CULTURAL TREASURES OF THE WORLD

Sub-titled From the Relics of Ancient Empires to Modern-Day Icons. Statuettes from Sumerian culture discovered in the 1920s, much-copied Cycladic radically pure ancient figure sculptures, take a guided tour through history and discover the most precious, iconic, and celebrated objects ever created. Revered, admired, and protected, every country and culture has certain artefacts that are prized above all others. This big illustrated production brings together more than 200 of these objects, exploring the fascinating and unique stories behind each of them, collectors like Leonard Woolly to gold leaf decoration. Topics include the British Crown Jewels, The Great Wave by Hokusai complete with an explanation of Japanese woodblock printing, and visual puns, folded books, illuminated and rare manuscripts, Islamic metalwork, Cordoba's Mosque, Sutton Hoo helmet, Mosaics of San Vitale, Mamluk Enamelled Glass Bottle, Ife Head, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, Pelagos, Man Pointing, Ram in the Thicket, Cycladic Figure, Kang Hou Gui, The Terracotta Army, Fayum Mummy. From the Bust of Nefertiti to the Benin Bronzes, and the Altamira cave paintings to Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and organised by date, discover how and why they were created, unravel the hidden meanings and symbolism they contain, and learn about the cultural legacy they have left behind. An immersive "visual tour" approach, combining stunning photography with accessible text and annotation, there are feature boxes on cultural influences, symbolism and technique offer additional context. This huge compendium covers a wide range of regions, periods, and media, including sculpture, painting, jewellery, tapestry, rock art, documents, sacred objects and more. Very large and clear layout with amazing colour photographs and fact boxes and diagrams. 24 x 28.8cm. 360 heavy quality pages.
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