Anne-Marie Eze

The surprising story of how a masterpiece of portraiture was discovered to be by Titian. Titian's portrait of Guidobaldo II with his son Francesco Maria represents the Duke of Urbino in his full power as supreme commander of papal troops, with his heir next to him. This rare, full-length double portrait has only recently been attributed to Titian after undergoing extensive analyses and restoration, revealing a beautiful painting in non finito or "not finished" manner, with bravura impasto passages entirely characteristic of the master, all of which is illustrated and explained in this new book. This volume provides the first comprehensive examination of the painting's provenance, outlining the portrait's vicissitudes and reception at different moments in its near five-hundred-year history, reexamining its past ownership and presenting new documentary evidence to expand on and fill gaps in our knowledge of its whereabouts. The authors reflect on the technique, date, recent conservation, and authorship of the painting, proving it to be a masterpiece that only the great Titian could have created.

An absorbing exploration of the crown jewel of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's collection of rare books and manuscripts: Jean Bourdichon's Boston Hours. Jean Bourdichon remains today one of the most celebrated artists of the French Renaissance. Painter to two kings, Bourdichon produced paintings, books, and even parade floats for the sovereign and his entourage. His illustrious career at the French royal court led to a wide range of commissions—from portraits to wall maps to stained glass—but he is remembered principally for astonishing illuminated manuscripts. One of these masterpieces is Boston Hours, his only intact book of hours in the United States. Acquired by Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1890, it became the most prized of her collection of rare books and manuscripts. Leading scholars Anne-Marie Eze and Nicholas Herman explore its history in depth, shedding new light on the book's patronage and provenance—from the shelves of a wealthy Catholic landowner in Lincolnshire to the shop of a Venetian art and antiques dealer.