Italy boasts a rich cultural history that has found its expression in beautiful, powerful architectural forms, at times measured and hidden, at times ostentatious and triumphant. This volume focuses on about thirty residential villas and palaces, giving the reader the opportunity to visit the magnificent palaces of Venice, Genoa, and Mantua, the elegant villas designed by Palladio and decorated by Tiepolo; the country villas of Tuscany, hidden in olive groves and vineyards; and the austere palaces of Florence-not to mention the Versaces' villa on Lake Como. The interiors of these palaces are magnificent to behold: splendid tapestries, exquisite paintings and murals, sumptuous furniture and interior decoration of all kinds, from elegant carved molding to magnificently inlaid and tiled floors to beautiful renaissance, baroque, and neoclassical furniture.

Traces the evolution and style of these architectural masterpieces.

Dotted across the ancient Tuscan landscape of rolling hills, olive groves and towering cypress trees, sit some of the greatest country houses of Italy. Here, Professor Carlo Cresti and the photographer Massimo Listri present buildings by such noted masters as Sangallo, Buontalenti and Peruzzi.

Built by the greatest architects of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, decorated by the most important artists of Italy, Roman palaces are grand beyond description. This magnificent book showcases 24 such dwellings--from the Palazzo Farnese, designed by Michelangelo, to the Palazzo Quirinale, headquarters of the President of the Republic--all photographed by the renowned Roberto Schezen. 450 color illustrations.

Egypt's romantic allure does not end with the age of the pharaohs. This lavishly illustrated book offers a look inside the opulent estates of the pashas, khedives, and great ladies of 19th-century Egypt, and the princes and kings of the early 20th century. Here in all its cosmopolitan splendor is the world of unparalleled prosperity that attracted adventurers the world over, from the Belle Époque through the Roaring Twenties.--From publisher description.

This book features 101 towns that represent the twenty diverse regions of Italy and their varied landscapes.

Atlas of Forgotten Places is a collection of maps so unique and left behind that you won’t even believe they exist.

visual narration of literary tales. In addition to these renowned artists, the book reveals the extraordinary achievements of many lesser-known painters, among them Giambattista Zelorri, Giovanni Antonio Fasolo, and Ludovico Pozzoserrato in the sixteenth century; Luca Ferrari da Reggio, Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, and Nicolo Bambini in the seventeenth; and ]acopo Guarana, Antonio Balestra, and Giambattista Crosato in the eighteenth." "Distinguished Venetian art historians Filippo Pedrocco, Massimo Favilla, and Ruggero Rugolo skillfully interweave the explanation of the frescoes' iconography with a lively account of the families who commissioned these monumental art works. The Venetian nobility was inordinately proud of its distinguished lineage and frequently directed the artists to paint subject matter that exalted the family name, such as key episodes from Roman mythology, or alternatively incorporate sly visual digs at particular members of the family. Memorably, the patrons --