From Heaven to Arcadia (Paperback)

• Category:  Books  »  History Books  »  Renaissance
• Format: Paperback   Learn more about the Paperback format using Tower WIKI.
• Number of Pages: 324
• ISBN: 1590172957
• WAPI (Tower ID): 111820195
• Release Date: November 25, 2008
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #481181 in Books (See Top 100 Books Bestsellers)
• #24815 in History Books (See Top 100 History Books Bestsellers)
• #76 in Renaissance (See Top 100 Renaissance Bestsellers)

Browse more products related to "From Heaven to Arcadia"

Browse more products related to "Ingrid D. Rowland"

From the revelations of classical statuary pulled from the Roman soil as the popes began rebuilding the city in the fifteenth century, to the myth of serenity that Venice constructed to conceal its physical and political fragility, to bloody yet cultured Florence under the Medici, Ingrid D. Rowland traces the worldly, unworldly, and otherworldly strivings of artists, writers, popes, and politicians during that great "outburst of mental energy" we know as the Renaissance.Here are Botticelli, whose illustrations for the "Divine Comedy" reveal him to be one of Dante's most careful readers; the multifaceted genius of Leonardo; the astonishing mastery of Titian and the erratic brilliance of artists like Correggio, Caravaggio, and Artemisia Gentileschi; the enigmatic erotic novel "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," the decoding of which was the subject of the recent novel "The Rule of Four"; the Western fascination with the mysteries of Egypt; and the glittering spiritual ferment of late Byzantium, which as it collapsed passed on so many ideas to Renaissance Italy.But beyond its artistic accomplishments, Rowland writes, "Renaissance life at its most distinctive was the intangible, unworldly life of the mind." In her pages astronomers and astrologists, poets and philosophers, pornographers and prostitutes jostle for attention with painters and sculptors. Among them the inquisitive Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher stands out as a polymath who ranged over nearly every field of knowledge. Even though his commingling of scientific observation and hermetic symbolism is now obsolete, he remains for Rowland "a builder of connections who insisted on seeing harmony in the midst of disorder"-and thus one ofthe most exemplary Renaissance figures of all.

There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!

• Great Deals on CDs under $9.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Albums all for under $10! Great Music for Everyone's Tastes!

• Great Deals on DVDs under $12.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic DVDs all for under $13! Great Movies, TV and DVD Specials for Everyone's Tastes!

• Great Deals on Books under $14.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Books all for under $15! Great Reads for Everyone's Tastes!