horseman, rival to Michelangelo, military engineer to the Borgias, he died in 1519, in a chateau given him by the King of France. Author: Frank Zöllner Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 3822859796 Published: Softcover: 185 x 230 mm, 96 pages Price: £4.99


	Michelangelo Click picture to look inside During the Renaissance, great artists from Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli to Michelangelo and Raphael transformed the history of art, attaining to ever closer imitation of nature whilst altering it to their taste. From their art, ambiguous beings were born, half man, half woman; female breasts were planted on male busts and a young man's gaze peeped out beneath the eyelids of a Madonna. From his earliest youth, Michelangelo never ceased to suffer, and thereby to create. He attempted to reconcile the apparently conflicting forces that inhabited him: earthly passions and fear of God. Hence the edifice devoted to beauty, celestial and infernal alike, that Michelangelo raised to the glory of God. It has no equivalent nor descendance. His predecessors aspired to Heaven through faith alone; Michelangelo sought to rise through the contemplative exaltation of beauty. His passions found expression in the human body as it emerged from the Creator's hand. And they did so even on the ceiling of a papal chapel: the Sixtine. This exposed him to a chorus of derision from prudish critics, who accused him of exhibiting paganism in a place of religion, and who clothed his immodest Titans in painted 'breeches'. It was Michelangelo's curse to remain a colossus outside and apart from his time. Author: Gilles Néret Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 3822859761 Published: Softcover: 185 x 230 mm, 96 pages Price: £4.99


	Botticelli Click picture to look inside During Sandro Botticelli's lifetime (1444/45-1510), the influence of his art scarcely reached beyond his native Florence, and following his death he was soon forgotten. He was rediscovered in the 19th century by the Pre-Raphaelites. Since then, Botticelli has ranked among the greatest of the Renaissance artists. In the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, paintings such as 'Primavera' and 'The Birth of Venus' belong to the foremost attractions for tourists and art lovers. His captivating figures of women, his intimate portrayals of the Madonna and Child, and the angel-like beauty of his adolescents are famous the world over today. Author(s): Barbara Deimling Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 3822859923 Published: Softcover: 185 x 230 mm, 96 pages Price: £4.99


	Caravaggio Notorious bad boy of Italian Baroque painting, Caravaggio (1571-1610) is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Though his name may be familiar to all of us, his work has been habitually detested and forced into obscurity. Not only was his theatrical realism unfashionable in his time, but his sacrilegious subject matter and use of lower class models were violently scorned. Caravaggio's great work had the misfortune of enduring centuries of disrepute. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that he was rediscovered and, quite posthumously, deemed a great master. He is now considered the most important painter of the early Baroque period; without him there would have been no Ribera, Zurburán, Velázquez, Vermeer or Georges de la Tour. Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Delacroix, and Manet would have been different. In this new book you'll find over 50 of Caravaggio's best paintings; we think you'll agree that he was a genius beyond his time. Author: Gilles Lambert Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 382286305X Published: Softcover: 185 x 230 mm, 96 pages Price: £4.99


	Leon Battista Alberti - On Painting Artist, architect, poet and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti revolutionized the history of art with his theories of perspective in On Painting (1435). Inspired by the order and beauty inherent in nature, his groundbreaking work sets out the principles of distance, dimension and proportion; instructs the painter on how to use the rules of composition, representation, light and colour to create work that is graceful and pleasing to the eye; and stipulates the moral and artistic pre-requisites of the successful painter. On Painting had an immediate and profound influence on Italian Renaissance artists including Ghiberti, Fra Angelico and Veneziano and on later figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, and remains a compelling theory of art. Publisher: Penguin Classic ISBN: 0140433317 Published: 1991 Paperback: 112 pages Price: £7.99


	Giorgio Vasari - The Lives of the Artists Packed with facts, attributions and entertaining anecdotes about his contemporaries, Vasari's collection of biographical accounts also presents a highly influential theory of the development of Renaissance art. Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto, who represent the infancy of art, Vasari considers the period of youthful vigour, shaped by Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Masaccio, before discussing the mature period of perfection, dominated by the titanic figures of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Includes: Cimabue, Giotto, Duccio, Luca della Robbia, Paolo Uccello, Ghiberti, Masaccio, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea del Verrocchio, Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo. Publisher: Oxford World's Classics ISBN: 019283410X Published: 1998 Paperback: 622 pages Price: £8.99


	Marco Bussagli - Rome: Art and Architecture Rome: Art and Architecture unfolds the magnificent panorama of the Eternal City, long recognized as the cultural capital of Europe, before the readers’ eyes. Even into the twentieth century, artists from every corner of the globe were magically drawn to Rome, which served as their model and inspiration. The great epochs of occidental art are introduced, with the myriad masterpieces that have been created here serving as illustrations. The city is home to an inexhaustible supply of treasures from every area of the fine arts. Readers can follow the development of Rome and its artworks throughout the centuries. Publisher: Koenemann ISBN: 3833112328 Published: 2004 Hardback: 680 pages Price: £24.99


	Tim Parks - Italian Neighbours In the bestselling Italian Neighbours, Tim Parks explores the idiosyncrasies and nuances of Italian culture. When Parks moved to Italy he found it irresistible; this book is a testament to his love of Italy and his attention to the details of everyday Italian life. Italian Neighbours is travel writing at its best - infused with an objective passion and eye for the details and the peculiarities of culture. Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0099286955 Published: 2001 Paperback: 336 pages Price: £7.99


	Tim Parks - An Italian Education How does an Italian become Italian? Or an Englishman English, for that matter? Are foreigners born, or made? Tim Parks focuses on his own young children in the small village near Verona where he lives, building a fascinating picture of the contemporary Italian family at school, at home, at work and at play. The result is a delight: at once a family book and a travel book - affectionate, always amused and always amusing. Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0099286963 Published: 2001 Paperback: 464 pages Price: £7.99


	Tim Parks - A Season With Verona Is Italy a united country, or a loose affiliation of warring states? Is Italian football a sport, or an ill-disguised protraction of ancient enmities? After twenty years in the bel paese, Tim Parks goes on the road to follow the fortunes of Hellas Verona football club, to pay a different kind of visit to some of the world's most beautiful cities, and to get a fresh take on the conundrum that is national character. From Udine to Catania, from the San Siro to the Olimpico, this is a highly personal account of one man's relationship with a country, its people and its national sport. Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0099422670 Published: 2003 Paperback: 464 pages Price: £7.99


	Federico Fellini Forever a circus ringleader at heart, Federico Fellini (1920-1993) is remembered as one of cinema's greatest storytellers. From bittersweet, heart-wrenching tales (La Strada and Nights of Cabiria) to semi-autobiographical classics (La Dolce Vita and the much imitated 8 1/2) to ambitious period pieces (Satyricon and Casanova) to dreamlike pseudo-documentaries (The Clowns, Roma, and Intervista), Fellini brought his inner world to the silver screen in a profoundly original and innovative way. Among his many gifts to the world of cinema are the roles he created for his wife, the unforgettable Giulietta Masina. Author: Christopher Wiegand Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 382281590X Published: 2003 Flexicover: 196 x 245 mm, 192 pages Price: £9.99


	Tuscany Interiors Nestling in the gentle hills and brushed with the hazy sfumato of the air, the homes of Tuscany have long been the objects of desire and legend. This book affords a privileged glimpse of Tuscan houses and interiors. Leading lights of the international arts and fashion scenes open their doors and bid us enter. The range extends from the simple casa colonia, the typical farmhouse of Chianti, via the majestic palazzo of the Puccis and the magnificent villa of the Siemens family to a house designed by Ettore Sottsass. 'For a glimpse inside more glorious Tuscan homes, get your hands on Paolo Rinaldi's Tuscany Interiors...which features some of the finest interiors in the area' - Home, London Author: Paolo Rinaldi Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 3822834440 Published: 2004 Flexicover: 196 x 258 mm, 288 pages Price: £9.99


	The Roman Empire Click picture to look inside Covers all the major Roman amphitheatres and arenas, temples and baths, aqueducts and fortresses, but also Pompeii and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Monumental in scale and technically highly developed, the architecture that produced the forums, baths, and aqueducts of the Roman Empire still dazzles us today. This volume deals with Roman architecture in Italy, France, Spain, the Rhineland and North Africa. Starting with Villanova and Etruscan culture, it includes the major buildings of the late Roman Republic and principally those of the Empire. Pompeii, the Golden House of Nero, Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, and the Diokletian baths among many more, are considered. This volume describes an architectural history that interprets the entire Roman culture rather than merely describing its buildings, offering a new and exciting contribution to the history of Roman Architecture. Author: Henri Stierlin Publisher: Taschen ISBN: 3822817783 Published: 2002 Softcover: 240 x 300 mm, 240 pages Price: £6.99


	Cicero - Selected Works Divided into two parts - Against Tyranny and How to Live - this selection of Cicero's work reveals the private and public sides of his liberal personality and his opposition to oppressive and unparliamentary methods of government. Publisher: Penguin Classic ISBN: 0140440992 Published: 1974 Paperback: 272 pages Price: £8.99


	Suetonius - The Twelve Caesars As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, Suetonius gained access to the imperial archives and used them (along with carefully gathered eye-witness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, and the recovery and stability that came with his successors. A masterpiece of anecdote, wry observation and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn - and all too human - individuals. Publisher: Penguin Classic Translator: Robert Graves ISBN: 0140449213 Published: 2003 Paperback: 384 pages Price: £9.99


	Livy - The War with Hannibal In The War with Hannibal, Livy chronicles the events of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, until the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. He vividly recreates the immense armies of Hannibal, complete with elephants, crossing the Alps; the panic as they approached the gates of Rome; and the decimation of the Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Yet it is also the clash of personalities that fascinates Livy, from great debates in the Senate to the historic meeting between Scipio and Hannibal before the decisive battle. Livy never hesitates to introduce both intense drama and moral lessons into his work, and here he brings a turbulent episode in history powerfully to life. Publisher: Penguin Classic ISBN: 014044145X Published: 1974 Paperback: 720 pages, 129 x 198 mm Price: £12.99


	Teach Yourself Latin Teach Yourself Latin is a comprehensive introduction, equally well suited to beginners and those with some previous knowledge of the language. The clearly structured course introduces original Latin at an early level. In each of the 31 units an explanation of new grammar is followed by Latin sentences and passages. Where appropriate, a third section either introduces you to a topic of interest for Latin studies or gives you additional reading from some of the greatest Roman authors. There is a comprehensive section on the pronunciation of Latin and a glossary of grammatical terms which gives full and clear explanations of all the terms used in the book. At the end of the book you will find 17 pages of verb tables, a key to the reading exercises, a 42-page Latin-English vocabulary listing and a grammar index to all the structures covered. Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton Educational Author: Gavin Betts ISBN: 0340867035 Published: 2003 Paperback Price: £11.99