From Viking boxes to medieval manuscripts, mummified animals to elaborate stone carvings, Christ Church Cathedral has been the repository for an astonishing array of objects over the centuries, connecting us to the cathedral’s past in a direct and tangible way. 

These treasures provide impressive evidence of the cathedral’s extensive communications network, with Europe and beyond; the skilled craftsmanship that contributed to the creation of the cathedral building and its contents; and the many people who have passed through this extraordinary place.

This accessible book is an eye-catching introduction to the cathedral’s history, with lively commentaries on over 50 objects in Christ Church Cathedral. Generously illustrated with a wealth of items, ranging from the curious and the unexpected to the sumptuous riches of illuminated manuscripts and church plate. This is an enjoyable guide to Christ Church Cathedral, a place of worship in the centre of Dublin for almost 1,000 years. 

Durham Cathedral is one of the great buildings of Europe. Set grandly on a rocky promontory next to Durham Castle, with the medieval city huddled below and the river sweeping around, the profile of this World Heritage Site is instantly recognisable. Started in 1093 and dedicated to Cuthbert, a Saxon saint, the cathedral was a pioneering building – which makes the 40 or so years it took to complete an astonishing achievement. The cathedral was a fitting symbol of the power of the Norman prince bishops, who were charged by the king to defend the realm from the constant threat of invasion. Perched on its rocky peninsula next to a great Norman fortification, the cathedral therefore spoke of human as well as divine power. This beautifully illustrated guide introduces the reader to the glories of Durham, and features the newly opened ‘Open Treasure’ exhibition. Contents: Introduction; The Cathedral; Entering the Cathedral; Nave; South Transept and Durham Light Infantry Chapel; Tower and crossing; Quire; Sanctuary; South Quire Aisle; Shrine of St Cuthbert; Chapel of the Nine Altars; North Quire Aisle; Galilee Chapel and the Venerable Bede; Open Treasure; Cloister and College; Brief history; The Cathedral Today.

Edited by French street artist Julien Malland (known as Seth) and Hervé Perdriolle, a specialist in vernacular Indian art, this book offers a world tour of street art by artists entirely outside of any art discourse or public profile beyond the public evidence of the work itself. Text in French.

Artists’ Corner in St Paul’s Cathedral is the final resting place for some of the greatest artists working in the United Kingdom, including Turner, Leighton and Millais. British painters of the 19th century are shoulder to shoulder with artists from America and Continental Europe who made Britain their home and helped to shape national taste.

Artists’ Corner reflects a golden age of artistic production, when the visual arts were central to British cultural pride and identity, when the funerals of the cultural figures were occasions of national mourning, and their achievements were marked with monuments and enduring plaques.

All of the painters and sculptors memorialised in Artists’ Corner are brought together in this guide, with references to some of their master works which chart a trajectory from history painting to the arrival of impressionism and abstraction in the 20th century. 

“Whether you are new to the area or a frequent visitor, this book will be the perfect companion for your exploration of Northumberland and Hadrian’s Wall.” — Worldwide Writer
Hadrian’s Wall once marked the northern edge of the Roman Empire, and was built to intimidate the uncouth tribes of hostile local natives. Now a UNESCO world heritage site, Hadrian’s Wall is the largest and most important Roman site in Britain. Use this book to explore Hadrian’s Wall Country, from Tynemouth to the Solway Firth.

You’ll discover how the Romans took a bath – and where they went to spend a penny; why aliens came to stay in a small rural town; where King Arthur lies sleeping until his country needs him; and whether Robin Hood really did take a wrong turn on his journey from Dover to Sherwood Forest.

You can also find out if Hadrian was a great emperor or a ruthless tyrant; why pubs were state-owned in Carlisle; where to find the Centre of Britain; and why treasure may lie unclaimed at the bottom of a deep, dark lake.

Written by someone with extensive knowledge of the region, this book will help you discover the delights of Hadrian’s Wall Country, and even learn some local dialect along the way.

Presenting a wealth of new research, analysis and previously unpublished documentation, this beautifully illustrated volume is the first comprehensive examination of the Italian, Spanish and French Old Master paintings in the collections of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The largest and most significant collection of its kind in the American Southeast, the Ringling’s 300-plus Italian, Spanish and French paintings include important works by well-known artists such as Cortona, Piero di Cosimo, Guercino, Rosa, Strozzi, Tiepolo and Veronese; Coypel, Nattier and Raoux; and Cano, Ribera and Velázquez. A rich resource for scholars and enthusiasts alike, this elegantly designed book includes comprehensive entries for each painting with details of technique and materials, provenance, patronage, attribution, date, subject, iconography, conservation history and bibliography, all accompanied by vivid, newly commissioned colour photography of each work. Contents: Introduction Italian Paintings Spanish Paintings French Paintings Follow @TheRingling on Twitter (3550 followers).

The ancient Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul with Dyfrig, Teilo and Euddogwy saw its beginnings in the community that formed around the seat of its founding bishops in the middle part of the 6th century. Today, Llandaff Cathedral lies peacefully in a steep hollow, once no doubt sheltered from the view of marauders by land and sea, close to vital river crossings which made it strategically secure during the early period of its development as a Christian community.

This guide reveals how successive generations, changes of fortune, accidents, disasters, human courage and determination have all made their mark on this fascinating building, from the 12th to the 21st centuries.

Chester Cathedral was a monastic church of the Benedictine order for over 450 years before it was closed during Henry VIII’s reformation of the Church in England, and immediately re-opened as the cathedral of the new diocese of Chester. As a result it retains much of the flavour of a monastic institution, with a fine Norman refectory, a superb Early English Gothic chapter-house and a cloister garth which forms a tranquil oasis in the heart of the busy modern city. Originally dedicated to a local Saxon saint, Werburgh, Chester became an important centre of medieval pilgrimage and St Werburgh’s shrine still stands in the cathedral. The cathedral’s fourteenth-century choir stalls are among the finest in the country, featuring a riot of imaginative wood-carving. Its external appearance today, however, is largely the result of major Victorian restoration work by Sir George Gilbert Scott, much needed as the soft local stone did not age well. As modern architecture is also represented by the new Song School, opened in 2003, Chester Cathedral is a rare amalgamation of old and new, captured perfectly in this splendid little book.

Hereford Cathedral, with its origins in the seventh century, is one of the oldest cathedral foundations in England and retains a warmth and intimacy all its own. Its two patron saints, the martyred Saxon King Ethelbert and the Norman Bishop Thomas Cantilupe, brought medieval pilgrims and their votive offerings, greatly increasing the cathedral’s revenues. This led both to a series of ambitious building projects such as the fine 13th-century Lady Chapel, and to the accumulation of some rare treasures, including the famed Mappa Mundi, a copy of the Magna Carta, the medieval Cantilupe shrine and a 17th-century chained library.

This richly illustrated guide offers a readable and informative introduction to the buildings, treasures and history of one of England’s lesser-known cathedrals.

Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s, built after the Fire of London of 1666, has become the City’s most familiar landmark, its dome with the ball and cross above it symbolic of London’s steadfastness down the centuries and its endurance during the Second World War. When it was newly completed, in the early eighteenth century, it seemed breathtaking and unlike any other cathedral or church in Britain. Today’s building is not the first to occupy the site, for this has been a place of Christian worship for 1,400 years. The medieval Cathedral, with a tower and spire soaring above the city, was at the time one of the wonders of Europe. Beautifully illustrated with rare items from city and cathedral archives, and glorious colour photography of today’s building and its treasures, St Paul’s Cathedral: 1,400 Years at the Heart of London tells of St Paul’s fascinating history.

Nine hundred years ago, foundations were dug for a great church in Exeter which would develop into the beautiful cathedral that still marks the heart of the city. It is distinctive among English cathedrals for its twin transept towers, and unbroken vault stretching from the entrance to the high altar, and the sheer profusion of carving of plants and animals throughout. Exeter is a heavenly garden in stone, and this new book, illustrated with specially commissioned photography, draws on archaeology, archives and imagery to explain what its builders in a surprisingly cosmopolitan city were trying to tell us about their understanding of the world, and the realm they envisioned beyond us.

The Scottish National Gallery’s outstanding collection of French paintings is described fully in this two-volume illustrated catalogue. Underpinned by extensive scholarly research, this comprehensive work includes many of the great names, including Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Poussin, Watteau and Delacroix.

Since opening its doors in 1859, the Scottish National Gallery’s collection of French paintings has grown continuously, reflecting changing tastes and priorities, thanks to inspired and enlightened purchases and many generous donations. The collection’s fascinating history is related in the introductory essay.

Each artist is introduced by a concise biography, followed by a study of their individual works featuring the most up-to-date research. Illustrating and describing 189 works of art, this catalogue is the definitive authority on the French paintings in Scotland’s national collection.

As the seat of archbishops, Canterbury Cathedral has been one of Britain’s most important buildings for over 1400 years. However, the church as we know it evolved most spectacularly between the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries. Within its designs are references to a world we have forgotten: its relationship to Rome, mythology, hidden geometry and the display of saintly relics. Architectural historian and broadcaster Jonathan Foyle explains how Canterbury’s turbulent and brilliant past shaped the cathedral, leaving us today with an extraordinary composite work of architecture. The book features specially commissioned images by the architectural photographer Robert Greshoff as well as carefully selected archival illustrations, and includes a number of the author’s own drawings. An additional chapter by Heather Newton covers the cathedral’s modern conservation programme .

First published to accompany a 2011 exhibition, this catalogue features three new paintings that bring Bridget Riley’s exploration of the circle from the wall to the canvas, and from black and white to colour. By placing Riley’s new paintings in relation to her early gouaches, this publication highlights new directions taken by the famous British artist.

Through the layering of circles of yellow and orange in her exploration of interplaying colours, Riley asks the viewer’s eye to continuously adjust as the shapes grow, compress and dance across the canvas.

Full-colour illustrations are accompanied by a conversation between Riley and Robert Kudielka from 1978, in which the artist discusses her move away from the blacks, greys and whites of her 1960s works and towards the use of the curve ‘as a rhythmic vehicle for colour’.

“Sensuous details of one of the most beautiful nude portraits in the Louvre.” VOGUE
The idea for this book was born in the course of a visit through the Louvre, when Catherine Belanger ventured to call the Louvre ‘the biggest brothel in the world’. Jointly with author Jean Galard and photographer Lois Lammerhuber, she selected key paintings spanning five centuries to illustrate the fascinating art of depicting nudity and the artists’ struggle for acceptance of the nude in art and society. Lois Lammerhuber detaches the nudity, sensuality and sexuality of the paintings from the context of their artistic intention, conceiving them as ‘material’ in a fictional photography studio and recreating them in his photographs. He resorts to these ‘models’ to translate them into the language of fashion, nude and advertising photography, reading their body language and interaction in a way reminiscent of artists like Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Horst P. Horst or Herb Ritts – sensual and unexpected. Text in English & French. Also available: The Louvre Nude Sculptures ISBN: 9783901753121

Edited by Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Brüggen Israëls, The Bernard and Mary Berenson Collection of European Paintings at I Tatti surveys the 149 works assembled by the Berensons for their home in Florence from the late 1890s through the first decades of the twentieth century at the time that they were making their mark on the world as connoisseurs. The catalogue presents a privileged window on the Berensons’ intellectual interests through the objects they owned. The entries, written by an international team of art historians, take full advantage of the extensive correspondence from the Berensons’ friends, family, and colleagues at I Tatti as well as the couple’s diaries and notations on the backs of their vast gathering of photographs. All the entries are lavishly illustrated with full scholarly and technical accountings of the objects. There are also 17 illustrated reconstructions of the original contexts of panel paintings. The catalogue includes essays on the progress of the Berensons’ collecting, their love for Siena, the Sienese forger Icilio Federico Joni, the critic Roger Fry, and René Piot’s murals at I Tatti, as well as a listing of 94 pictures that were once at I Tatti including donations made to museums in Europe and America.

Contents:
Preface Lino Pertile; Acknowledgments – Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Israëls; Note to the Use of the Catalogue; Abbreviations; Glossary of People in the Berenson Circle Mentioned in the Text; Section I: Introductory Essays and Entries 0 to 111; Essay I: “Bernard and Mary Collect: Pictures Come to I Tatti” – Carl Brandon Strehlke; Essay II: “The Berensons and Siena” (working title) – Machtelt Israëls; Essay III: “Passions Intertwined: Art and Photography at I Tatti” – Giovanni Pagliarulo; Entries: Paintings from the 14th to 18th century – Plates 0 to 111; Section II: Fakes; Essay IV: The Berensons and the Sienese Forger Federico Ioni – Gianni Mazzoni; Entries: Fakes – Plates 112 to 116; Section III: Roger Fry; Essay V: “Roger Fry and Bernard Berenson” – Caroline Elam; Entry: Fry – Plate 117; Section IV: René Piot; Essay VI: “A Failure: René Piot and the Berensons” – Claudio Pizzorusso; Entries: Piot – Plates 118 to 131; Section V: The Berensons, Family and Friends; Entries: Portraits – Plates 132 to 138; Entries: Miscellanea – Plates 139 to 148; Appendix: Paintings Formerly Owned by the Berensons – Carl Brandon Strehlke and Machtelt Israëls; Bibliography; Photo Credits; Index.

The paintings in this book depict ‘object-type’ – general yet specific, generic yet designed, familiar yet estranged. They are ‘Purist’ forms depicted in a still life landscape. The compositions employ overlap, convergence and diminution to imply depth resulting in the creation of the illusion of perspectival space. However, through the use of juxtaposition, superimposition and ambiguity of scale the perspectival effect is impaired.

The result is a blurring of distinction between foreground and background that encourages a reading of pattern that reinforces the presence of the surface plane. A conflict is encouraged between the deep space and the shallow space – between the creation of implied space through perspective and the reinforcement of the surface plane through pattern. A multiple reading is fostered that rewards the careful observer.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist in Kutná Hora – Sedlec, the convent church of the former oldest Cistercian abbey in Bohemia (est. 1142), has been recorded in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1995.

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of almost 900 years of history of this remarkable place, which experienced days of glory as well as dark periods of war and plague. Today, people from all over the world come to admire the cathedral, whose current appearance was fundamentally influenced by the Baroque reconstruction performed by the brilliant architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel (1677–1723). The nearby Church of All Saints then receives even more attention thanks to its Ossuary which is decorated with unique skeletal ornaments. It is the only ossuary in the world where human remains have been used as design elements, and yet (or perhaps because of that), it carries a powerful message of memento mori.
Whether you are interested in history, art, architecture or religion, the former Cistercian abbey of Kutná Hora – Sedlec has it all and much more. 

“Curiously few people think of Britain’s cathedrals as being among our most impressive museums. This book should change that.” — The Telegraph

The cathedrals of England and Wales are remarkable buildings. From the centuries leading up to the Norman Conquest to the tumults of the Reformation to the devastating wars of the 20th century, they carry traces of our nations’ darkest moments and most brilliant endeavours.
This beautifully illustrated new volume tells the stories behind 50 remarkable artefacts – one for each cathedral – that have been preserved by the cathedrals of the Church of England and the Church in Wales.
Featuring the Magna Carta of Salisbury Cathedral as well as the oldest book of English literature in the world, an Anglo-Saxon portable sundial, and Pre-Raphaelite glass, painting and embroidery, these local and national treasures are a vital part of our heritage, testifying to the powerful and enduring links between cathedrals and the wider communities of which they are part.

One thousand three hundred years ago Lichfield Cathedral stood at the centre of the Kingdom of Mercia; it stands still, spires reaching into the sky, at the heart of England; an abiding symbol of the impact Christianity has had on our heritage. Its history is as rich and intricate as its decoration: from St Chad’s anointment as Bishop of Mercia in 669 to the damage wrought during the bloody English Civil War to its restoration to medieval glory in the nineteenth century by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Written by Dr Jonathan Foyle, the broadcaster, architectural historian and passionate advocate for heritage sites, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in Britain’s great medieval architecture. Also available from Scala: Cathedrals of the Church of England ISBN 9781857599404

Unlocking Paintings is a new guide, highlighting masterpieces from the collection of Dulwich Picture Gallery while also offering universal tools to help ‘unlock’ the secrets behind any work of art.
This book provides an in-depth look into the mind of the artist and the unique context in which they created their art, finding new perspectives that show exactly why these works are still so powerful today.