Signifying Europe

Signifying Europe

Author: Johan Fornäs

Publisher: Intellect L & D E F A E

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 9781841504803

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Helps us in understanding cultural dimensions of various trends in European unification. Suitable for students, scholars, designers and politicians interested in European policy issues, this book analyses a range of symbols for Europe, interpreting their often contradictory or ambiguous dimensions of meaning


The Phoenix

The Phoenix

Author: Joseph Nigg

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-11-04

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 022619552X

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An “insightful cultural history of the mythical, self-immolating bird” from Ancient Egypt to contemporary pop culture by the author of The Book of Gryphons (Library Journal). The phoenix, which rises again and again from its own ashes, has been a symbol of resilience and renewal for thousands of years. But how did this mythical bird come to play a part in cultures around the world and throughout human history? Here, mythologist Joseph Nigg presents a comprehensive biography of this legendary creature. Beginning in ancient Egypt, Nigg’s sweeping narrative discusses the many myths and representations of the phoenix, including legends of the Chinese, where it was considered a sacred creature that presided over China’s destiny; classical Greece and Rome, where it appears in the writings of Herodotus and Ovid; medieval Christianity, in which it came to embody the resurrection; and in Europe during the Renaissance, when it was a popular emblem of royals. Nigg examines the various phoenix traditions, the beliefs and tales associated with them, their symbolic and metaphoric use, and their appearance in religion, bestiaries, and even contemporary popular culture, in which the ageless bird of renewal is employed as a mascot and logo. “An exceptional work of scholarship.”—Publishers Weekly


Selling Russia's Treasures

Selling Russia's Treasures

Author: N. I︠U︡ Semenova

Publisher: Abbeville Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780789211545

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Selling Russia's Treasures documents one of the great cultural dramas of the twentieth century: the sale, by a cash-hungry Soviet government, of the artistic treasures accumulated by the Russian aristocracy over the centuries and nationalized after the October 1917 revolution. An astonishing variety of objects, from icons and illuminated manuscripts to Fabergé eggs and Old Master paintings, entered the collections of wealthy Westerners like Andrew Mellon and Armand Hammer in the 1920s and 30s. Written by the leading experts in the field and long regarded as the definitive book on the subject, the original Russian edition of Selling Russia's Treasures is sought after scholars and laymen alike. Now, for the first time, it is made available in English, in a revised and expanded edition that includes a new chapter on the secret files of the Hermitage, previously considered lost, as well as new research on the sale of religious art, and of twentieth-century French masterworks from the Museum of New Western Art. Numerous color plates reunite long-dispersed works in a virtual museum that illustrates the powerful blow inflicted on Russia's cultural heritage by these secretive sales, and rare photographs and archival documents help bring this buried history to light.


The Montagu Collection of Coins

The Montagu Collection of Coins

Author: Hyman Montagu

Publisher: Legare Street Press

Published: 2022-10-27

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781018570297

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.