The two centuries from 1500 to 1700 saw a great rebirth of European art, including a massive body of works devoted to biblical subjects. Amongst these are three narratives which focus in particular on death and decapitation -- Salome's demand for the severed head of John the Baptist, Judith's seduction and beheading of Holofernes, and David's felling and beheading of Goliath. BEHEADED collects more than 80 Renaissance and early Baroque period paintings depicting these three violent myths, a catalogue of full-color images steeped in blood, death, and the occasional frisson of erogenous horror. The artists featured include Caravaggio, Mattia Preti, Andrea Solario, Orazio Borgianni, Carlo Dolci, Guido Reni, Sebastia n de Llanos Valdes, Pieter Fransz de Grebber, Lucas Cranach, Massimo Stanzione, Peter Paul Rubens, Valentin de Boulogne, and many others. Illuminated Masters is a new series of high-quality art books featuring the work of classical artists from the 15th to 17th centuries.
