Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Follow the fascinating threads of human history in this monumental volume, amply illustrated with maps, archival imagery, and revealing photographs. History comes to life in this comprehensive overview of humankind, from earliest times to the present day. Each page is filled with stunning visuals and thought-provoking text that make this book an instant classic. From the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Gulf War, from the Xia and Shang Dynasties of Bronze Age China to the new space race, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the digital age--here, in vivid color and crisp narrative, is the sweeping story of the history of civilization. Every chapter includes: Notable dates Salient quotations from the time Explanatory maps Fascinating sidebar stories Photographs of artifacts & landscapes Art works depicting dramatic scenes Visually driven, rich and far-reaching yet friendly and browsable, with iconic National Geographic maps, illustrations, and images enhancing the pages, this new book is a history-lover's dream. You can complete your collection of recent National Geographic history books with National Geographic History at a Glance and More Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar -- and you will treasure earlier National Geographic titles by this author, including The Biblical World,In the Footsteps of Jesus, and Archaeology of the Bible.

The Story of Humankind from Prehistory to Modern Times

National Geographic Ultimate Visual History of the World

Neal Asbury

The story of the exploration and birth of America is told afresh through the unique prism of hand-colored maps and engravings of the period. Before photography and television, it was printed and hand-colored maps that brought home the thrill of undiscovered lands and the possibilities of exploration, while guiding armies on all sides through the Indian Wars and the clashes of the American Revolution. Only by looking through the prism of these maps, can we truly understand how and why America developed the way it did. The Birth of America illuminates with scene-setting text and more than 100 vibrant color images--from the exotic and fanciful maps of Renaissance explorers to the magnificent maps of the Golden Age and the thrilling battle-maps and charts of the American Revolutionary War, in addition to paintings from the masters of eighteenth century art, scores of photographs, and detailed diagrams. In total, this informative and lushly illustrated volume developed by rare maps collector Neal Asbury, host of "Neal Asbury's Made in America," and National Geographic historian Jean-Pierre Isbouts offers a new and immersive look at the ambition, the struggle, and the glory that attended and defined the exploration and making of America.

The Birth of America: The Incredible Story of the Founding of the United States as Told by the Maps of the Era

Christopher Heath Brown

For the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, an acclaimed art historian and an art connoisseur uncover how this elusive artist became a pop icon with megastar status in modern times. Virtually everyone would agree that Leonardo da Vinci was the most important artist of the High Renaissance. Although he produced few finished works, it was Leonardo who singlehandedly created the defining features of Western art: a realism based on subtle shading; depth using atmospheric effects; and dramatic contrasts between light and dark. What has never been told before, however, is how these revolutionary inventions were inserted into the bloodstream of Western art--and how they made Leonardo the internationally-renowned icon he is today. This is the great mystery of Leonardo's legacy: if his tangible output was so limited, how did his mystique as a solitary genius survive five centuries of European history? And why does it continue to fascinate us in modern times? The da Vinci Legacy is the first book to unravel this mystery by taking an immersive journey through the art, literature, science, and politics of Europe, from the Renaissance to today. Through captivating text enhanced by one hundred color images, this book takes off where Walter Isaacson's portrait of Leonardo left off. It captures not only the reason for the enduring allure of The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper but also explores the secrets of Leonardo's creativity, and the strange phenomena that intervened to make sure Leonardo was not forgotten to the dusty pages of history.

How a 16th Century Solitary Genius Became a Global Pop Icon

The Da Vinci Legacy

From ancient holy sites, to buried relics and treasures, National Geographic uncovers the history and the archaeological discoveries from Scripture and the biblical world. Richly illustrated and written from an objective and nondenominational perspective, author Jean-Pierre Isbouts uses the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries to place biblical stories in the framework of human history. Chapters, beginning with the dawn of human civilization and ending with present day and the future of archaeology, chronicle hundreds of sites and artifacts found in Sumer, Babylon, the Second Temple, along the route of the Exodus, and in many other regions across the Middle East. Timelines bridge hundreds of years and several empires, maps give readers a visual sense of location, while hundreds of photos and illustrations of rare artifacts and ancient places add to the visual splendor. lt concludes with details of what remains to be found and the evolving dynamic of biblical faith in an increasingly scientific world in which archaeologists make daily breakthroughs.

The Greatest Discoveries from Genesis to the Roman Era

Archaeology of the Bible

Christopher Brown

For the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death comes an immersive journey through five centuries of history to define the Leonardo mystique and uncover how the elusive Renaissance artist became a global pop icon. Virtually everyone would agree that Leonardo da Vinci was the most important artist of the High Renaissance. It was Leonardo who singlehandedly created the defining features of Western art: a realism based on subtle shading; depth using atmospheric effects; and dramatic contrasts between light and dark. But how did Leonardo, a painter of very few works who died in obscurity in France, become the internationally renowned icon he is today, with the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper the most visited artworks in the world, attracting nearly a billion visitors each year, and Salvator Mundi selling as the most expensive artwork of all time, for nearly half a billion dollars? This extraordinary volume, lavishly illustrated with 130 color images, is the first book to unravel these mysteries by diving deep into the art, literature, science, and politics of Europe from the Renaissance through today. It gives illuminating context to both Leonardo and his accomplishments; explores why Leonardo’s fame vastly overshadowed that of his contemporaries and disciples; and ultimately reveals why despite finishing very few works, his celebrity has survived, even thrived, through five centuries of history.

How an Elusive 16th-Century Artist Became a Global Pop Icon

The da Vinci Legacy

Featuring the latest archaeological and historical discoveries, this guide illustrates the people and events that shaped the life of Jesus, from his birth in Bethlehem to his death in Jerusalem.

A Chronicle of His Life and the Origins of Christianity

In the Footsteps of Jesus

Focuses on the rich social and cultural history of Christianity through the ages, from its roots in Palestine to its development as a global movement.

A Chronicle of Christian Civilization from Ancient Rome to Today

The Story of Christianity

Salvatore Lorusso

John Asmus

Andrea Natali

Vadim Parfenov

The topic of attribution and authentication of art works is a well-known one and is currently the subject of heated debate. To arrive at a univocal scientific truth, however, it is necessary to integrate historical-humanistic and technical-experimental skills with a subjective and objective evaluation. The first part of the volume deals with experimentation relating to three valuable artifacts of different material composition: a painting, a sculpture, a codex. The second part of the research regards the emblematic case of the Mona Lisa and its uniqueness. The question connected to this study is: "Is there a second Mona Lisa?" Is the Isleworth Mona Lisa, also known as the Earlier Mona Lisa, a second version of the Louvre Mona Lisa painted by the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci? In order to provide an answer regarding attribution, a methodological path was applied to the painting on canvas "Mona Lisa with columns" (St. Petersburg), establishing that it was a copy, albeit a well-executed one. Numerous versions and copies of the Mona Lisa were also studied, basing their examination on the in-depth archival-bibliographic research of the many paintings on the same subject. The findings highlighted the distinction between two authentic versions by Leonardo, i.e. the Louvre Mona Lisa and the Isleworth Mona Lisa and two copies, i.e. the Prado and the Reynolds Mona Lisas. The latter two, considered to be the most complete and qualitatively better that many others are, in fact, either copies of previous Mona Lisas or of the two authentic versions. The final considerations are dedicated to the chronological sequence of historical sources, stylistic and aesthetic analyses, artistic techniques and experimental investigations to prove the authentication of the Isleworth Mona Lisa by Leonardo.

Challenges of Attribution and Authentication and Various Possibilities for Evaluating a Work of Art

A Second Mona Lisa?

National Geographic Society (U.S.)

Traces the early history of the Holy Land; the rise of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam; and the geographical landscape of the region, in chronologically arranged chapters that place biblical texts in their historical context.

An Illustrated Atlas

The Biblical World

This immersive dive into the life and work of Salvador Dalí unlocks the secret of this creative genius and reveals for the first time how his erotically charged paintings changed the world of modern art. In turns beloved and reviled, twentieth century art, painter, filmmaker, and designer Salvador Dalí set Europe and the United States ablaze with his uncompromising genius, sexual sadism, and flirtations with megalomania. His shocking behavior and work frequently alienated critics; his views were so outrageous, even prominent Surrealists tried to ostracize him. Still, every morning he experienced "an exquisite joy--the joy of being Salvador Dalí," and, through a remarkable talent that invited bewilderment, anger, and adoration, rose to unprecedented levels of fame--forever shifting the landscape of the art world and the nature of celebrity itself. In this stunning volume, rich with full-color images, noted art historians Jean-Pierre Isbouts and Christopher Heath Brown discuss the historical, social, and political conditions that shaped Dalí's work, identify the impact of Modern as well as Old Master art, and present an unflinching view of the master's personal relationships and motivations. With their deeply compelling narrative, Isbouts and Brown uncover how Dalí's visual wit and enduring cult of personality still impacts fashion, literature, and art, from Andy Warhol to Lady Gaga, and seeks to answer why, in an age of shock and awe, Dalí's art still manages to distress, perplex, and entertain.

The Dalí Legacy

Following the announcement of another Mona Lisa portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, held in a Swiss bank vault for over 40 years, this book is the first to analyze the meaning of this astonishing discovery, and how it radically changes our understanding of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. By tracing Leonardo's movements in Florence on an almost day-to-day basis, Drs. Isbouts and Brown are able to reconstruct the fascinating chronology of the Mona Lisa portrait, and show how the subject ultimately became an obsession in the latter part of Leonardo's life. The authors posit that whereas the Swiss Mona Lisa is clearly a portrait drawn from life of a young Florentine woman, the Louvre Mona Lisa is the culmination of Leonardo's lifelong quest for the mystery of motherhood, as expressed in his more than ten paintings of the Madonna motif. Written as narrative history, yet grounded in modern scholarship, The Mona Lisa Myth not only shatters the portrait's mythology, but also offers a bold new interpretation of the world's most famous painting that will revolutionize our understanding of Leonardo life and work.

How New Discoveries Unlock the Final Mystery of the World's Most Famous Painting

The Mona Lisa Myth

Isbouts and Brown depict Leonardo?s seminal years in Milan from an entirely new perspective: that of the Sforza court. They show that much of the Sforza patronage was directed on vast projects, such as the Milan Cathedral, favoring a close circle of local artists to which Leonardo never gained entry. As a result, his exceptional talent remained largely unrecognized right up to the Last Supper. The authors also explore a mysterious link between the Last Supper and the fresco of the Crucifixion on the opposite wall, a work that up to now has fully escaped public attention. Finally, they present a sensational theory: that two long-ignored, life-sized copies of the Last Supper, now in Belgium and the U.K., were actually commissioned by the French King Louis XII and painted under Leonardo?s direct supervision. 0.

The Evolution of a Revolutionary Artist, 1472-1499

Young Leonardo

Provocative and original, this fresh look at Leonardo da Vinci's formative years in Florence and Milan provides a radically different scenario of how he created his signature style that would transform Western art forever. Isbouts and Brown depict Leonardo's seminal years in Milan from an entirely new perspective: that of the Sforza court. They show that much of the Sforza patronage was directed on vast projects, such as the Milan Cathedral, favoring a close circle of local artists to which Leonardo never gained entry. As a result, his exceptional talent remained largely unrecognized right up to the Last Supper. The authors also explore a mysterious link between the Last Supper and the fresco of the Crucifixion on the opposite wall, a work that up to now has fully escaped public attention. Finally, they present a sensational theory: that a long-ignored, life-sized copy of the Last Supper, now in a remote convent in Belgium, were actually commissioned by the French King Louis XII and painted under Leonardo's direct supervision. Young Leonardo is a fascinating window into the artist's mind as he slowly develops the groundbreaking techniques that will produce the High Renaissance and change the course of European art.

Jean-Pierre Isbouts

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