In 1761, Denis Diderot ascribed the fabulous success enjoyed by Francois Boucher (1703-1770) to "the libertinage, the brilliancy, the pompons, the bosoms and bottoms" that proliferated in the artist's canvases. For while Boucher's art charmed nouveau...

Archaeological sites around the world are threatened by forces including population growth, development, urbanization, pollution, tourism, vandalism, and looting Site management planning is emerging as a critical element not only for the conservation...

Since the 1970s sustainability has evolved as a significant mode of thought in nearly every field of intellectual activity. In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro brought the ideas of sustainability and...

Students and scholars of the Italian Renaissance easily fall under the spell of its achievements: its self-confident humanism, its groundbreaking scientific innovations, its ravishing artistic production. Yet many of the developments in Italian ceram...

While writing his autobiography, Jean Paul Getty – then perhaps the world's richest man – hoped it would be the final verdict on himself, on his many friends and associates, and on his times. Regrettably, it proved to be so: Getty died in 1976 as "As...

It is Paris in the 1400s. A young girl named Marguerite delights in assisting her father, Jacques, in his craft: illuminating manuscripts for the nobility of France. His current commission is a splendid book of hours for his patron, Lady Isabelle, bu...

Ranked by many scholars as the greatest master of early Italian Renaissance painting, Masaccio (1401-1428) was the first artist to use effects of light to create three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional plane. This achievement, revolutionary in...

The J. Paul Getty Museum's paintings collection continues to grow in breadth and quality, and since the last edition of Masterpieces important acquisitions have been made in works ranging from the 14th to the end of the 19th century. This new edition...

A serious challenge for professionals involved in the conservation of cultural heritage sites in tropical environments is the biodeterioration of stone. This volume discusses the types and causes of stone biodeterioration in hot and humid climates, p...

Karel Teige (1900-1951) was a graphic designer, critic, and Czech partisan who in 1920 founded a group to promote modernism in the international sphere through polemics and manifestos. This is a translation of Karel Teige's 1930 publication that brou...