MetPublications

Toward the middle of the thirteenth century, a revolution in perception and expression occurred in southern Europe. Philosophy and art, which for centuries had been preoccupied by the mysteries of the Christian faith, began to turn to the beauties of life on earth. Faith, of course, remained firm, and thinkers and artists still took their themes from the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the Church Fathers. But as men and women began to ponder not the next life, but this one, the manner of artistic expression came to reflect this new attention to the form of man himself and the appearance of his physical environment. Compared to the largely liturgical art of the Middle-Ages, the art of what we now call the Renaissance developed a human face: The fiat spaces of devotional art deepened to include the recognizable landscapesin which people lived. Stylized faces and figures became more individualized, and the infinite range of human emotion began to be explored, at first, still in terms of biblical stories, and later, in terms both of classical stories and contemporary portraiture. The principles of this new, representational art became the foundations of modern European expression, and the achievements of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy shaped all subsequent art well into the nineteenth century. The Renaissance in Italy and Spain presents the full range of artistic endeavor from the first awakenings of the Renaissance spirit in the works of Berlinghiero, Giotto, and Pisano, to the climactic creations of Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo. Titian, and Veronese—the masters of the High Renaissance. The artists of Italy and Spain worked in every medium, all of which are represented in this volume: paintings, drawings, and prints; sculpture in stone, wood, and terracotta; glass, metal, and porcelain; furniture and musical instruments; costumes and armor. Many of the most familiar masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum's Renaissance collection are included here, among them, Sassetta's Journey of the Magi, Giovanni di Paolo's Expulsion from Paradise, Mantegna's Adoration, Bellano's David, Botticelli's Annunciation, Pollaiuolo's Battle of the Naked Men, Raphael's Madonna, Bronzino's Portrait of a Young Man, Michelangelo's Study for the Libyan Sybil, and Titian's Mars and Venus,. Shown, too, are lesser-known decorative works of great beauty and signal importance to the development of European art: an anonymousenamel and copper gilt plaque portraying "The Man of Sorrows"; a Spanish alharello, or earthenware apothecary's jar; a Venetian glass goblet; a magnificently crafted parade helmet and suit of armor; and two examples of porcelain utensils created for the Medici family. Frederick Hartt, Paul Goodloe Mclntire Professor Emeritus of the History of Art at the University of Virginia and author of the magisterial History of Italian Renaissance Art, has written an introduction to thisvolume in which he explores the question of why the Renaissance developed as and where it did. Professor Hartt examines the styles and themes of the Renaissance in terms of the objects reproduced in thisvolume in order to explain exactly what we mean by the word "Renaissance" and how we may distinguish among the periods and schools of this fertile and exciting period in European art.

At roughly the same time that Italian art was beginning to reflect a reawakening of the classical spirit—an epoch and style we call the Renaissance—the arts of Northern Europe were experiencing their own efflorescence. Painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts were pursued with a new vigor in the Netherlands, in Germany, in France, and in England, and resulted in a vast body of work that constitutes one of the glories of Western civilization. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the masters of the North developed styles quite distinct from those in the South: an attention to minute detail, particularly with regard to landscape, but also in domestic interiors; and an emotive piety that dramatized the sorrow and suffering of the Passion. Jan van Eyck's Crucifixion and Last Judgment present a horrific vision of the death of Christ and the damnation of sinners, set against a deep and distant landscape, sensitively and realistically rendered. The Lamentation by Petrus Christus addresses the agony of the Passion with unflinching clarity. By the end of the fifteenth century, artists in Italy and in the regions north of the Alps were becoming more thoroughly aware of each other's work, and during the sixteenth century a truly "Renaissance" spirit infused art throughout Europe. The work of Dürer, Cranach, Holbein, and Massys is informed by the same revival of classical learning that had characterized Italian art for more than a century. In The Renaissance in the North, the work of the German, Dutch, Flemish, French, and English masters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is explored in more than one hundred reproductions. In addition to such well-known masterpieces as Van Eyck's Crucifixion and Last Judgment, Memling's Tommaso Portinari and Maria Baroncelli, Bruegel's Harvesters, Dürer's woodcut The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Cranach's Judgment of Paris, and Holbein's Erasmus of Rotterdam, this volume includes many lesser-known works in oil and on paper, as well as sculpture, decorative arts, and armor from the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Treasures of the decorative arts of Northern Europe include a series of stained-glass panels from Belgium illustrating the Gospels, a Flemish tapestry with allegorical representations of the Twelve Ages of Man, and an example of the famous hafnerware from Germany. A sumptuously painted double virginal, made in Antwerp in 1581, is one of many examples of musical instruments created in the North that are reproduced in this book. The strikingly decorated armor of the period is illustrated by a German parade helmet, an elaborate backplate and hoguine, and two full suits of armor—one from France, the other from England. James Snyder, professor of art history at Bryn Mawr College and author of Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575, provides an introduction to this volume. Professor Snyder explores the distinctive nature of the Northern Renaissance and explains the circumstances in which it flourished. He points out how the north and south of Europe came to share many of the same techniques and styles, and how, during the sixteenth century, a new art emerged in Europe that reflected the individuality of the nations in which it was created and the cross-cultural influences that made it distinctively Renaissance.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, originally launched in 2000, presents the Met's collection via a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of global art history. Targeted at students and scholars of art history, it is an invaluable reference, research, and teaching tool. Authored by The Met's experts—curators, conservators, scientists, and educators—the Timeline comprises 300 timelines, more than 1,000 essays, more than 7,000 objects, and is regularly updated and enriched to provide new scholarship and insights on the collection.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned collection spans the globe and represents over five thousand years of human creativity. This innovative book celebrates the Museum’s 150th anniversary and highlights its the most popular works while offering fresh ways of exploring visual culture from prehistory to the present. Art = also celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Met’s award-winning online feature, the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The book draws on the diversity of interests expressed by the Museum’s online visitors by featuring wide-ranging texts and images from the most viewed webpages of this popular digital project. Unlike traditional surveys of art history, this volume groups works of art by thematic keywords, providing a new perspective on these well-known paintings, sculptures, photographs, decorative arts, and much more. The nearly 900 works of art in Art = appear across three color-coded chapters: Material/Technique, Period/Place/Style, and Object/Subject. In the first section, works of art are grouped by medium or method such as Drawing, Marble, Watercolor, and Wood. The second section organizes work by time period, movement, or geography, allowing readers to focus on topics such as Ancient Egyptian Art, Impressionism, and Japanese Art. The third section arranges work by motifs, such as Flowers, Food, and Motherhood and by object type, like Furniture, Jewelry, and Self-Portrait. Art = also features more than 160 informative essays written by the Museum’s experts that offer additional cultural and historical context. Color-coded symbols link each essay and work of art to other essays and keywords. The publication’s dynamic structure provides an experience that is different on each reading, inspiring new connections and raising the question: What does art equal today?

Miniatures are evocative objects, sometimes of great technical virtuosity and often of compelling historical interest. They have enormous appeal not only for the scholarly community but also for a more general audience. This publication is a catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection of more than three hundred European miniatures. In origin these works fall into three categories—British, French, and Continental—and date from the early sixteenth century to about 1850. The collection includes one of two known portrait miniatures by Jean Clouet, who is credited with originating this genre, and three of no more than twenty recognized portrait miniatures by Hans Holbein the Younger, the first great master of this art. Most of the important figures in this field—Hilliard, Hoskins, Cooper, Hall, Fuger, Zincke, Cosway, and Isabey—are represented, as are several painters who worked primarily in larger formats—Fragonard, the Van Blarenberghes, and Rosalba Carriera, for example. The majority of the miniatures are hitherto unpublished.

This catalogue, published annually by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announces the Museum's publications for that year. It also features notable backlist titles and provide a complete list of books available in print at the time of publication.

This catalogue, published annually by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announces the Museum's publications for that year. It also features notable backlist titles and provide a complete list of books available in print at the time of publication.

Although the period referred to in Japanese history as the Azuchi-Momoyama period covered less than half a century, from 1568 to 1615, it was a distinctive one, for during this time of upheaval the transition was made from nationwide civil war to peace. It was an eventful period in international affairs as well, with Europeans visiting Japan for the first time and Japanese venturing into the outside world. The Momoyama period saw the birth of a brilliant, heroic culture, typified by magnificent castles with exuberant wall and screen paintings and interior finishings, represented among the pieces here. At the same time, as if in resistance to this trend for the luxurious, a new aesthetic attitude based on the esteem for simple beauty arose among the newly influential warrior and merchant classes. One of the important motivating factors in this development was the tea ceremony (cha no yu), a Japanese cultural accomplishment represented by the great Momoyama tea master Sen no Rikyü. Tea room architecture and tea ceremony utensils exhibited a distinctive artistic quality best characterized by the term sabi, meaning "quietude, simplicity, and absence of ornament." European culture, accompanying the introduction of Christianity into Japan, also had an immediate influence. The generous, cheerful culture created in the Momoyama period placed humanistic interests over religious ones. It marked the opening of the pre-modern age and can easily be called a period of renaissance.

The Art Heritage of Puerto Rico: Pre-Columbian to Present was the first major exhibition to survey the five-hundred-year history of Puerto Rican accomplishment in art. Beginning with the clay pottery of the Igneri Indians and the stone sculpture of the Taíno culture, the exhibition included the paintings of the important eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artists, the religious folk carvings of the Santeros, and outstanding graphic works and paintings of the present day. As most of the loan objects had never before been permitted to leave the Island, this was a first occasion for many to become familiar with the art tradition of Puerto Rico. It was an educational opportunity for all visitors to discover a significant and individual cultural achievement which has flourished over many centuries. The preparation of the exhibition was a joint project of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and El Museo del Barrio. To the Metropolitan's experience in the study and exhibition of works of art was added El Museum del Barrio's special knowledge of the Puerto Rican community and of the Puerto Rican cultural achievement. Martha Vega and her able colleagues at El Museo del Barrio worked closely with the Metropolitan's staff on every aspect of the show, and especially as regards its educational purposes. The partnership of shared work and responsibility proved to be effective, practical, and successful. This cooperation between an established central resource museum and an emerging community-based institution can be a prototype for similar partnership in the future.