There has long been a suspicion that there is some deep mystery too precious to reveal to profane eyes in Botticelli's La Primavera. A chance discovery provided the author with the key to unlocking the five-hundred-year-old enigma. La Primavera is a masterpiece painted for the private viewing of a Medici. Its pagan deities in a paradisiacal spring meadow illuminate the cryptic world of the Renaissance pagan revival at a time when the Medician Platonic circle sought a single religion based on the revelations in a recovered manuscript dated to the time of Moses. Botticelli's allegory addresses its personal message to a young Medici, then one of the known world's richest men, while employing a disguise to shield him and the painting from religious controversy and its consequent dangers.
This book is extremely well researched and beautifully produced with over eighty color plates. Lane-Spollen employs a very engaging style which make this book a fascinating read not only for those familiar with this period, but also for those new to Renaissance and Art History.
Eugene Lane-Spollen's marvelous book explores links between Botticelli's La Primavera and his era's preoccupation with Platonism and hermetic philosophy. Its argument unfolds as an adventure in unravelling complex meanings hidden in the artist's work. The author has marshalled lucid accounts of late-medieval theology and Renaissance Humanism; early modern social, cultural, and political structures; professionalism, patronage, and aesthetics; and literary history interacting with art history, and he has fused them into a coherent whole - William J. Kennedy, Cornell University
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Eugene Lane-Spollen lives in Provence and divides his time between France, Italy, the Far East, and his native Ireland.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
US$ 2.64 shipping within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speedsSeller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: As New. Unread book in perfect condition. Seller Inventory # 20989418
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 20989418-n
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: INDOO, Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 9780856832963
Quantity: Over 20 available
Seller: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # C3-9780856832963
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: Majestic Books, Hounslow, United Kingdom
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 125934539
Quantity: 3 available
Seller: Keeps Books, Wilmington, IL, U.S.A.
hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust jacket has light wear. Unmarked, pages clean & bright. Top page corners has light crease. Ships Next Business Day. Seller Inventory # 231021082
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Fairfield, OH, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. A chance discovery provided the author with the key to unlocking the centuries old enigma of Botticelli's Primavera, a masterpiece painted for the private viewing of a Medici. Its pagan figures in a paradisical spring meadow illuminated the cryptic world of the Renaissance pagan revival. Botticelli's allegory emerged to address its personal message to a young Medici. Botticelli's cleverly disguised message for Lorenzo Minore, is to be found on the right side of La Primavera, where Chloris draws Zephyr's attention to it. This book is extremely well researched and beautifully produced with eighty color plates. Lane-Spollen clearly explains the fusion of Christian and pagan imagery which is reflected in La Primavera, placing it in the wider context of Italy's religion and politics. The author employs a readable style which will make this book suitable for those familiar with this period looking for more detail about a beloved painting, and those who are new to the Renaissance and Art History. Lane-Spollen gives a clear overview of why and how Botticelli conveyed his message in disguise. An esteemed circle of scholars around the Medici, disillusioned with a worldly and corrupted medieval Church, searched for a purer, unadulterated Christianity in the pre-Christian foundations of their faith. This was a sensitive occupation in a society where the reach of the Church was present in all matters public and private. In 1460 a manuscript was brought to Cosimo de'Medici. Its author, Hermes, was revered by Augustine and the early Church Fathers. Its revelations on the true nature of Man held the evidence they were seeking and stood in stark contrast to the medieval Church view in which the lowly humble sinner must throw himself on the mercy of the Church for his redemption.The Hermetic corpus which so inspired the Medici circle, saw Man as unique among all species, of unlimited potential and possessing a 'spark of the Divine'. As Burckhardt noted, "it became the breath of life for all the most instructed minds of Europe". For medieval man, it heralded his rebirth, his Renaissance.Expressing this newly discovered 'God-like' being in art stimulated the creative imagination of Renaissance artists like Botticelli, Leonardo, and Raffaello.Lane-Spollen gives a clear overview of why and how Botticelli conveyed his message in code: An esteemed circle of scholars around the Medici, disillusioned with a worldly and corrupted medieval Church, searched for a purer, unadulterated Christianity in the pre-Christian foundations of their faith. This was a dangerous occupation in a society where the reach of the Church was present in all matters public and private. In 1460 a manuscript was brought to Cosimo de'Medici. Its author, Hermes, was revered by Augustine and the early Church Fathers. Its revelations on the true nature of Man held the evidence they were seeking and stood in stark contrast to the teachings of the medieval church and had no place for man as a lowly humble sinner who must throw himself on the mercy of the Church. Neoplatonism and the Hermetic corpus which so inspired the Medici circle, saw Man as unique among all species and possessing a 'spark of the divine'.Though heretical and blasphemous in the extreme, this philosophy had a profound effect and spread rapidly. As Burckhardt noted, 'it became the breath of life for all the most instructed minds of Europe'.Convinced by its impeccable provenance, the Medici circle of philosophers and poets strived to merge the three great but competing religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, into a single religion in harmony with their original pre-Christian foundations. Expressing this newly discovered 'God-like' being in art stimulated the creative imagination of the early Renaissance as artists like Botticelli, Leonardo, Michaelangelo and Raphaello strove to express 'divine' Man's Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780856832963
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: PBShop.store UK, Fairford, GLOS, United Kingdom
PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # C3-9780856832963
Quantity: 5 available
Seller: Revaluation Books, Exeter, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 207 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.25 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0856832960
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Books Puddle, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 26133571604
Quantity: 3 available