River Oaks is a name that has rung out in Houston, Texas, since its founding in 1923. The neighborhood's uncertain geographical boundaries may be a point of controversy, but the impact River Oaks has had on the city is indisputable. River Oaks has been home to astronauts who have contributed to American space exploration; lawyers who are involved in the interworking of the United States' legal system; oil tycoons who have helped Houston grow; and doctors who are responsible for inventing l...

The concept of the case is a basic feature of social science research and yet many questions about how a case should be defined, selected, and judged are far from settled. The contributors to this volume probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of the concept affect the conduct and the results of research. The contributions demonstrate that the work of any given researcher is often characterised by some hybrid of these basic approaches, and it is importan...

In "Pintoricchio," Evelyn March Phillipps delves into the life and artistry of the Renaissance painter Bernardino di Betto Boccaccio, known as Pintoricchio. This meticulously researched work combines rich biographical details with a critical analysis of Pintoricchio's artistic contributions, particularly his frescoes that adorned notable Roman churches. Phillipps employs a lyrical prose style that elevates scholarly observation into a compelling narrative, addressing both the artistic tech...

Dukakis is in the tank! The Queen looks like a talking purple hat! We didn’t leave Chelsea Clinton in Moscow, right?The most harrowing and hilarious stories behind presidential events over the past sixty years—from the Rose Garden to Air Force One, foreign trips to the campaign trail—detailing the art of preparation that goes into these delicate, high stress operations and revealing how they have often been one step away from disaster....

At its height Renaissance Florence was a centre of enormous wealth, power and influence. A republican city-state funded by trade and banking, its often bloody political scene was dominated by rich mercantile families, the most famous of which were the Medici. This enthralling book charts the family’s huge influence on the political, economic and cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves throug...

Packed with facts, attributions, and entertaining anecdotes about his contemporaries, Vasari's collection of biographical accounts also presents a highly influential theory of the development of Renaissance art. Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto, who represent the infancy of art, Vasari considers the period of youthful vigour, shaped by Donatello, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Masaccio, before discussing the mature period of perfection, dominated by the titanic figures of Leonardo, Raphael, ...

Biography, illustrated with 8 color reproductions. "'Leonardo,' wrote an English critic as far back as 1721, 'was a Man so happy in his genius, so consummate in his Profession, so accomplished in the Arts, so knowing in the Sciences, and withal, so much esteemed by the Age wherein he lived, his Works so highly applauded by the Ages which have succeeded, and his Name and Memory still preserved with so much Veneration by the present Age—that, if anything could equal the Merit of the Man, it ...

Eloquent and assured, Mary McCarthy's The Stones of Florence beckons the reader on a brisk but sweeping tour of the birthplace of the Renaissance and the legendary home of the Medici, Dante, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and other giants of the age. Her keen observations of this famously alluring city speak to Florence's persistent character and magnetism-and the attraction it exerted over the first major wave of American tourists to postwar Europe. These essays, which originally app...

The ‘Divine’ sculptor, painter, architect, poet and engineer, Michelangelo Buonarroti exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art, producing masterpieces that rank among the most famous in existence. Delphi’s groundbreaking ‘Masters of Art Series’ presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing digital readers to explore the works of the world’s greatest artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents the complete works of Michelangelo, with c...

Beginning with Cimabue and Giotto in the thirteenth century, Vasari traces the development of Italian art across three centuries to the golden epoch of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Great men, and their immortal works, are brought vividly to life, as Vasari depicts the young Giotto scratching his first drawings on stone; Donatello gazing at Brunelleschi's crucifix; and Michelangelo's painstaking work on the Sistine Chapel, harassed by the impatient Pope Julius II. The Lives also convey much a...

Celebrated for his clarity of form, ease of composition and the sublime beauty of his ‘Madonnas’, Raphael is the epitome of the High Renaissance genius. In spite of his untimely death, he left behind a large body of work that would have a monumental influence on the course of art in the ensuing centuries. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing digital readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume ...

Few artists achieve in their lives the wealth and fame of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, whose beautiful Baroque works were celebrated for their emphasised movement, colour and sensuality. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing digital readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents Rubens’ complete works in beautiful detail, with concise introductions, hundreds of high quality images and the usual...