A school of dolphins - Charles Avery

Dolphins have long featured in Western art as religious and political symbols, but never before has there been an art book devoted to these beautiful and intelligent animals until now. Published to celebrate the sixtieth Anniversary of the founding of Thames & Hudson for whom the dolphin has special significance this endearing little volume combines charm, intellectual scholarship and serious art history. The subject proves to be surprisingly rich and has been largely neglected by specialists in iconography, mythology, symbolism and art. The illustrations are equally various, showing dolphins not only inspiring artists over several millennia, but miraculously surviving almost unchanged from ancient Knossos to the Thames Embankment.