Michael Hirst

Vikings #1

Elizabeth Massie

Dissent rises in the kingdom of King Henry VIII of England. The king's ongoing dispute with the papacy over a desire for annulment is about to incite the Reformation, and his next step is to appoint a new archbishop in order to obtain his long-awaited marriage to Anne Boleyn. All crests that once bore the initials "H & K" are promptly replaced with an intertwining "H & A," the first of many significant changes to come. The birth of the new royal couple's first child, Princess Elizabeth, is followed by the death of Katherine of Aragon. New legislation decrees that any who dare commit an act against the king - or the kingdom's newfound beliefs - will face extreme consequences. With her husband growing increasingly impatient, it becomes apparent that the only crime Anne could commit against her king would be to deny him a male heir. As pressures rise in the kingdom, those who once found themselves in the king's good graces foresee a somber end to their reign. This rich novelization of season two of The Tudors follows the complicated relationship between Henry and Anne through to its historically significant and dramatic conclusion.

The Tudors: King Takes Queen

Anne Gracie

A fan's companion to the Showtime series about the early reign of Henry VIII offers a fictionalized recounting of the iconic monarch's dalliances with Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, as well as his political relationships with such figures as Sir Thomas More, Cardinal Wolsey, and Charles Brandon. Original. 15,000 first printing. (A Showtime series, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Sam Neill, Natalie Dormer, Jonathan Northam, Henry Cavill, and others) (Historical Fiction)

The Tudors: The King, the Queen, and the Mistress

A novelization of the third season of the popular historical drama based on the life of Henry VIII traces his marriages to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, a period marked by the birth of his first legitimate son, tenacious political alliances, and a continuing estrangement from the Roman Catholic church. Original.

The Tudors: Thy Will Be Done

Jill Dunkerton

This book is the fullest account ever written of Michelangelo's early work - as a painter as well as a sculptor. The period of his first stay in Rome was a crucial five years in the artist's life when he created, among other works, the marble Bacchus now in the Bargello, Florence, and the celebrated Pietà in St. Peter's, Rome, and, as Hirst shows, also began his painting of the Entombment now in the National Gallery, London. It was during these years in Rome, Hirst argues, that he probably painted another work in the National Gallery Collection, the Madonna and Child with Saint John and Angels, better known for the last 150 years as the Manchester Madonna, which Hirst concludes is entirely the work of Michelangelo and not, as has been thought, of an associate. Hirst traces much that is original in Michelangelo's though - this troubling interpretation of the character of the god of wine, his novel conception of sculpture in the round, and his extraordinary treatment of the nude body of Christ in both sculpture and painting - but also explores the artist's debt to earlier fifteenth-century imagery and ideas, and supplies substantial new evidence concerning the artist's life and contacts in Rome. Hirst's chapters are followed by Jill Dunkerton's survey of Michelangelo's technique as a painter on panel using both egg tempera and oil paint, based on the investigation of his paintings in the National Gallery. Included in the discussion is Michelangelo's slightly later Doni Tondo in the Uffizi, Florence, his only completed panel painting and one of the most perfect of his works. Dunkerton also looks back to the paintings by Ghirlandaio and his workshop in which Michelangelo was trained. Her text helps us to understand how Michelangelo executed his paintings and also to envisage the startling finished appearance probably conceived by Michelangelo for these familiar but relatively little-studied paintings.

The Young Michelangelo : The Artist in Rome 1496-1501 : Michelangelo As a Painter on Panel

Making & Meaning

The Tudors is an intimate, delicious, and daring drama revealing the early years of Henry VIII, an idealistic, lustful tyrant torn between bedding wives and mistresses and conquering Europe. This is not the story of the old, fat Henry you've read about in history books. At eighteen, the throne and the entire world became his. Young, sexy, and the most powerful man of his time, the king was known for his good looks and athletic prowess. He was so arrogant that he despised dealing with the consequences of his actions. King Henry executed people with little excuse, and single-handedly tore apart the Roman Catholic Church, the most powerful institution in medieval Europe. Passionate, vibrant, and scandalous, he forever altered the course of history. The Tudors, a Showtime Original Series starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, brings to life Henry's tumultuous early years in exquisite fashion. THE BOOK ALSO INCLUDES a foreward by Michael Hirst, creator and executive producer, eight pages of lush, full-color photos, detailed essays about the Tudor era and dynasty Tune into The Tudors on Showtime -- Sundays at 10pm starting April 1st

The Tudors: It's Good to Be King

Justin Pollard

The World of Vikings

Gianluigi Colalicci

Contains nearly three hundred photographs taken by Takashi Okamura showing the entire Ceiling, individual panels showing such scenes as the Creation of Adam and the Deluge, and details of prophets, sibyls, nudes, and other stunning figures.

Sistine Chapel

Sebastiano Del Piombo

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Focuses on the drawings of the artist famous for his sculptures and his work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Michael Hirst

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