Harvard University Press - ART

Beyond Surface Appeal

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Sarah Whiting
Two essays and a set of original diagrams consider the parameters of the “something beyond” in James Carpenter’s projects. Photographs and extended captions from Carpenter complete this book’s documentation of key projects.
Paperback November 2009

Sassetta

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Edited by Machtelt Israëls
Sassetta, the subtle genius from Siena, revolutionized Italian painting with an altarpiece for the small Tuscan town of Borgo San Sepolcro in 1437–1444. This book solves the three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle of this masterwork’s reconstruction and, on a firm scientific foundation, restores it to its vivid historical context.
Hardcover October 2009

Ancient American Art in Detail

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Colin McEwan
This latest title in a strikingly beautiful series of collectable books turns our attention to the rich variety of art from the Ancient Americas. Beginning by asking what constitutes Ancient American art, Colin McEwan contextualizes this art in its complexity of form and meaning. The beauty of the smallest details is magnified and contextualized through accompanying essays written by experts in Ancient American art.
Hardcover June 2009

Cleopatra and Rome

Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Diana E. E. Kleiner
In this beautifully illustrated book, we experience the synthesis of Cleopatra's and Rome's defining moments through surviving works of art and other remnants of what was once an opulent material culture. This culture best chronicles Cleopatra's legend and suggests her subtle but indelible mark on the art of imperial Rome at the critical moment of its inception.
Paperback May 2009

Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 6

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

John Nesbitt
Assisted by Cecile Morrisson
The combined Dumbarton Oaks and Fogg collection of Byzantine seals is one of the largest in the world, containing 17,000 specimens. Volume 6 in the catalogue presents the seals of emperors and patriarchs of Constantinople. More than 250 seals are illustrated and accompanied—where appropriate—by a full commentary regarding each specimen’s date, biographical information on its owner, peculiarities of orthography, and iconographic features.
Hardcover April 2009

Lighting in Early Byzantium

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Laskarina Bouras
Maria Parani
Foreword by Susan A. Boyd
This book is the first general survey of lighting in Byzantium. The first part of the book discusses the technology and types of lighting devices and explains their decorative symbolism and social function. The second half illustrates this narrative by drawing on a Dumbarton Oaks exhibition.
Paperback March 2009

Arab-Byzantine Coins

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Clive Foss
This illustrated handbook presents a concise history of the development of the coinage of the early Arab caliphate in the seventh century. The historical introduction, which includes descriptions of all the basic types, is followed by a summary catalogue of the recently acquired collection of Arab-Byzantine coins at Dumbarton Oaks.
Paperback February 2009

The Naked Gaze

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

Carlos Rojas
This volume focuses on tropes of visuality and gender to reflect on shifting understandings of the significance of Chineseness, modernity, and Chinese modernity. Through detailed readings of narrative works by eight authors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the study identifies three distinct constellations of visual concerns corresponding to the late imperial, mid-twentieth century, and contemporary periods, respectively.
Hardcover January 2009

Dogs

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Catherine Johns
The juxtaposition and explanation of images as diverse as Greek pottery, Victorian jewelry, Assyrian sculpture, and Japanese netsuke, illuminates our understanding of the place of dogs in human society around the world. This book explores these cultural expressions and reflections of our deep and long-standing interest in dogs.
Hardcover December 2008

The Economy of Prestige

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

James F. English
This is a book about one of the great untold stories of modern cultural life: the remarkable ascendancy of prizes in literature and the arts. James F. English documents the dramatic rise of the awards industry and its complex role within what he describes as an economy of cultural prestige.
Paperback December 2008

Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 53/54, Spring and Autumn 2008

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Edited by Francesco Pellizzi
Among other articles, this double volume includes: The value of forgery, Jonathan Hay; Affective operations of art and literature, Ernst van Alphen; Betty’s Turn, Stephen Melville.
Paperback December 2008

Harvard Art Museum Handbook

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Edited by Stephan Wolohojian
With some 280,000 objects, the Harvard Art Museum is the largest university art museum in the United States. This first handbook of the collections surveys their full scope, from early-Egyptian bronzes and Chinese ceramics to contemporary paintings and prints.
Paperback November 2008

Leaves from Paradise

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Edited by Jeffrey F. Hamburger
A pair of leaves recently acquired by Houghton Library presents an opportunity to examine the illuminated sequence composed in honor of John the Evangelist. The richly decorated fragments promise to transform our understanding of the special place of Christ’s “beloved disciple” in 14th-century art, liturgy, theology, and mysticism.
Paperback November 2008