Maggie had always considered herself to be a very ordinary person, in an ordinary world, doing ordinary things. Suddenly her life was anything but ordinary. In an unexpected turn of events, she found herself in a strange place and time doing what she could, day by day, to live a life that would bless others and follow that still, small voice urging her forward. Facing situations she could never have imagined, dealing with things that would have profound consequences, she must often act quickly and decisively. At times she is painfully aware that her choices could have life-and-death outcomes. She also experiences times which seem to drag on in silence, apparently without purpose or design. Each day she must rely on influences outside of herself, the light within which is alternately bright and clear or so dim that it seems to be gone altogether. Her journey from the medieval Black Forest down the Rhine River takes her to Amsterdam at a time of great upheaval and change. Facing religious and political crises, she ministers to those around her physically, emotionally, and spiritually. At the same time, she is burdened with the search for answers that elude her. Where had she come from? Why was she here? Eventually she will know some of the answers and realize that she has begun a journey. But what is her role in this unique sojourn? How can she know if she is fulfilling the purposes set for her by an unknown hand? These things drive her onward, seeking, hoping, praying for the guidance she desperately needs. In this volume you will come to love Maggie and her faithful, indomitable spirit as she finds her way through many, many adventures.

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Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.

Some sections omitted from 2nd impression of the 105th ed.