Italy Books

This is one of the most intelligent book I've ever read about art. It's simple, complete, full of original point-of-views. In asingle word: you can't miss it if you like the Art History!

An excellent examination of the role of art in Renaissance life, including the actual day to day workings of the artists, their roles in the society as a whole, and the role of art itself in the display of "Magnificence" of the respective ruling authorities of the various Italian states. I have run across no other book with this unique perspective. It also discusses the role of women and women artists, while recognizing the extreme limits set for women, both in the society and in the creation of art works. I regret not being able to contact the author directly to offer my respect and admiration for such a formidable and at the same time completely accessible work of scholarship.

This was one of the most amazing and informative books I have ever read in my life time! Steven Ostrow has beautiful writing skills and has made a major contribution to the field of art history! I compliment him on his great work! I know how hard he worked.


Love,
his daughter!

"The glory that was Rome" has become proverbial. But John R. Clarke, a professor of the history of art, argues that the monuments of that glory, like the Arch of Constantine and the portraits of emperors, are not the full story. There was other Roman art, like wall paintings and mosaics, which, especially if they were decorations in ordinary houses in Pompeii, were not previously regarded as art within art history. When Clarke first began studying Roman art, these were objects of study in the everyday life of Romans. This has changed, and "everyday" art of the Romans has become a respected target for academic study, not only for itself but for what it can tell us about the majority of Romans. In _Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans: Visual Representation and Non-Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C. - A.D. 315_ (University of California Press), Clarke lays out the importance of art made or commissioned by such lowly ones as slaves, former slaves, and freeborn workers. Emperors and the wealthy represented themselves in artwork carrying out official and prestigious practices that would demonstrate their importance. Non-elites tended more to want to depict ordinary acts, working, drinking, even brawling. It isn't surprising that the "unofficial" art could tell us more about daily Roman life.

Clarke does begin by discussing how non-elites viewed the official art of the emperors, and then proceeds to the art that non-elites produced. There are many examples here of art in domestic shrines, business-advertising, status boasting, and humor-provoking. Clarke speculates, for example, that a painting from Pompeii previously thought to depict a man selling bread is actually a man giving out a bread dole. There is no evidence of commerce; the receivers of the bread are exultant and do not themselves give up money. The painting comes from a small house, not that of an elite citizen. Clarke says that most likely this is the house of a baker who was prosperous, decided that at some point he would give bread away, and wanted to be depicted in his act of charity. Viewers of his painting would have been reminded of the event, and the baker's prestige would have risen. A completely different commemoration of a particular event is the painting from another house of a riot in the Pompeian amphitheater. This depicted a real event arising somehow from hooliganism during games between the home and visiting teams, an event that caused Rome to forbid all gladiatorial shows in Pompeii for ten years. The owner of the house went to the trouble of having an event that might be thought of as shameful commemorated on his walls. Clarke gives evidence, from the placement of the picture and the subject, that the owner was a gladiatorial fan, who honored the gladiators by putting on display a commemoration of a riot held in their honor, perhaps a riot in which he himself took a glorious part. Unlike the citizen who wanted people to remember the honorable act of giving out bread, the fan (and his buddies) liked remembering how the Roman social order could be disrupted.

Clarke's book is a serious academic tome, complete with scads of footnotes and a huge bibliography. It is, however, written in an engaging style. Clarke is careful to state when he is speculating from incomplete evidence, but even when he does speculate, the evidence is good, and his argument is convincing that art commissioned by these commoners is not a trickled-down version of the works of their betters, but something vibrant and significant to be appreciated on its own. The book is beautifully produced, on glossy paper with, as is fitting, many illustrations. The wealth of the patron, and the skill of the artist, may have put limits upon these works, but they show enormous creative breadth and, in Clarke's interpretations, surprising utility.

After visiting the Royal Collection on two occassions I wanted a good reference book. This is the best on the market! The profusely detailed colored photos throughout are nothing less than superior quality. The history of each painting is explained and a lot of information about the artist, their life, and style is also discussed in great detail. This is NOT a small book. It has proven to be invaluable in researching various art works. If you cannot make a trip to visit the italian paintings of Royal Collection in person, this book is mandated. I can honestly say, this book is a masterpiece.

This is an excellent publication, which will excite the layman and the student equally. The scholarship is superb and the illustrations are exquisite.
Included are both familiar and new items integrating architecture, painting and sculpture of this most exciting period of human creativity.
Probably for the first time in a single, general introductory publication we have a book that does justice to the arts of the period, in full colour. There is much to recommend in the book which without going into great depth provides up-to-date scholarship covering the entire period of the Italian Renaissance.
There is no other book available in English to match this work, and it maintains the quality of other Konemann publications covering the Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Neoclassical & Romantic Periods in European Art and Architecture.
Architects should be aware that while there are some building plans in the books they are not designed to be strict architectural books and serve only to generally introduce the buildings in their time and context.
Finally for such fine large format, full colour publications the prices are unbelievably economical. Buy them all if you have even passing interest in these eras of art, you will not regret it.

A find of gold! Not mentioned the well-researched writings, the illustrations, presented in big size, printed with high quality, definitely are the merits for this coffee-table sized book to serve as a pictorial reference for art of the Renaissance, especially, for the sculpture part. This high-quality volume is a bargain. It should be one of the collection on your book shelf if you find interest in classic works of art.

Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Early Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation influenced by Caravaggio. In an era when women painters were not easily accepted by the artistic community, she was the first female painter. This book is a research in Artemisia's life and though it is a little bit fictioned it does leave a footprint in your heart that few other books do. It describes the life in Italy of a woman in those ages, the struggle of an artist and a genius, the difficult relationship that often men have with their daughters from the dawn of time. Artemisia and her story will touch you deeply in your creativity and in your admiration for the women that did make the difference for many of us in History.

This book is, by far, one of the best I've personally seen or read, on the subject.

The author is quite versed in the Renaissance and its masters.

Printed in Italy, this is a lavish coffee table book, weighty and with thick glossy pages.
Written and extremely well researched by Doretta Davanzo Poli, it is in large, double-spaced type, making this history of Venice and its artisans a quick and easy read. It describes how the palaces and churches were built, the materials used, and how its famous glass making was developed.

It has classified the arts of Venice into four categories:
"Solid" (stone, tiles, wellheads and chimneys).
"Ductile" or "Malleable" (wood and metals).
"Fragile" (glass, ceramics, stucco).
"Soft" (silk, tapestries, lace, embroidery, leather).

This is a wonderful book to read and learn from, but it is the work of Mark E. Smith, who with few exceptions did most of the photography, that makes it so spectacular. His close-up views of marble and wood inlays, ornate jewelry, brocades and laces, often in 2 page spreads, are breathtaking.
An all-color, profusely illustrated book, it will educate as well as delight the eye with its luxurious beauty.