The Eye Of The Connoisseur

Attributing old master paintings is one of the most difficult tasks of the art historian. While authorship has important implications for the field of art history and for valuation, little has been written on the theory and techniques of the connoisseur's work. This volume analyzes the role of the expert's intuition along with efforts to develop scientific techniques. The author focuses on the challenges of attributing seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish art, then turns to investigating connoisseurship, arguing that to evaluate authenticity, it is necessary to understand what it meant when the paintings were created. Further discussions probe the understanding of an “original” versus a “copy” at a time when painters routinely produced multiple versions of a work; the meaning of “by the master's hand” when paintings were often produced with the help of assistants; and the significance of style when artists intentionally varied theirs depending on the subject matter or the audience.

“Lifting the veil on the shadowy world of art insiders, Costamagna delivers an entertaining reflection on the dealers, devotees, and decision makers.” —Town & Country Magazine It’s a rare and secret profession, comprising a few dozen people around the world equipped with a mysterious mixture of knowledge and innate sensibility. Summoned to Swiss bank vaults, Fifth Avenue apartments and Tokyo storerooms, they are entrusted by collectors, dealers and museums to decide if a coveted picture is real or fake and to determine if it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci or Raphael. The Eye brings to light the rarified world of connoisseurs devoted to the authentication and discovery of Old Master art works. This is an art adventure story and a memoir all in one, written by a leading expert on the Renaissance whose métier is a high-stakes detective game involving massive amounts of money and frenetic activity in the service of the art market and scholarship alike. It’s also an eloquent argument for the enduring value of visual creativity, told with passion, brilliance and surprising candor. “[A] rollicking and erudite tour of the art world . . . Costamagna’s candor and well-earned hubris make for an entertaining foray into the high-stakes art world.” —Publishers Weekly “As thrilling as a police novel.” —La Croix “An insider’s look at the dramatic world of attributing and dating art . . . This art world Sherlock Holmes travels the globe . . . Delightful.” —Introspective Magazine “One comes away feeling somewhat re-sensitized to beauty and somewhat nostalgic for an era when museums weren’t the selfie-stick madhouses they are today.” —The Washington Post

From sumptuous steaks and prime cuts to braises and savory stews, this guide is a carnivore’s delight. Gourmets will appreciate the book’s accurate and comprehensive information about when, where, and how to buy meat; how to tell if it’s fresh, and how to prepare, cook, carve, and serve meat to best advantage. From store to kitchen to table, this compendium fills in all the blanks about how to obtain fresh meat from humane and sustainable sources, identify cuts, and fillet and carve them, while offering up a rich trove of reliable recipes. A visual directory that showcases each cut and comments on flavor, preparation, and cost rounds out this indispensable culinary reference.

Spaces of Connoisseurship explores the ‘who’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of judging Old Master paintings in the nineteenth-century British art trade, via a comparison of family art dealers Thomas Agnew & Sons (“Agnew’s) and London’s National Gallery.

When his wife Judith hears the village gossip about a Scroop house, she is intrigued; but when a former employee is found dead in the lock of the disused canal, and the immense wealth of Scroop's contents is revealed, Appleby has a gripping investigation on his hands.