Publisher's Synopsis
Beginning with the importance of portraits of emperors in ancient Roman politics, this richly illustrated book takes the reader on a journey through two millennia of art and culture, offering a fresh perspective on the work of artists from Memling and Mantena to the nineteenth-century American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, as well as the art of generations of weavers, furniture makers, woodworkers, silversmiths, printers, and potters. The book takes readers on a journey through two millennia of art and culture, offering a fresh look at the work of artists from Memling and Mantenna to the nineteenth-century American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, as well as the art of generations of weavers, furniture makers, silversmiths, printers, and potters. Instead of monotonous, repetitive, conservative, and boring portraits of royal men and women, this book tells unexpected stories of shifting identities, intentional and unintentional misidentifications, forgeries, and often contradictory representations of authority.
