In this book, biographical accounts by several of Titian’s contemporaries, including Giorgio Vasari and Pietro Aretino, trace the long, fascinating, and prolific life of this master of the Itali
Born Jacopo Comin, Tintoretto (ca. 1519–1594) was one of the great painters of the late Renaissance. This book presents the first biographies of Tintoretto, by Giorgio Vasari, Carlo Ridolfi, and Raffa
Memories of Degas brings together intimate portraits of the artist by two of his earliest and most important champions, the Irish writer George Moore and the German-born English painter Walter Sickert
Lives of Velázquez brings together two seminal early accounts of the great seventeenth-century Spanish painter (ca. 1599–1660). These texts, written by his contemporaries Francisco Pachec
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) had a short but prolific career as a photographer, taking up the camera in her late forties. Her work, with its distinctive, softly focused style, was not appr
The most comprehensive work available on the life and writings of Tibet's most famous modern cultural hero.Visionary, artist, poet, iconoclast, philosopher, adventurer, master of the arts of love, tan
The general outlines of Vincent van Gogh’s life—the early difficulties in Holland and Paris, the revelatory impact of the move to Provence, the attacks of madness and despair that led to h
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) had been widely known for decades when the young Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke traveled to Paris to interview him for an essay to be published in a German a
Giorgio Vasari, Florentine painter and architect, friend of Michelangelo and intimate of the Medici, is best known for his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, published in
The paintings of Henri Rousseau (1844–1910), particularly his astonishing jungle dreams, are now so popular that it is difficult to realize how they were originally greeted with ridicule and inc
When Édouard Manet’s early paintings were greeted with outrage and derision in the 1860s, Émile Zola sprang to his defense, initiating a friendship that would last until Manet&rsqu
Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1435–1516), widely considered the greatest Venetian artist of his time, was born into the most influential artistic family in Venice. He received his training in the studio
The fame and influence of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) were as immediate as they were unprecedented. It is not surprising, therefore, that he was the only living artist Giorgio Vasari inc
The prodigious talent of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (ca. 1606–1669), along with his disregard for many of the artistic conventions of his day, astonished, delighted, and dismayed his contempora
The Anti-Federalist Luther Martin of Maryland is known to us—if he is known at all—as the wild man of the Constitutional Convention: a verbose, frequently drunken radical who annoyed the h
In Founding Federalist, Michael C. Toth provides an in-depth look at the life and work of Oliver Ellsworth, a largely forgotten but eminently important Founding Father.The American Founding was the wo
One of the hallmark features of the post–civil rights United States is the reign of colorblindness over national conversations about race and law. But how, precisely, should we understand this notion
How has the modern conservative movement thrived in spite of the lack of harmony among its constituent members? What, and who, holds together its large corporate interests, small-government libertaria
Julia Lathrop was a social servant, government activist, and social scientist who expanded notions of women’s proper roles in public life during the early 1900s. Appointed as chief of the U.S. Childre
How has the modern conservative movement thrived in spite of the lack of harmony among its constituent members? What, and who, holds together its large corporate interests, small-government libertaria
On screen and off, movie star Mary Pickford personified the New Woman” of the early 1900s—a moniker given to women who began to demand more autonomy inside and outside the home. Well educated and care
"Check out that baby bump!" Online and print magazines, television shows, and personal blogs are awash with gossip and speculation about pregnant celebrities. What drives our cultura
"Check out that baby bump!" Online and print magazines, television shows, and personal blogs are awash with gossip and speculation about pregnant celebrities. What drives our cultura
"In 1906, fifteen-year old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn mounted a soapbox in Times Square to denounce capitalism and proclaim a new era for women's freedom. Quickly recognized as an outstanding public speak
Better Left Unsaid is in the unseemly position of defending censorship from the central allegations that are traditionally leveled against it. Taking two genres generally presumed to have been stymied
A staunch proponent of breaking down racial and gender barriers, Shirley Chisholm had the esteemed privilege of being a pioneer in many aspects of her life. She was the first African American woman el
Betsy Mix Cowles—a bold reformer whose circle of acquaintances included Frederick Douglass, Abby Kelley, and William Lloyd Garrison—is a brilliant example of what an educated and independent woman can
