Renaissance Books

This book is a delight. The secret of Danny Thomas's long career comes through in this fascinating book. He clearly loved and took great pride in his wonderful family, thoroughly enjoyed his career, was grateful to all those who helped him on his way, gave back to the community -- and of course, he knew how to tell a great story! The details of his early show business career were particularly interesting as was the story about the founding of St. Jude's hospital. I don't usually read celebrity biographies but this is a good account of a life well spent and I'm glad I happened to read it.

I found this book to be a great read, filled with wonderful information. It made me think of the compter age in a historical perspective giving me more insight into both the importance of Silicon Valley and the computer as well as the age of the internet. I highly recommend this book.

Making the English Canon: Print-Capitalism and the Cultural Past, 1700-1770

I am a history graduate student, and I am studying Rev. James Barclay (1747-1771) who is mentioned in connection with Shakespeare. There is little in print about him as he died at age 24, so I am grateful for a detailed discussion of the points that Barclay made. So I have used the book as a reference tool, not thoroughly read it all. Barclay wrote a critique of Kenrick, who in turn had critiqued Johnson's Shakespeare. Barclay was the first man to redefine the word "journalist" as we understand it--before that, it merely meant someone who kept a journal. He defended Johnson (someone, he said, who everyone knew) against the sniping of Kenrick (someone, nobody knew). His critique is deemed important, I think, because of the tension between the literary scholars of the day and the general mass of people who were beginning to read. What is good literature? How do you judge it against the Classics? Why should it enter the English Canon as a work that will last? So far, I have read some of the early chapters and that specific part about Barclay. It is heavy going for me because scholarly, not in my field, and I am not familiar with the subject; so I have to reread a lot as I go. It focusses on the works of Milton, Shakespeare, and Spenser. It would be easier to read for an English Literature major. I think it is a very important book, and I intend to persevere with reading it.

As an Albertist for over ten years now, please do accept my judgement on this book where it may be found. As publisher of the only Complete Works of Albertus Magnus, I was delighted to read this translated summary from Albert's Opera Omnia. Amazon is offering another work, much fuller in scope on the De Animalibus of Albert, but I have not read it yet. Still, that is probably a very good offering as well (as Father Wallace O.P., the fine Dominican Scholar, guided Ken Kitchell, editing author of the newer work).

Scholastically yours, al pinto - Albertus Magnus Publishers

Wow, almost 700 pages just on Mannerism, and in large paperback format, too. But for those with the stamina to stick it out, this considerable work has probably never been equalled.

Mannerism was a style known for its anti-classical elements, intellectual conceits, irrational and distorted space and bodily proportions, and irrational lighting, to name several of them. It was a fascinating period, and one worthy of the efforts of a scholar of Hauser's talents.

Famous for his multivolume A Social History of Art, this book concentrates on this important period which immediately succeeded the High Renaissance. Hauser depicts the period as a turbulent and dynamic one, rejecting the venerated and ideal harmonies of the Renaissance canon. But he also maintains that the apparent ubiquitousness and harmony of high Renaissance standards was just a temporary hiatus which only briefly contained and concealed disturbing forces beneath its highly polished surface, forces that would soon overthrow it. In that sense Mannerism, construed as "painting in the manner of Michelangelo," never existed.

Hauser is a great scholar, no doubt about it, and getting through this book is no mean feat. Obviously, if you're reading this review, you're probably an advanced student of art history, or maybe like me, a passionate amateur who just likes to read art history but who was educated in something else (psychology and applied math). And if you learn everything in this book, I suspect you could pass any class on it and perhaps even your doctoral orals if this is your specialty.

This is certainly a great book, and in my humble opinion might represent the zenith of scholarship on the subject, and my only reservation about it is more a matter of perspective or viewpoint. Hauser may be right that Mannerism was a complete rejection of Renaissance values and represents a revolution in the art of the time. However, there is the tendency, even for great scholars such as Hauser, to see greater differences in artistic ideas, styles, and methods than actually exists, because the human mind sees patterns and exaggerates and imposes them even where they don't exist. To me, Mannerism is clearly related to the High Renaissance even if there are obvious as well as more subtle differences.

And even if the period was truly revolutionary as Hauser says, one must remember that in the early Renaissance, Botticelli's art has been said to represent a crisis in art in several respects: a crisis in the artist's relationship to society, a crisis in his relationship to his subject matter, and a technical crisis in the representation of spatial relationships and the use of geometrical perspective. So in that sense every new period in art can be said in some sense to be "revolutionary." It makes for a dramatic thesis and presentation, but is it really the case?

However, there is no doubt that Mannerism, and later the Rococo and the other periods that succeeded it, produced great art that is different as well as similar to the great Renaissance masters. How that came about, and what those differences really signified, is the subject of this book. For Hauser, even great art can't be separated from its historical milieu, and he is a master at discovering and elucidating those connections. Whether one agrees with his main thesis about Mannerism or not, he's a great scholar and writer of art history and I learned a lot from this book.

Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages, and During the Renaissance Period

A wonderful work on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Period. Profusely illustrated Kindle edition. 5 stars ebook!

Marguerite de Navarre was one of the outstanding women of the French Renaissance. She was the eldest child of Louise of Savoy and sister to the future Francois 1 of France. Both were born minor Royals in the house of Valois and it seemed unlikely for many years that Francois would inherit the throne despite all his mother's scheming.

This biography is obviously the fruit of many years reseach. Its very detailed and literate and draws heavily on research done in France over the years on Marguerite. Unlike many women in her time Maguerite was an extremely literate woman who loved writing and this allows an insight into her character that is often missing in many biographies of women of this period.

This book is not a quick read as it also devles deeply into the meanings of Marguerite's litrature. This is an academic biography in the sense that it is well footnoted and sourced, but in English, this would be hard to beat for and indepth and interesting biography of this outstanding French royal. And to top it off the book is nicely bound and on acid free paper - so made to last.

THE GREAT REGENT: LOUISE OF SAVOY 1476-1531.

Queen of Navarre: Jeanne d'Albret, 1528-1572

Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I

No, women were far from powerless in Venice during the late Renaissance, and this book tells you how. This author had a field day in Venetian church archives. She was the first one to read transcripts of real cases in what then was the only "divorce" court. Graphic details make this an enjoyable -- and convincing -- read.
But Ferraro is also a first-rate historian, and presents strong evidence that women of high and low classes did use this church court to get either an annulment (which allowed them to re-marry) or "separate bed and board" which at least allowed them to get away from an abusive spouse.
This book is a pioneering study and should appeal not only to historians, but to sociologists, psychologists, and to any literate person interested in peering into a previously hidden corner of the past.

Martin Luther: A Brief Introduction To His Life And Works by Paul R. Waibel (Professor of History, Belhaven College), is an impressive and succinct treatise on the courage and accomplishments of Martin Luther who defied Rome and sought to establish a reformed Christianity in both doctrine and practice. Guiding readers through Luther's influence and timely contributions to the Christian church, Biography and author Professor Waibel deftly delves into the remarkable persistence, substantial successes, ideas and idealism of Martin Luther's challenges to Roman Catholic excesses. Martin Luther is very strongly recommended for all students of Christian religion and history in general, and the Lutheran Church in particular, for its complete and thorough documentation of one man's relentless, tenacious, articulate passion for Protestant reforms.

The more spectacular creative adventurers among the vast throngs of human history are recognised with a single name. Masaccio by Spike is a sumptious presentation of the work of two such explorers. Masaccio was a fresco painter in 15th century Florence whose Bible illustrations have been cherished and protected to this day. Spike is an art historian whose erudition is made readable by his genuine admiration of and empathy for the artist Masaccio.

For example, the scholar wading through Spike's preface is rewarded by archipelagos like the following heartwarming conclusion: "Investigations into subject matter can only proceed deeper and deeper into the hidden recesses of the human heart and mind. For this reason, we prefer to study the works of geniuses." (italics added) If Masaccio were alive and working today, certainly he would derive quite a bit of enjoyment from oblique compliments like that! And even Leonardo would have to laugh when he encountered the following notion from the preface: "The stylistic development between the earliest and the latest works (a span of only seven and a half years) is unprecedented and astonishing. Compared to Masaccio, Leonardo da Vinci was a stick-in-the-mud." (italics added)

The beauty of this literary paen to an artist centuries in his grave reflects the incredible power of Masaccio's few paintings to distinguish themselves above excellence. Luxurious color photographs allow lavish attention to details of the frescoes, most notably at the Brancacci Chapel. Black and white photographs in the catalog of Masaccio' known works accompany the provenances and physical details. A section of Comparative Illustrations adds bonus value to this outstanding reference. Page after page of wonderfully intriguing paintings and fragments by contemporaries of Masaccio give the reader a deeper understanding. Then, surprisingly, the book ends with a bibliography and index, etc.

Dr John T Spike is author of numerous volumes like this one, and was Director of the 1999 Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy. His activities also include contemporary art criticism.