The subject of this book is the artistic revolution that took place around the year 1300. Young Giotto is the protagonist of this revolution, whose trajectory of development can be traced across the most vibrant and fashionable centres of culture of the time, at the court of the Pope, in the city of Florence, in the rich and cultivated north-eastern Italy, between the court of the Malatesta in Rimini and the Veneto region with its power-house and financial heart in Padua. Above all, the book is about two huge projects that marked the first part of Giottos life: the Basilica of Assisi and, in Padua, the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Anthony. Within his work and in his workshops places and people of Italy at the turn of the century come to life. Relying on stylistic and technical analysis, on a careful reading of iconographical programmes, studying working methods and culling information from artistic works themselves and historical documents, one may gain insights into how Giotto, like no one else, was able to become a catalyst of a new contact with the world, a modern ability to narrate with images and a newly rediscovered love of nature.

Every kid knows that pirates talk funny, swing a big sword, and seek buried treasure—don’t they? What do we really know about Blackbeard, Madame Cheng, Sir Francis Drake, and other men and women of pirate history? What drove them to sail the high seas? What were their bad habits, favorite foods, and silly quirks? And did they actually talk like that? A lively style, lots of surprises, and solid research have made the Lives of . . . series of collective biographies popular with both kids and adults. Now the series returns, spanning the globe with profiles of the nineteen most notorious pirates in history.