Delphi Classics Ltd: 53 books

Widely regarded as the greatest composer that ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven was the principal musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Dominating a period of musical history as no other composer before or since, Beethoven produced monumental works that...

The Polish composer Frédéric Chopin is widely revered today as one of the foremost figures of the Romantic period. Although he wrote almost exclusively for the piano, Chopin has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, celebrated for his melodic mastery and fastidious craftsmanship....

The greatest sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, Donatello produced both marble and bronze masterpieces. His revolutionary statues were lauded for their incredible realism, while he also developed his very own form of shallow bas-relief, known as ‘schiacciato’. Donatello possessed an extensive...

Today Berthe Morisot is recognised as the first lady of Impressionism, who left behind her an exceptional body of work, including oil paintings, pastels, watercolours, prints, sculptures and several hundred drawings. The only woman to join the "rejected" Impressionists in the first of their...

The operas of the German composer Richard Wagner had a revolutionary influence on the course of Western music. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his works. He went on to revolutionise the music form through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total...

Hokusai, the Japanese master artist and printmaker of the ukiyo-e school, produced a vast array of artworks, including single-sheet prints of landscapes and actors, hand paintings, individual surimonos, erotic books and many more. His famous print series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” marks...

The operas of the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi are among the greatest achievements of nineteenth century culture and remain at the heart of the opera repertory today. His extraordinary works took the opera world by storm, transforming and dominating the world of opera for over 30 years. Verdi modified...

The first great artist of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance, Masaccio would have an incredible impact on the course of Western art, in spite of his untimely death at the age of twenty-six. He is noted for his skill in imitating nature, recreating lifelike figures and his unprecedented...

The Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a monumental figure of the Romantic period, whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. Celebrated for his melodic ingenuity, impressive harmonies and colourful, picturesque orchestration, Tchaikovsky’s works evoke a...

This stunning eBook is a concise illustrated guide, evaluating the masterpieces that have changed the course of art as we know it. Whether an art novice or a cultivated connoisseur, this eBook offers you an intriguing overview of the world’s most famous and iconic artworks. Illustrated with over...

A pivotal figure of late nineteenth century theatre, the Swedish playwright, novelist and essayist August Strindberg produced over sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, often drawing directly on his personal experience. A bold experimenter of literary forms, he explored a wide range of...

The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was a statesman, diplomat, lawyer and architect. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was an advocate of democracy, republicanism and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from Britain and...

The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst. Freud developed therapeutic techniques including the use of free association and transference, establishing its central role...

The Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus was the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance, as well as the first editor of the New Testament. A classical scholar that wrote in a pure Latin style, Erasmus earned the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists". Using the philological methods pioneered...