Italy Books

Over the years it's become, for me, a seaport, a personal point from which to leave for other seas and other cities, and afterwar come back to and leave again. A port; that's to say, a constituted place where specimen copies, finds and traces of more distant places fetch up. Images that are deposited in the memory like a substance the city knows how to retain and make its own, yet which it also knows how to reconstitute, metabolized, into other images to deck out the past and the present with, the near and the far, according to whim, to the beating of our hearts.
Modest finds of a contemporary archaeology. This city belongs to me and I to it, almost as if I were a particle floating within its enormous body. A constant need to know its corporeality obsesses me, a need to interpret its features and its hidden parts, but also its famous places and most known aspect over and over again. Between us there is a wide open landscape that affords us a constant interchange of perceptions, a particular point of view. At times I get the feeling it's suddenly revealing itself more fully to me, that it's telling me of its of its ostructions, its consistency and its material. The city uses me, inhabits me.
(Gabriele Basilico)

Photobooks of cities exist in all orders. But a book by Gabriello Basilico is something extraordinary. He takes pictures of city-scapes (buildings, streets, roads) in which nothing seems to happen than only the existing city. Hardly any people are seen. Only some parked cars, balconies, asphalt and the lines of concrete, windows, viaducts and lampposts for example. I think Basilico took his pictures mostly in the early hours of sunday morning. It is all disconsolate. A fine book with beautifull pictures of the urban planet. Recommended for photo lovers and readers who want to compare their own city with Sydney, Milano, Palermo, Rotterdam or Tokio. It looks as it all has been built by the same architect. I also recommend Basilico's newest book City Scapes, published by Thames and Hudson, which I hope is also soon to be had by Amazon.

Strikes a great balance between detail and readability,
unlike so many biographies whose goal seems to be to
impress the reader with the biographer's mastery of
arcane contemporary details rather than to communicate
knowledge about the principal subject.
Much better than the bio by Reston.

I actually enjoyed reading this text on who I consider, and deserves the title of, "the first scientist," He not only applied what is essentially the modern scientific method to his work, but fully understood what he was doing and laid down the ground rules clearly for others to follow. In addition, the work he did following those ground rules was of immense importance. In the late 16th century, there were others who met some of these critieria-but the ones who devoted their lives to what we now call science were often still stuck with a medieval mindset about the relevance of all or part of their work, philosophical significance of the new way of looking at the world were usually only part-time scientists and had little influence on the way others approached the investigagion of the world. It was Galileo who first wrapped everything up in one package. This text seems to wrap up everything quite nicely too in one package.
Highly recommended.

The Sacred Wood at Bomarzo, Italy is arguably the most puzzling and fascinating garden in all of Europe. Created in the mid-sixteenth century by Vincino Orsini, Lord of Bomarzo, as a tribute to his late beloved wife, Giulia, it lies in a wooded valley below the Orsini palace so that Vincino could look out upon his spectacular composition.

Many of us have visited and strolled the more formal gardens - the Farnese or Borghese. This, the Bosco dei Mostri (Monsters Wood) as it is also called, is a far cry from sculptured hedges and carefully laid out pathways. It is the home of enormous, often grotesque creatures - a two-faced herm, the Mask of Madness, and the Mouth of Hell. These denizens of the garden confound most, and it is left to Classic scholar Jessie Sheeler to explicate not only the statuary but also the carved texts accompanying them.

The garden is considered to be a reflection of Vincino's thinking, perhaps his search for meaning. Fortunately, many of his letters are still in existence, which give us an inkling of his ideas. We can read his comment to a friend, "I prefer living here among these woods to being immersed in the falsities and vanities of the courts, especially that of Rome."

While a precise account of who the man was is probably lost to us, his garden remains an incredible sight after having been restored some 25 years ago. Mark Edward Smith's photographs are stunning and The Garden At Bomarzo is both a treasure and a puzzle for both historians and garden enthusiasts.

- Gail Cooke

Bomarzo is a place in central Italy. The Lord of Bomarzo in the middle part of the 1500s was a Vincino with a wife named Giulia. Vincino lived a long time after his wife died. Though he displayed a sense of melancholy throughout the rest of his life and occasional periods of depression, this cannot be attributed solely to the untimely loss of his wife. For from the garden he founded and remained involved with during his life as well as what other sketchy biographical facts there are to go on, the Lord of Bomarzo had a rather gloomy soul; though one enlivened by intellectual curiosity about diverse interests of the Renaissance, including classical culture, mythology, alchemy, literature, and sculpture. The Garden at Bomarzo was not particularly a memorial to the Lord's departed wife, but rather something of a museum of sculptural representations of the Lord's varied intellectual interests.

A war elephant with its trunk curled around a soldier, a small classical theater, a temple, large stone acorn, the three-headed mythological dog Cerberus, and a dragon being attacked by lions are among the statuary of the Renaissance garden. The "riddle" of the garden is posed by inscriptions in Latin in prominent spots of many of the statutes. "The cave and the fountain free one from all serious thought" and "I want to tell you, and make you in amazement/purse your lips and raise your eyebrows" are two of these. Sheeler--who has a background in classics studies--does not solve the riddle, but to the extent possible makes sense of the garden's diverse objects and cryptic statements. The Renaissance-era personality of the Lord Vincino go a long way toward this explanation. "The ambivalences and the attractive intelligence in his own character find an expression in the variety and puzzling allusiveness of the [garden's] works...." The Lord was a respected soldier who also had leanings toward "Epicurean pacifism"; he sought out the company of his social superiors for intellectual stimulation while chaffing against the social conventions of the time; the balance between his sensuality and intellectuality shifted at different times of his life. The Lord of Bomarzo shows something of the modern spirit of individuality and independence arising in the Renaissance, while still referring to medieval symbolisms and beliefs for expressing itself. The many color photographs, several full-page and a couple double-page, of the moss-covering, in some cases partly deteriorated statutes of the Bomarzo garden are a treat in themselves of classical and baroque statuary.

Reading and collecting garden books has become a hobby of mine, and this is by far the best of my collection. The landscapes in this book have been refined over centuries, by both man and nature. I look at this book repeatedly, for enjoyment and for ideas in sketching landscape designs

Open this book and you'll enter a world of sun-kissed villas, exotic foliage, colorful orchards, shadowed walkways, and incredible views overlooking the water. The photography simply took my breath away! I must have looked through the book a half a dozen times before I even began to read the text. If you're planning to visit the area let this serve as an inspiration from the usual tourist traps. I've been to Naples several times but this visually stunning tome made me realize just how much I've missed. Can't wait to go back and explore those gorgeous gardens! This book is definitely a keeper!

Laurence Gartel is a man ahead of his times.!! Anyone owning one of his pieces has an investment in the future. This book is absolutly awe inspiring !! A must have for anyone with digital art interests !!!!

laurence gartel is a genius. i just love his work

When I first saw the cover and title for this book, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it. The illustrations did not remind me of Leonardo Da Vinci. I was ready to be disappointed. Instead, I was surprised when I found myself enjoying the book. I like the portrayal of Leonardo and his apprentice. The genius of the man is portrayed while still keeping him imperfect. Leonardo doesn't have answers for all of life's questions. Still, the book reminded me how fascinating math and science can be while reminding me why the Renaissance is such a fascinating time in history. All around, this is a wonderful book.

The illustrations by Bimba Landmann are amazing, making the book a work of art. The text is meaty, telling us a lot about Leonardo and his ideas (with direct quotes). Kids will relate to the mischievous character of Giacomo, Leonardo's 10-year-old assistant, who frequently annoys his famous boss. I would recommend this book for anyone age 6 to adult!

This is a very well researched book using the rich Genoese archives as well as material from other Italian collections. The subject, policy and power in Genoa, provides a good comparison with the more fully covered Venetian republic. It is a good contribution to the complex world of the Mediterranean in the Early Modern period.

There are many histories of Florence and Venice, but far fewer of Genoa. Genoa And The Sea: Policy And Power In An Early Modern Maritime Republic 1559-1684 is the story of one of Italy's great cities along the Mediterranean coast, and its transformation from a maritime republic into one of Europe's most crucial financial centers. When Spanish prosperity began to wane, Genoa, whose trade and prosperity had been closely linked with Spain, had to reinvent itself to continue its prosperity. A critical key to Genoa's success was a free-port policy that spurred trade and made it especially inviting to merchants. A thoroughly researched, scholarly scrutiny of a changing economic era as reflected in a bustling and complex metropolis.

P.N. Furbank writes that "Richard Dunn's title is well-chosen, for that extraordinary phenomenon 'The Berenson Circle' in Florence, is what gives his attractive book its plot and its meaning....{Dunn who] has access to the I Tatti achives, has told this story very skillfully, and with proper fairness and detachment."

Shelley Cox writes in the Library Journal that "Scott played a small but integral part in the British literary scene in the first years of this century. Introduced to the intelligentsia at an early age through his close friendship with the wife of renowned art historian Bernard Berenson, Scott left his most lasting trace as architect and garden designer of the Berensons' Italian villa, but he also published poems and a novel [actually a biography, the hjighly regarded Portrait of Zelide, recently reissued by Turtle Point Press) and began editing the complete papers of James Boswell. Dunn wisely concentrates on Scott's unpublished correspondence. Although Scott was a sad and flawed man, Dunn deftly defines his place and importance within the vibrant literary and artistic milieu of the early 20th Century."

This book is put together wonderfully to inform the reader of Gianni Versace's exotic, flamboyant and tragic life, as well as fill the book with pictures of Gianni Versace, models and his work of art in clothing.

this book is written by one of britains best tvhost and journalist. Lowri is the host of 'looking good'on the BBC and writes for British ELLE Magazine. Great book.

I just bought this book and I am amazed by the wonderful details you can see in the reproductions of some of the most important frescos by Giotto.
You can see details that you cannot appreciate neither if you go to see them in person.
The only thing is that the pictures of the frescos are taken before the restoration that the Scrovegni Chapel went through in recent years.

The color reproductions in this book of the frescoes in the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel in Padua depicting episodes in the life of Christ (and the Virgin Mary) are among the most, if not the most, beautiful I've ever seen. Printed on textured and translucent paper, the effect is to allow them to glow with astonishing freshness. The more enlarged reproductions not only allow one to examine the artist's technique, but to appreciate the full expressiveness of face and form. Very moving.