Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Prologue
I: The Demise of Luxury Arts
Rank, not Genius
Art Academy as Social Strategy
Vasari’s Imaginary Lives
“Art and Nature Play with One Another”
The Eighteenth Century: A Turning Point or Continuity?
The Age of Public Museums in Art Education
Back to the “Period Eye”
II: The Powers of Gold and Precious Stones
The Spiritual Aura of Gold and Gems
The Magical Powers of Metals and Gems
Geography and Learning
Goldwork and Diplomacy
Gold, Automata, and the Culture of Wonder
The Royal Table
The Language of Personal Adornment
III: Woven Narrative of Rule
Princely Art par Excellence
The Language of Allegories
Tapestries as Gifts and Competition
Tapestries for Social Climbing
Making and Marketing
IV: Armor: The High Art of War
The Ubiquity of War, the Practicality of Armor
Chivalric Displays
Parade Armor: The Theater of Supremacy
Garnitures
Leading Armorers of the Day
Production and Techniques
Decorations
V: Sweet Voices and Fanfares
Sacred Polyphony
Secular Songs
Instrumental Music
Dance
Court Festivities and Music
VI: The Seduction of All Senses
The Wedding of the Century
The Ephemeral War
Civic Pride and Private Ostentation
The Final Journey and Perpetual Memory
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Marina Belozerskaya received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is the author of several articles and books, including Rethinking the Renaissance: Burgundian Arts across Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and Ancient Greece: Art, Architecture, and History, with Kenneth Lapatin (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004).