The Academy of the Sword

Al-Andalus

In 711 an army of Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, united by their faith in Islam, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and arrived on the Iberian Peninsula. In less than a decade the Muslims brought most of the peninsula under their domination; they called the Iberian lands they controlled al-Andalus. Although the borders of al-Andalus shifted over the centuries, the Muslims remained a powerful force on the peninsula for almost eight hundred years, until 1492, when they were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella. This volume, which accompanies a major exhibition presented at the Alhambra in Granada and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is devoted to the little-known artistic legacy of Islamic Spain.

Along the Riverbank

"Among the twelve paintings presented here is the famed Riverbank, attributed to the tenth-century master Dong Yuan (active 930s-60s), one of the patriarchs of the scholarly Southern school of landscape painting. An essay by Wen C. Fong presents an in-depth stylistic analysis and contextual history of the painting. A physical analysis of the work is also included."--BOOK JACKET. "An extended essay by Maxwell K. Hearn examines all twelve paintings."--BOOK JACKET.

American Quilts & Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Catalogs the Museum's quilt and coverlet collection and discusses the history of the quiltmaker's art

American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum's preeminent collection of early colonial furniture is expertly documented in this long-awaited publication. It covers the full spectrum of furniture forms made during the 17th and early 18th centuries--from chairs and other seating to tables, boxes, various types of chests and cupboards, and desks. Each of the 141 objects is thoroughly described with detailed information on provenance, construction, condition, inscriptions, dimensions, and materials. Photographed anew in color for this volume, each piece is explicated in terms of the styles and craftsmanship of the period and is evaluated in light of comparative pieces in public and private collections throughout the country. One appendix contains photographic details of construction and decorative elements, and another has drawings of joints and moldings.

American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

American Ingenuity

Features designers Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Tom Brigance, Fox-Brownie, Bonnie Cashin, Anne Fogarty, Halston, Elizabeth Hawes, Muriel King, Anne Klein, Tina Leser, Vera Maxwell, Claire McCardell, Fred Picard, Bobbie Yeoman, Clare Potter, Carolyn Schnurer, Valentina, Diane Von Furstenberg, Emily Wilkins, and B.H. Wragge.

Ancient Art from Cyprus

"The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the richest and most varied representation, outside Cyprus, of Cypriot antiquities. These works were purchased by the newly established Museum in the mid-1870s from General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, a Civil War cavalry officer who had amassed the objects while serving as the American consul on Cyprus." "This catalogue is published on the occasion of the opening of the Museum's four permanent galleries for ancient art from Cyprus. It is also the first scholarly publication since 1914 devoted to the Cesnola Collection (which totals approximately six thousand objects). The volume features some five hundred pieces from the collection, illustrated in new color photography. Dating from about 2500 B.C. to about A.D. 300, these works rank among the finest examples of Cypriot art from the prehistoric, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. Among the objects are monumental sculpture; weapons, tools, and domestic utensils; vases, lamps, and ritual paraphernalia; dedicatory figurines; engraved sealstones and jewelry; and luxury objects."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Ancient Peruvian Ceramics

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry

 This picture book features images of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry covering works from Pre-dynastic shell necklaces to intricately designed gold earrings of the Roman period. A brief introductory essay discusses the history of jewelry and the evolution of Ancient Egyptian jewelry craftsmanship.

Ancient Egyptian Representations of Turtles

Ancient Egyptian Representations of Turtles

The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620

"Placing these objects in context is an essay tracing the history of European horse armor from its revival in the twelfth century (after its disappearance with the fall of Rome) through its flowering in the Renaissance to its eventual obsolescence in the early 1600s. Other texts include a discussion of the featured objects in relation to those in the Museum's permanent display and an overview of armored saddles and saddle steels." "Symbol of a romantic age of chivalry, the knight was inseparable from his horse. This invaluable study reveals another aspect of that interdependence: as armorers devised protective coverings for both rider and animal, they also created lasting works of art."

Catalogue Commemorating the Exhibition the Art Heritage of Puerto Rico

The Art of Chivalry

Art of the Dogon

Art of the Samurai

"This extensively illustrated catalogue is published in conjunction with the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the arts of the samurai, including the finest examples of swords - the spirit of the samurai - as well as sword mountings and fittings, armor and helmets, saddles, textiles, and paintings. The works in the catalogue, drawn from public and private collections in Japan, include 34 officially designated National Treasures and 64 Important Cultural Properties, the largest number ever to be shown together at one time. Dating from the 5th to the early 20th century, these majestic objects offer a complete picture of samurai culture and its unique blend of the martial and the refined." "Many of the greatest Japanese swordsmiths are represented in this volume, from early masters such as Yasuie (12th century) and Tomomitsu (14th century) to the Edo-period smiths Nagasone Kotetsu and Kiyomaro. The blades by these and other masters, cherished as much for their beauty as for their cutting efficiency, were equipped with elaborate hilts and scabbards prized for their exquisite craftsmanship and fine materials such as silk, rayskin, gold, lacquer, and certain alloys unique to Japan. Japanese armor is also fully surveyed, from the rarest iron armor of the Kofun period (5th century) to the inventive ceremonial helmets made toward the end of the age of the samurai."--Jacket.

Bernini

"The brilliantly expressive clay models created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) as "sketches" for his works in marble offer extraordinary insights into his creative imagination. Although long admired, the terracotta models have never been the subject of such detailed examination. This publication presents a wealth of new discoveries (including evidence of the artist's fingerprints imprinted on the clay), resolving lingering issues of attribution while giving readers a vivid sense of how the artist and his assistants fulfilled a steady stream of monumental commissions. Essays describe Bernini's education as a modeler; his approach to preparatory drawings; his use of assistants; and the response to his models by 17th-century collectors. Extensive research by conservators and art historians explores the different types of models created in Bernini's workshop. Richly illustrated, Bernini transforms our understanding of the sculptor and his distinctive and fascinating working methods."--Publisher's website.

Between Two Cultures

Based on modern Chinese paintings from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection at the Metropolitan, this book explores the period from the 1860s to about 1980, when Chinese painting was transformed into a modern expression of its classical heritage, and deals with both traditionalist and modernizing Chinese masters from the comparative perspectives of East and West. Dr. Fong begins his exploration with the last revival of traditional Chinese art and the rise of a populist art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Shanghai. His discussion continues with painters who absorbed the lessons of Western realism, which they viewed as part of Western science and technology. The work of traditionalist masters is also analyzed, followed by a discussion of painting by the second generation of artists and teachers, who developed their own schools of influence in their search for a new synthesis of Chinese and Western methods. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

Beyond Representation

Beyond Representation surveys Chinese painting and calligraphy from the eighth to the fourteenth century, a period during which Chinese society and artistic expression underwent profound changes. A fourteenth-century Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368) literati landscape painting presents a world that is totally different from that portrayed in the monumental landscape images of the early Sung dynasty (960 - 1279). To chronicle and explain the evolution from formal representation to self-expression is the purpose of this book. Wen C. Fong, one of the world's most eminent scholars of Chinese art, takes the reader through this evolution, drawing on the outstanding collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Focusing on 118 works, each illustrated in full color, the book significantly augments the standard canon of images used to describe the period, enhancing our sense of the richness and complexity of artistic expression during this six-hundred-year era.

Cameo Appearances

Catalogue of European Court Swords and Hunting Swords Including the De Dino, Riggs, and Reubell Collections

 This volume describes and illustrates the group of court swords and hunting swords that form part of the collection of arms exhibited by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The text describes the different types of swords and daggers and provides useful charts and illustrations that promote an understanding of the objects in their original context.

Chess: East and West, Past and Present. A Selection from the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Collection

A Chinese Garden Court

Chinese Textiles

 An excellent introduction to the study of Chinese textiles, this volume was originally written as a handbook to accompany a special exhibit of Chinese court robes and accessories presented by the Museum in December, 1931. In addition to providing an historical background information essential to understanding these beautiful objects, specific examples from the Met's collection are discussed in detail.

Choirs of Angels

This delightful book describes and illustrates the Metropolitan Museum's collection of nearly 40 illuminations from Italian choral manuscripts. Representing the work of Gothic and Renaissance masters both celebrated and anonymous, these precious paintings in miniature---with their compelling narrative, brilliant color, and shining gold---bear witness to exceptional aesthetic accomplishment. The choir books they illuminate are a rich source of information about the development of chant, whose unexpected transcendent tonalities have abiding appeal today. They also serve as primary sources for the study of the lives of religious communities and of the philosophy and faith that infused medieval Europe, offering a glimpse of Italy at the dawn of the Renaissance.

Cochineal Red

From antiquity to the present day, color has been embedded with cultural meaning. Associated with blood, fire, fertility, and life force, the color red has always been extremely difficult to achieve and thus highly prized." "This book discusses the origin of the red colorant derived from the insect cochineal, its early use in Precolumbian ritual textiles from Mexico and Peru, and the spread of the American dyestuff through cultural interchange following the Spanish discovery and conquest of the New World in the 16th century. Drawing on examples from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, it documents the use of this red-colored treasure in several media and throughout the world.

Cultivated Landscapes

This illustrated catalogue presents 12 major works by masters of the Ming (1368-1644), Qing (1644-1911), and modern periods given or promised to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by New York collectors Marie-Hélène and Guy Weill. There is in-depth discussion of each work.

Designing Nature

"The distinctive style of Japanese art known as Rinpa embraces bold, graphic renderings of natural motifs and formalized depictions of fictional characters, poets, and sages. An aesthetic that arose in Japan in the 16th century and flourished until modern times, the Rinpa school is celebrated for its use of lavish pigments and its references to traditional court literature and poetry. Central to the Rinpa aesthetic is the evocation of the natural world - especially animals and plants with literary connotations - as well as eye-catching compositions that cleverly integrate calligraphy and image. Featuring beautiful colour reproductions of some ninety works - including painting, calligraphy, printed books, textiles, lacquerware, ceramics, and cloisonne - from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other notable public and private collections, "Designing Nature" traces the development of Rinpa, highlighting the school's most prominent proponents and, for the first time, the influence of this quintessential Japanese style on modern design aesthetics in both the East and the West."--Publisher's website.

Early Indonesian Textiles from Three Island Cultures

Shows examples of Indonesian textiles, discusses their cultural significance and looks at patterns and techniques

Egyptian Wall Paintings

Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute: The Story of Lady Wen-chi. A Fourteenth-Century Handscroll in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Enamels of Limoges

Reliquary of Saint Thomas Becket. Ecclesiastical patrons such as Archbishop Absalon of Lund, Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, and, above all, Pope Innocent III were key to the dissemination of Limoges work throughout the churches of Europe. While few of the artists who created the enamels that have come down to us are known by name, the works of several - Master Alpais, Garnerius, and Aymeric Chretien - are here juxtaposed with related pieces, some of them demonstrably from the.