A rich account of the giant bronze doors created by Florentine sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti--so exquisite that Michelangelo proclaimed them suitable to serve as the Gates of Paradise.

Now a major Lifetime movie event, from New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic, My Sweet Audrina) comes the fourth installment in the classic story of the Casteel family saga. Stunned by tragedy, a young woman finds herself desperate and alone, and clinging to the frailest of dreams. Can Heaven’s daughter find the inner strength to survive? The car crash that killed Heaven and Logan left Annie Casteel Stonewall orphaned and crippled. Whisked off to Farthinggale Manor by the possessive Tony Tatterton, Annie pines for her lost family, but especially for Luke, her half-brother. Friend of her childhood, her fantasy prince, her loving confidante…without the warm glow of Luke’s love, she is lost in the shadows of despair. When Annie discovers Troy’s cottage hidden in Farthinggale’s woods, the mystery of her past deepens. And even as she yearns to see Luke again, her hopes and dreams are darkened by the sinister Casteel spell…treacherous, powerful, and evil.

This book examines the heretofore unsuspected complexity of Lorenzo Ghiberti's sculpted representations of Old Testament narratives in his Gates of Paradise (1425–52), the second set of doors he made for the Florence Baptistery and a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance sculpture. One of the most intellectually engaged and well-read artists of his age, Ghiberti found inspiration in ancient and medieval texts, many of which he and his contacts in Florence's humanist community shared, read, and discussed. He was fascinated by the science of vision, by the functioning of nature, and, above all, by the origins and history of art. These unusually well-defined intellectual interests, reflected in his famous Commentaries, shaped his approach in the Gates. Through the selection, imaginative interpretation, and arrangement of biblical episodes, Ghiberti fashioned multi-textured narratives that explore the human condition and express his ideas on a range of social, political, artistic, and philosophical issues.

This anthology of Solnits essential essays from the past ten years takes the reader from the Pyrenees to the U.S.-Mexican border, from open sky to the deepest mines and offers a panoramic world view enriched by the authors characteristically provocative, inspiring, and hopeful observations.

An outstanding collection of the most imaginative and provocative short stories ever written on the power of sexual desire, by such celebrated names as James Baldwin, D.H. Lawrence, Doris Lessing, and others. Compelling from first page to last, the collection explores the intensity and astonishing variety of the erotic experience.

Schuyler Van Alen is running out of time. The Dark Prince of Hell is storming the Gates of Paradise, intent on winning the heavenly throne for good. Will Bliss and the wolves she has recruited to join her win the battle for the vampires? Is Schuyler prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice? Love and vengeance, duty and and loyalty, life and death, are all at odds in the gripping, heartbreaking finale of the Blue Bloods series.

"[An] illustrated account of the history, importance, and painstaking restoration of Lorenz Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise". After nearly thirty years of restoration, the gilt bronze doors that Lorenzo Ghiberti made for the Florence Baptistery between 1425 and 1452 are once again on show for the world to see. This masterpiece of 15th-century sculpture, which Michelangelo called the Gates of Paradise, has found a new home in the Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. This book presents the first images of the fully restored Gates, traces their long history, and offers a careful look at the Old Testament scenes on the bronze panels ..."--Publisher description.