The Flowering Of Florence

Living immersed in landscapes of great natural beauty, Tuscans have always harboured a deep love of flowers and gardens. During the Renaissance, in intellectual circles this propensity developed naturally into an interest in horticulture and the botanical sciences, subjects that would co-exist in perfect harmony with the Medici family's love of the arts.

Florence Kennedy offers a unique, modern approach to flower arranging: breaking away from the stiff structure and formality of traditional floral displays, her floristry style is practical, accessible and achievable.In Flowers Every Day, Florence shows how to create stylish flower arrangements at home. Divided into four main chapters – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – the projects are inspired by the comely joys of home, friendship and family gatherings, and are all constructed using seasonal flowers and foliage.Explained step-by-step, the easy-to-follow projects range from simple hand-tied bouquets and vase arrangements, to floral chandeliers, wedding decorations and festive garlands and wreaths.All the core skills are covered, from sourcing your blooms, choosing your hues, working with wire and floral foam and conditioning both flowers and foliage.Florence's stylish collection of seasonally inspired projects and hard-earned know-how will help complete beginners, flower enthusiasts and florists looking for new ideas. Flowers Every Day is the must-have book for anyone who loves having flowers in their home and revels in sharing them with others.

A landmark, hardcover, slipcased volume that tells the story of the archetypal Renaissance city anew, through its art. Placed at the heart of Italy, Florence was already in the Middle Ages a center of commerce and fine craftsmanship. Spurred on by a few powerful dynasties of merchants and financiers—above all the Medici, but also the Strozzi, the Pitti, and others—the city became the leading force in the Renaissance of the arts, literature, and science. Challenging the primacy of the Venetian Republic and even the city of the Popes, Florence attained a glory that was reflected down through the later centuries of Medici rule. And Florence was all along a city of painters, who recorded its sights; the likenesses of its leaders and luminaries; its battles, civic myths, and patron saints; and, of course, the changing tastes of their Tuscan patrons. In this magnificent volume are assembled a wide variety of artworks, both familiar and rarely seen, that, interwoven with an authoritative text, illustrate the eventful history of Florence—from the age of Cimabue and Giotto, through the High Renaissance of Leonardo and Michelangelo, to the Mannerism of Vasari and Bronzino, and even to the era of modern travelers like Sargent and Degas. The History of Florence in Painting is a feast for the eyes and the intellect, and worthy companion to the previous volumes in this series, The History of Venice in Painting, The History of Paris in Painting, and The History of Rome in Painting.

"Publisdhed in conjuntion with the exhibition: Magnificenza! the Medici, Michelangelo, & the Art of Late Renaissance Florence (In Italy, L'Ombra del genio: Michelangelo e l'arte a Firenze, 1538-1631) ..."--Title page verso.

Isabel Fairfax, a conservative Southern gentlewoman and former court reporter turned Regency romance writer, runs into conflict with Polly Bradshaw, a liberal Yankee feminist who embarks on a crusade to raise Isabel's female consciousness.

In this volume, Rebekah Compton offers the first survey of Venus in the art, culture, and governance of Florence from 1300 to 1600. Organized chronologically, each of the six chapters investigates one of the goddess's alluring attributes – her golden splendor, rosy-hued complexion, enchanting fashions, green gardens, erotic anatomy, and gifts from the sea. By examining these attributes in the context of the visual arts, Compton uncovers an array of materials and techniques employed by artists, patrons, rulers, and lovers to manifest Venusian virtues. Her book explores technical art history in the context of love's protean iconography, showing how different discourses and disciplines can interact in the creation and reception of art. Venus and the Arts of Love in Renaissance Florence offers new insights on sight, seduction, and desire, as well as concepts of gender, sexuality, and viewership from both male and female perspectives in the early modern era.