The Hills of Chianti
The Hills of Chianti

Author: Piero Antinori

Publisher: Rizzoli Publications

Published: 2014-09-09

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0847844676

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The head of Italy’s "first family" of winemaking reflects on the Antinoris’ six-hundred-year legacy and a life of good food and drink in the hills of Tuscany. If you know wine, you know the name Antinori. Since 1385, this noble Florentine family has produced some of Italy’s finest wines. The Hills of Chianti tells the story of the Antinoris and the Tuscany they call home, through seven iconic bottles that define their legacy. From the Tignanello that ushered in the era of Super Tuscans to limited-edition vintages, these wines embody a way of life and will excite oenophile readers and lovers of Italy alike. In this family memoir Piero Antinori reveals the passion, tradition, and love of craft that have driven twenty-seven generations of vintners: from the first ancestor who signed up to the winemakers guild in the fourteenth century to Antinori’s own three daughters, poised to carry this most celebrated family of artisans into the future. But The Hills of Chianti is about much more than wine. At its heart the Antinori story is about "Tuscan-ness": a connection to the land, an appreciation for good food and drink, and the quintessentially Italian love of hospitality that make this one of the world’s most inspiring and memorable destinations.

Laurus Nobilis
Laurus Nobilis

Author: Vernon Lee

Publisher: Graphic Arts Books

Published: 2021-08-03

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 151329718X

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Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life (1909) is a collection of essays by Vernon Lee. Published at the height of her career as a leading proponent of Aestheticism and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life follows in the footsteps of Walter Pater, a pioneering art historian of Victorian England. A principled feminist and committed pacifist, Lee was virtually blacklisted by critics and publishers following her opposition to the First World War. Through the efforts of dedicated scholars, however, interest in her works has increased over the past several decades, granting her the readership she deserves as a master of literary horror. “It is a plant of noblest utility, averting, as the ancients thought, lightning from the dwellings it surrounded, even as disinterested love for beauty averts from our minds the dangers which fall on the vain and the covetous; and curing many aches and fevers, even as the contemplation of beauty refreshes and invigorates our spirit. Indeed, we seem to be reading a description no longer of the virtues of the bay laurel, but of the virtues of all beautiful sights and sounds, of all beautiful thoughts and emotions.” Although she is more widely known for her stories of supernatural horror, Lee was also a gifted researcher whose knowledge of art history shines in Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life. This collection of essays begins with the image of the bay laurel, a symbol of artistic achievement and divine beauty since the days of ancient Greece. Determined to prove that beauty is an aspect of reality separate from truth and goodness, and therefore worthy of its own pursuit in art, Lee looks back on the work of Pater while offering her own arguments in defense of Aestheticism. Lyrical and personal, meditative and instructive, these essays are essential to her reputation as a leading artist and intellectual of her time. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Vernon Lee’s Laurus Nobilis: Chapters on Art and Life is a classic work of art history reimagined for modern readers.

Tuscan Elements
Tuscan Elements

Author: Alexandra Black

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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Breaks Tuscan architecture and interior design into four components: stone, wood, earth, and water, and discusses each, presenting approximately two hundred color photos.