This is the first comprehensive study of the images in five profusely illustrated Yiddish books from sixteenth-century Italy: a manuscript of Jewish customs, and four printed volumes - two books of customs, a chivalric romance, and a book of fables.

Emphasizing on the one hand the reconstruction of the material culture of specific residences, and on the other, the way in which particular domestic objects reflect, shape, and mediate family values and relationships within the home, this volume offers a distinct contribution to research on the early modern Italian domestic interior. Though the essays mainly take an art historical approach, the book is interdisciplinary in that it considers the social implications of domestic objects for family members of different genders, age, and rank, as well as for visitors to the home. By adopting a broad chronological framework that encompasses both Renaissance and Baroque Italy, and by expanding the regional scope beyond Florence and Venice to include domestic interiors from less studied centers such as Urbino, Ferrara, and Bologna, this collection offers genuinely new perspectives on the home in early modern Italy.

Featuring bathrooms as never seen before, Magnificent Baths celebrates the most striking and eccentric bathrooms beautifully presented through the photography of Massimo Listri, whose travels have taken him to the most luxurious and idiosyncratic homes, palazzos, and hotels around the world. Each space represents its own decorative aesthetic and style. Some follow in the tradition of Roman baths and Grecian spas, while others are minimalist and modern, art deco and decadent, Zen-inspired, eccentrically romantic, or art-centric sanctuaries. The incredible bathrooms are made more intriguing by their unexpected trimmings, such as Roman statuary, Renaissance paintings, Baroque fixtures, modern art, and incredible views. Ever romantic and wonderfully indulgent, Magnificent Baths visits the lavish bathrooms of writers, artists, fashion designers, and other notable figures who have added their own personal touch to create sensuous, dreamlike spaces.

An interdisciplinary study of the practice and purpose of early Christian baptism as it is depicted in pictorial art and as it was practiced in-built structures, this book integrates physical remains with literary evidence for the early Christian initiation rite.

This book provides valuable new insights into the public debate over educational travel in early modern England, and examines the seven major images of the educational traveller and the fears and insecurities within English society that engendered them.