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A Brief History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa 
by Piero Pierotti (Author), Pacini (Editor), Gary Feuerstein (Translator
and Illustrator)
This book is a history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, written by Piero Pierotti, a professor of Art and
Architectural history at the University of Pisa. Prof. Pierotti has spent a good portion of his career documenting
the history and enriching the meaning of the Tower relative to contemporary issues. With permission of the
author and publisher, the book has now been translated from the Italian, and is ready for publication. It
is about 26,500 words, includes 40 images, graphics and details of the tower.
This history covers the 830 years since the initiation of construction in 1173. It resolves the question of
the Architect, expands the meaning and architectural context of the Tower, develops the circumstances the
led to the absurdity of the lean, and elaborates on the foibles surrounding the efforts to correct the lean,
including a blunder in 1995 under the supervision of a team of world renowned experts that very nearly toppled
the fragile structure. The professor also provides first-hand insight into the events leading to the close
of the Tower in 1990, its turbulent recovery over an 11 year period, and the events and characters that contributed
to the success of the corrective measures to save the Tower.
This history is written by one who is uniquely qualified to interpret the importance
of the Tower historically, architecturally, and culturally on both a local and international level. This is
the professor‘s second
book on the Tower, the first one having been How Not To Save the Tower?, which set the tone for a decade
of ultimately successful renovation.
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How To Read Buildings: A Crash
Course in Architectural Styles
by Carol Davidson Craqoe
This
practical primer is a handbook for decoding a building’s style, history, and evolution. Every building
contains clues embedded in its design that identify not only its architectural style but also the story of
who designed it, who it was built for, and why. Organized by architectural element (roofs, doors, windows,
columns, domes, towers, arches, etc.), the book is roughly chronological within each section, examining the
elements across history, through different architectural styles, and by geographical distribution. Additional
chapters offer overviews of how architecture has been affected by geography, history, and religion, along
with an illustrated timeline of architectural elements. Also included is a chapter on applied ornament and
a handy introduction to naming each part of a building. All entries are accompanied by examples in the forms
of period engravings, line drawings, and pictures. The extended captions make the book invaluable for anyone
who has ever pondered the meaning or importance of a hipped roof, rounded doorway, or classical pediment.
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Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples: A Wonderful Journey Through History and Art of the Four Pearls of Italy
by Bonechi Books
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Il Gigante: Michelangelo, Florence, and the David 1492--1504
by Anton Gill
At the turn of the 16th century, Italy was a turbulent territory made up of independent
states, each at war with or intriguing against its neighbor. There were the
proud, cultivated, and degenerate Sforzas in Milan, and in Rome, the corrupt
Spanish family of the Borgia whose head, Rodrigo, ascended to St Peter's throne
as Pope Alexander VI. In Florence, a golden age of culture and sophistication
ended with the death of the greatest of the Medici family, Lorenzo the Magnificent,
giving way to an era of uncertainty, cruelty, and religious fundamentalism.
In the midst of this turmoil, there existed the greatest concentration of artists that Europe has ever known. Influenced by the rediscovery of the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, artists and thinkers such as Botticelli and da Vinci threw off the shackles of the Middle Ages to produce one of the most creative periods in history - the Renaissance.
This is the story of twelve years when war, plague, famine, and chaos made their mark on a volatile Italy, and when a young, erratic genius, Michelangelo Buonarroti, made his first great statue - the David. It was to become a symbol not only of the independence and defiance of the city of Florence but also of the tortured soul who created it. This is a wonderful history of the artist, his times, and one of his most magnificent works.
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The Renaissance Artist at Work: From Pisano to Titian (Icon Editions Ser.)
by Bruce Cole
This book gives the necessary background for the study and appreciation of Italian painting and sculpture from about 1250 to 1550. It tells how the artists learned their craft, the organization of their workshops, and the guilds they belonged to; how their customers or patrons treated them and where their work was displayed-churches, civic buildings, or private homes. The book discusses how art was made-tempera, oil, panel, canvas, fresco; it surveys the characteristic types of Renaissance art-altarpieces, portraits, tombs, busts, doors fountains, medals, etc.
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Luca Signorelli: The San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto (Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance)
by Jonathan Riess
A major monument, Luca Signorelli's Orvieto Cathedral frescoes rendered with vigor and invective the most ambitious consideration of the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment in Italian Renaissance art. In a fresh interpretation of these frescoes, Jonathan Riess explores the intriguing, violent style and complex iconography and places the works in their richly faceted historical setting. Begun by Fra Angelico in 1447 and completed by Signorelli at the turn of the century, the frescoes reflect the turmoil within the Papal States, the suffering brought on by a surge of natural disasters, the fear of the Turks, and the anti-Judaic campaigns of the day. The book centers on the mural depicting the Rule of Antichrist, the single monumental portrayal of the subject during the Renaissance and a revealing indicator of widespread apocalyptic obsessions. Drawing on historical, theological, literary, and artistic sources, Riess examines the reasons behind the commissioning of the murals and considers the broad meaning of the program. The Rule of Antichrist, for example, is seen as a summa of the doom-laden worlds of Rome and Orvieto and as a blistering condemnation of the political realm. Signorelli's references to Dante, Virgil, and Cicero and to contemporary theology and dramatic performances come into play as Riess interprets the monument as a representation of the struggle between a penitential Christianity and the forces of heresy and tyranny.
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence
by Thomas P. Campbell, Bruce White (Photographer)
Often slighted by art historians, tapestries were actually the most widely commissioned figurative art form in Europe in the 1500s. In Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence, Thomas P. Campbell and other scholarly contributors survey the elaborate woven hangings produced primarily by Flemish workshops for the palaces and cathedrals of Italy and Northern Europe. The authors discuss the designers' careers, patrons' motives, symbolic meanings of the imagery, and stylistic features unique to the labor-intensive medium. Initially, the need to lessen skilled weavers' workloads led designers to arrange elaborately costumed figures in manageable rows. Raphael's cartoons (full-size drawings) for the monumental "Acts of the Apostles" tapestries, commissioned by Pope Leo X, moved the art form into a new era. Flemish designers incorporated Raphael's spatially persuasive treatment of the figure into sophisticated narratives full of anecdotal detail. The 250 color photographs, specially commissioned for this catalog for an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in spring 2002, vividly illuminate the technical brilliance of these works.
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History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture:
Slipcased
by Frederick Hartt
The new edition of eminent art historian Hartt's work, first published in 1969, was scheduled before his death in 1991. It is not an extensive revision, the goal being to retain Hartt's clear and distinctive voice and his selection of works. New photographs have been substituted when works have been restored, and color-plate portfolios of Renaissance art in context and of Michelangelo's restored Sistine Ceiling have been added. Because location was such an important consideration in the design of Renaissance works of art, paintings and sculptures that are still in their original settings are indicated with a symbol in the caption. Other changes are improved indexing, identification of patrons, and somewhat tightened text.
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Symbols and Allegories in Art (Guide to Imagery Series)
by Matthilde Battistini
From
antiquity, when the gods and goddesses were commonly featured in works of art, through to the 20th century,
when Surrealists drew on archetypes from the unconscious, artists have embedded symbols in their works. The
goal of this sixth volume of the Getty's superb Guide to Imagery series is to provide contemporary readers
and museum visitors with the tools to read the hidden meanings in works of art. The book does not disappoint,
following a winning formula to satisfying results. Like its predecessors, the book lushly reproduces masterworks
and breaks them down into their component parts, explaining the meanings attached to each in helpful marginal
text. This latest volume is divided thematically into four sections featuring symbols related to time, man,
space (earth and sky), and allegories or moral lessons. Readers will learn, for instance, that night, the
primordial mother of the cosmos, was often portrayed in ancient art as a woman wrapped in a black veil, whereas
day or noon was often represented in Renaissance art as a strong, virile man evoking the full manifestation
of the sun's energy. Each entry in the book contains a main
reference image in which details of the symbol or allegory being analyzed are called out for discussion. In
the margin, for quick access by the reader, is a summary of the essential characteristics of the symbol in
question, the derivation of its name, and the religious tradition from which it springs.
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The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World
by Paul Robert Walker
The author of 20 books on subjects ranging from the Italian Renaissance to the American West, Walker here pairs off proto-architect Filippo Brunelleschi and doormaker Lorenzo Ghiberti in an often engaging version of Quattrocento Smackdown. Pitting the two masters against each other in the competition for the sculpted bronze doors of the baptistery, Walker re-creates the intrigues of 15th-century Florence as the young, possibly illegitimate Ghiberti walks away with the lucrative commission and creates one of the Western world's great pieces of art. Spurred by his loss to Ghiberti, Brunelleschi goes on to greater fame and even greater fortune as the architect of the dome for Florence's cathedral (and rediscovers linear perspective in his spare time). Though Brunelleschi and Ghiberti share billing in the title, Walker is clearly more enamored of the former, and the bulk of the story is his. Using an estimable cache of documentary materials and a supporting cast that includes the sculptor Donatello and the painter Masaccio, Walker makes a fine circumstantial case for an artistic feud. Whether such a "feud" really existed will never be known. Recommended for public libraries and young adult collections.
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The Bishop's Palace: Architecture and Authority in Medieval Italy
by Maureen C. Miller
This lavishly illustrated book looks at the art and architecture of episcopal palaces as expressions of power and ideology. Tracing the history of the bishop's residence in the urban centers of northern Italy over the Middle Ages, Maureen C. Miller asks why this once rudimentary and highly fortified structure called a domus became a complex and elegant "palace" (palatium) by the late twelfth century.
Miller argues that the change reflects both the emergence of a distinct clerical culture and the attempts of bishops to maintain authority in public life. She relates both to the Gregorian reform movement, which set new standards for clerical deportment and at the same time undercut episcopal claims to secular power. As bishops lost temporal authority in their cities to emerging communal governments, they compensated architecturally and competed with the communes for visual and spatial dominance in the urban center. This rivalry left indelible marks on the layout and character of Italian cities.
Moreover, Miller contends, this struggle for power had highly significant, but mixed, results for western Christianity. On the one hand, as bishops lost direct governing authority in their cities, they devised ways to retain status, influence, and power through cultural practices. This response to loss was highly creative. On the other hand, their loss of secular control led bishops to emphasize their spiritual powers and to use them to obtain temporal ends. The coercive use of spiritual authority contributed to the emergence of a "persecuting society" in the central Middle Ages.
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Art and Life in Renaissance Venice
by Patricia Fortini Brown
What was Venice like during the Renaissance, at the height of its power? How did the city look, and how did its citizens live? And just who were the people of this most cosmopolitan republic, a leading port city of Europe and gateway to Byzantium and the Muslim Levant? How did its splendid art differ from that of mainland Italy, and why? Through close examination of Renaissance paintings, drawings, book illustrations, and other art works, Patricia Fortini Brown brings this world alive, revealing a culture of high beauty, artifice, and craftsmanship.
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Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
by Ross King
Filippo Brunelleschi's design for the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence remains one of the most towering achievements of Renaissance architecture. Completed in 1436, the dome remains a remarkable feat of design and engineering. Its span of more than 140 feet exceeds St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome, and even outdoes the Capitol in Washington, D.C., making it the largest dome ever constructed using bricks and mortar. The story of its creation and its brilliant but "hot-tempered" creator is told in Ross King's delightful Brunelleschi's Dome.
Both dome and architect offer King plenty of rich material. The story of the dome goes back to 1296, when work began on the cathedral, but it was only in 1420, when Brunelleschi won a competition over his bitter rival Lorenzo Ghiberti to design the daunting cupola, that work began in earnest. King weaves an engrossing tale from the political intrigue, personal jealousies, dramatic setbacks, and sheer inventive brilliance that led to the paranoid Filippo," who was so proud of his inventions and so fearful of plagiarism," finally seeing his dome completed only months before his death. King argues that it was Brunelleschi's improvised brilliance in solving the problem of suspending the enormous cupola in bricks and mortar (painstakingly detailed with precise illustrations) that led him to "succeed in performing an engineering feat whose structural daring was without parallel." He tells a compelling, informed story, ranging from discussions of the construction of the bricks, mortar, and marble that made up the dome, to its subsequent use as a scientific instrument by the Florentine astronomer Paolo Toscanelli.
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Rome Is Love Spelled Backward (Roma Amor): Enjoying Art and Architecture in the Eternal City
by Judith Testa
EEmperor Hadrian is credited for pairing the patron goddess, Roma, with the long-worshiped love deity, Venus, thus creating the palindrome Romamor, which gives this unusual and worthy guidebook its name. In five chronologically arranged sections (Ancient Rome, Early Christian and Medieval Rome, Late Medieval and Renaissance Rome, Baroque Rome and Modern Rome), Northern Illinois University art history professor Testa covers the city's art and architecture with insight, sensitivity and scholarly perspective rarely found in travel manuals. Many chapters are devoted to a single monument: S. Maria Sopra Minerva, the Trevi Fountain, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Colosseum. Others are on larger themes, such as the building programs of Sixtus V or those of Mussolini. Everything is presented in welcome detail with background information for fuller understanding of the sites that surround a visitor to the Eternal City. Anyone interested in the classic arts will learn something from Testa's text, whether it's the reason the Pantheon was built, the source of the Christian and Jewish catacombs, or the roles that Caravaggio and Bernini played in creating a baroque Rome. With 50 photos, narrative text and no information on shops, restaurants, or hotels, it's a guidebook for sophisticated travelers who already know where to stay, but want more than a sentence on what they're seeing.
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art
by Richard Turner
Turner's (arts and humanities, New York Univ.) introduction to early Renaissance Florence neatly articulates the economic, political, and religious milieu of the city's artistic efflorescence. Within that context, he artfully limns an image of the expanding urban fabric of the 14th and 15th centuries. Besides evoking the problems of artistic function, patronage, and the training and professional life of the artist, the author articulates the intricate stylistic byways that mark the onset of the new Renaissance approach in sculpture, architecture, and painting, including a survey of the interior decoration of monasteries and homes and a contextual overview of some of the key monuments of the later 15th century. While unsurprising in its approach and conclusions, this carefully etched work is more than adequate as a primer to the study of the early Renaissance in Florence.
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Giacomo Serpotta and the Stuccatori of Palermo, 1560-1790 (Zwemmer Studies in Architecture, Vol 21)
by Donald Garstang, David Garstang, Alastair Laing (Editor), John Harris
(Editor)
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Genesis of Noto: An Eighteenth Century Sicilian City (Studies in
Architecture, Vol 21)
by Stephen Tobriner
Described as the perfect Baroque city, the southeastern Sicilian city of Noto was totally destroyed by an earthquake in 1693 and then rebuilt by ambitious citizens eager to match Italian achievements. The Genesis of Noto traces the complex history of Noto's foundation and growth as a grid- planned Renaissance-Baroque utopia.
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In the Footsteps of the Popes: A Spirited Guide to the Treasures of the Vatican
by Enrico Bruschini
In
a tiny enclave in the heart of Rome lies the administrative and spiritual capital
of Roman Catholicism, and the world's smallest independent state. Within its
walls, during the course of the past fifteen hundred years, successive popes
have commissioned and assembled an extraordinary collection of artistic works.
Now Professor Enrico Bruschini, the eminent Vatican City expert and former fine art curator of the American embassy, takes readers inside the magnificent galleries and museums of the Vatican with a personal tour through its sacred halls. Drawing on his vast knowledge, Bruschini vividly brings to life works by Raphael, da Vinci, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and many other artisans while sharing interesting curiosities about the artists, their art, and the historical context in which they worked. These intimate descriptions allow Bruschini to illuminate both the artistic importance of the featured works and their cultural significance as he explains the profound impact they have made on Western civilization for nearly two millennia. In addition, Bruschini's unprecedented access to areas rarely open to the public allows him to offer a unique, behind-the-scenes tour of the Vatican revealing its most intimate secrets and treasures.
With rare photographs from the Vatican archives and helpful maps to aid future pilgrims in planning the perfect itinerary, In the Footsteps of Popes is an enticing book for Italian enthusiasts as well as armchair travelers to savor -- Bruschini offers an absolutely extraordinary Vatican tour that is not to be missed!
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics
of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope
Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with
his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to
restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting
the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor
and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along
with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo
was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and
talented young painter Raphael.
Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex
historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel
ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling's panels. King
provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating
historical tale.
by Ross King
Almost
500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered
one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope's
Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the
drama of a modern-day soap opera.
The restoration of Michelangelo's magnificent frescoes in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel stirred up much controversy and debate among scholars, art historians, and art lovers alike. Originally painted in the late 15th century, it took restorers 14 painstaking years (from 1981 to 1995) to remove the centuries' worth of dust and decay that had obscured the frescoes' brilliant colors and intricate designs. In 250 gorgeous full-color photographs, this unique and beautiful volume presents Michelangelo's restored chapel--perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Renaissance art--in its entirety, from the Creation to the Last Judgment, both before and after cleaning. The only definitive study of the restoration process, this book is the next best thing to actually being there.
(Click here for an excerpt, as well as price and order information)
Michelangelo: The Medici Chapel
by Antonio Paolucci, Bruno Santi, James H. Beck, Aurelio Amendola (Photographer)
UUnlike the recent cleaning of Michelangelo's other masterworks, the restoration of his Medici chapel has engendered little controversy and has not required a profound rethinking of its essential character. Nevertheless, Amendola's excellent corpus of more than 200 black-and-white photographs of the refreshened structure and its sculptural contents are an appreciable contribution to our better apprehension of this masterpiece. Particularly noteworthy is the photographer's ability to conjoin the documentary requirements of his task with the imaginative perspective of an artist. Beck provides a sound but summary overview of the project's history and an agnostic apercu of the problem of its iconographic program. And Bruno Santi succinctly articulates the more purely formal aspects of the structure and its contents. Recommended for collections serving an informed art-loving public.
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The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
by Irving Stone
Amazon reader's review: "I must first say that I was very skeptical when I first started reading this book (having seem the movie and loving it, I was afraid that it would be poorly written); however, The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone turned out be a real gem. In fact, I wish that more modern authors could write with the eloquence that Mr. Stone shows thought this book. The book itself can be said to easy to read and its descriptions are so vivid and alive that one could have thought that one had known or been acquainted with all of these characters in previous life. Irving Stone also makes the reader experience the wild mood swings that Michelangelo experiences during the creation of his pieces and one truly understands the title of the book since Michangelo's life was truly filled with Agony and the Ecstasy."
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Michelangelo (Essentials)
by Klaus Ottmann
Michelangelo Buonarroti was the foremost sculptor of the Italian Renaissance and one of the leading painters of his time. His works are some of the best known in the world, from his marble David to his paintings of the Sistine Chapel. Sought after by the rich and powerful, he became a legend of his own making long before his death in 1564. The Essential(tm) Michelangelo is the book to read if you have zero tolerance for artspeak and a lively curiosity about what has made this artist so popular.
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Caravaggio: The Art of Realism
by John Varriano
Nominated and short-listed for the 2005 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.
Born Michelangelo Merisi, as an adult the artist became known by the name of his birthplace, Caravaggio (1571-1610),
he was the most revolutionary artist of the Italian Baroque. Consistently emphasizing the humanity of his
religious subjects, he established a new way of painting. The intensity of his chiaroscuro style is matched only
by the drama of his life. Outlaw, heretic, murderer, and sensualist were a few of the charges brought against
him by his contemporaries.
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In an engaging and informed text, John T. Spike explores in detail Caravaggio's scandalous life and provocative work. Placing Caravaggio within the broad panorama of society and ideas at the turn of the 17th century, the author sets a richly detailed stage for an artist who has been called "the first modern painter." Caravaggio (1571-1610) reflected in his canvases his own desires and spiritual crises to an extent no one ever had imagined possible, and he shocked his contemporaries by portraying the saints and virgins of Christianity with the faces and bodies of his companions and lovers in Rome's demimonde.
Accompanying the book is a critical catalog on CD-ROM in which all of Caravaggio's extant paintings, as well as lost and rejected works, are thoroughly described. Each entry specifies the work's medium, dimensions, location, and provenance, and provides an annotated bibliography of sources. Most of the entries conclude with a brief technical analysis. Much of this scientific data, of prime importance for attribution and dating, has not previously been published.
With its fresh insights, as well as judicious readings of the documents and the physical evidence of the paintings themselves, Caravaggio is the most thorough study on the artist to date, and it will no doubt remain a definitive monograph for many years to come.
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Titian and Venetian Painting, 1450-1590 (Icon Editions)
This book is an elegant and engaging introduction to Titian; it is full of fascinating information and observations not only about Titian but about his times. Cole's explanations of Titian's great works are lucid, sensible, and accessible to general readers and scholars alike. Definitely worth a close look. It is beautifully printed with luscious reproductions. Those in color are reproduced with great fidelity."
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Raphael's 'School of Athens'
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Giotto: The Founder of Renaissance Art--His Life in Paintings
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Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi
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The Passion of Artemisia
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Artemisia (European Women Writers)
The reissue, in translation, of Italian art historian Banti's imaginative recreation of the life of artist Artemisia Gentileschi (1590-1642), initially published in 1947, is well deserved. This sensitive work of psychological portraiture, fluently translated by Caracciolo, is an intricate, self-reflective work of art. Banti fuses Artemisia's life with her own in Nazi-occupied Italy in a richly complex, historical narrative present, entering into dialogues with her heroine on how best to present her life, and on the nature and limitations of biography. As an unhappy adolescent in Rome, starved for love from her aloof father Orazio, a prominent artist, Artemisia allows herself to be seduced and is publicly humiliated for losing her "virtue." Hastily married off for form's sake, she is removed by the contemptuous Orazio to Florence where she begins to establish herself as a painter. Later, she assumes married life in Rome, but her husband abandons her when she asserts herself professionally. Eventually, Artemisia achieves independent success before she goes to her dying father's side where her art earns her his longed-for respect and approbation. Artemisia's struggle to fulfill herself, ensnared as she was in the toils of patriarchy with its punitive double standards, is a powerful lesson in courage and the sustaining powers of a vocation. Banti's richly poetical, wonderfully idiosyncratic prose amply rewards the attentive reader.
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Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art: Critical Reading and
Catalogue Raisonne
One of the most memorable creative personalities of the Baroque age and arguably the most forcefully expressive and influential woman painter in history, the Roman-born Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652/3) has become the central figure in the recovery of the history of art produced by women. Applying a rigorous methodology, this profusely illustrated study with interpretative text and catalogue raisonné embeds Gentileschi's pictorially and emotionally compelling pictures within the actual sociocultural contexts in and for which they were created.
The interpretive text analyzes key pictures and primary literary evidence to reveal the sweep of Artemisia's oeuvre, chart her travels, define her standing with artists and patrons of the period, investigate the links between her financial situations and the artistic decisions that she made, and assess the validity of proposals regarding her activity as a still-life painter, her access to professional organizations, her level of literacy, and the nature of her subject matter. Exploring the question of the interrelationships among Gentileschi 's gender and experiences as a woman, the state of her psyche, and her art, the text also confronts-and often challenges-the widely embraced feminist interpretation of her pictures.
Many of the conclusions in the text are supported by an extensive register of archival documents and by the very core of the study: the first and only catalogue raisonné of Artemisia's autograph works, each of the fifty-seven pictures exhaustively investigated as to basic factual information, condition and color, iconography, history, documentation and dating, existing copies, and bibliography. Catalogues of misattribued and lost paintings complete this comprehensive volume.
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Artemisia Gentileschi around 1622: The Shaping and Reshaping of an Artistic Identity (The Discovery Series)
Mary D. Garrard, author of the acclaimed Artemisia Gentileschi, furthers her study of the seventeenth-century artist in this groundbreaking investigation of two little-known paintings. Taking as case studies the Seville Mary Magdalene and the Burghley House Susanna and the Elders, paintings of circa 1621-22 attributed to Artemisia, Garrard examines the ways that identity, gender, and market pressures interact both in the artist's work and in the criticism and connoisseurship that have surrounded it.
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Artemisia: A Novel
Born in Rome to the artist Orazio Gentileschi and his wife Prudenzia, Artemisia's life was turned upside down after the death of her mother. Orazio jealously guarded his only daughter, refusing her outside contact even as he taught her the subtleties of painting. At 17, Artemisia, already a skilled artist, was facing a life of spinsterhood as her father's prisoner. Yet the Gentileschi household was full of the comings and goings of artists whose shifting allegiances were as complex as the politics of the time. When Orazio's friend, arrogant trompe l'oeil master Agostino Tassi, set his sights on young Artemisia, her refusals only stoked his passion. What followed was rape. Tassi kept her quiet through promises of marriage; when marriage was not forthcoming, Tassi found himself in court.
Even under torture, Artemisia's statement never wavered, and eventually Tassi was convicted. The mild sentence scarcely harmed him, yet the experience had a lasting effect on his victim. Touched by scandal, Artemisia was able to marry an inferior painter only by virtue of a substantial dowry. Through an unhappy marriage, the deaths of her first children, and the lives of her daughters, however, she continued to paint, eventually gaining considerable acclaim. Interestingly enough, given her experiences, her paintings of religious allegory often portrayed women in illustrations of strength and dominance. If her depiction of Judith violently decapitating Holofernes elicited the Grand Duchess's repulsion, the Grand Duke Cosimo II was riveted. Others in the room saw the allusion to the artist's own past: "'This face, so close to death, brings someone to mind,' the secretary, Andrea Cioli, interjected insidiously. 'A painter, your Highness...'"
Artemisia blends storytelling and careful detail in a complex rendering that will particularly appeal to readers with an interest in either Baroque art or Italian history. Color plates illustrate the haunting quality of Artemisia's work, and the end notes make clear which portions derive from documentation and which are fictional strokes of color. The uninitiated may have a difficult time unraveling the intricacies of characters and politics, perhaps because Lapierre is more at home with scholarship than with fiction. Worse, her breathless prose sometimes tries too hard, even while doing little to reveal her characters' inner worlds. In the end, it's both the compelling quality of Artemisia's story and the lushness of Lapierre's supporting detail that hold this unusual book together.
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From Audio File: Enter the sixteenth-century world of Italy and the Vatican, where Cellini, a master goldsmith and sculptor, lived and flourished. Whitfield brings Cellini's autobiography to life, fluently rolling Italian and English words off his tongue and capturing the flavor of the tale. Cellini tells of his adventures, his encounters with DaVinci and Michelangelo, the Medicis and other famous people of his era. The minute details recounted by Cellini are gracefully read by Whitfield, who breathes life into this fascinating autobiography.
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For the first time nearly every extant work by Caravaggio is reproduced in color in this lavish new volume, the long-awaited result of more than 20 years of research by a leading authority on the artist.
by Bruce Cole
Amazon reader's review: "Bruce Cole, the respected historian of Renaissance Italian art, has brought forth yet another highly compelling book, this time illuminating the achievements of the great Venetian painter, Titian. Cole, author of more than 10 books and a connoisseur of the highest order, offers clear and interesting commentary on the style of one of the masters of the Italian Renaissance. By placing Titian in the general context of Western art and the specific context of the golden age of Venetian painting, Cole makes Titian's achievements shine through his discussions of Titian's portraits, religious paintings and nudes. He shows how Venetian style differs from that in other parts of Italy, especially Florence, and how it grew and developed in its distinctive way. Cole explores Titian's contributions to portraiture, his sophisticated use of mythology, the question of drawing in Venetian painting, Titian's use of color, and the artists he influenced.
by Marcia Hall (Editor)
This book examines one of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance and the artist's best known work. Commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate the walls of his private library, Raphael's fresco 'School of Athens' represents the gathering of the philosophers of the ancient world around the central figures of Plato and Aristotle. Presented in this volume is the early criticism of the fresco, by Bellori and Wolfflin, along with new interpretations, published in this volume for the first time, of its iconography in relation to the other frescoes in the Stanza and in the context of the humanism and rhetorical tradition of the papal court; analysis of Raphael's groundbreaking use of light and color; and an inquiry into the role of Bramante and antique architecture in Raphael's design.
by Giotto, Susannah Steel
The artist who influence the whole of the Italian Renaissance, of whom Vasari wrote "Giotto restored the link between art and nature." The DK ArtBook series presents both the life and works of each artist within the cultural, social, and political context of their time. To make the books easy to consult, they are divided into three areas -- the life and works of the artist, historical and cultural background, and analysis of major works -- which are identifiable by side bands. Each spread focuses on a specific theme, with an introductory text and several annotated illustrations. Few art history texts contain such abundance of full-color illustrations. The index section is also illustrated and gives background information on key figures and the location of the artist's works.
by Keith Christiansen, Orazio Gentileschi
This book, which accompanied an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and traveling both to the St. Louis Art Museum and to the Museo di Palazzo di Venezia in Rome, is the first to examine in one volume both Orazio and Artemesia Gentileschi, father-and-daughter artists of 17th-century Italy. The catalog demonstrates that Orazio Gentileschi follows the Caravaggesque practice of painting from the model, which Artemesia in turn absorbed into her own painting methods. At the same time, curator Christiansen concludes that Orazio painted much more in the elegant style of classical painting in France and never accepted the Baroque idioms of drama and expressiveness that his daughter Artemesia wholeheartedly embraced in her painting. Also discussed in this catalog is the feminist aspect of Artemesia's position as a talented woman artist, the possibility that she was the model for her own "Susanna and the Elders" early in her career, and how her social environment and opportunities as a woman artist changed dramatically after her marriage and her move from Rome to Florence. This catalog also includes excellent color reproductions and previously unpublished documents relating to the trial of Orazio's colleague, Agostino Tassi, for raping Artemesia. The scholarly literature on these artists should be advanced considerably by this extremely comprehensive volume. Enthusiastically recommended for all libraries that support programs in art and art history.
by Susan Vreeland
Like her bestselling debut, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland's second novel, The Passion of Artemisia, traces a particular painting through time: in this case, the post-Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi's violent masterpiece, "Judith." Although the novel purports to cover the life of the painter, the painting serves as a touchstone, foreshadowing Artemisia's rape by Agostino Tassi, an assistant in her father's painting studio in Rome; the well-documented (and humiliating) trial that followed; the early days of her hastily arranged marriage; and her eventual triumph as the first woman elected to the Accademia dell' Arte in Florence. Although Vreeland makes a bit free with her characters (which she admits in her introduction), attributing some decidedly modern attitudes to people who would not have thought that way at the time, her book is beautifully researched and rich with casual detail of clothing, interiors, and street life. She deftly works history and politics into the background of her canvas, keeping her focus on Artemisia and her family. Beyond the paintings Artemisia left behind, Vreeland's vision may be as close as we can come to understanding the anger and ambition that kept this talented woman at the doors of the Accademia, demanding entrance, in a time when respectable women rarely left their homes.
by Anna Banti, Shirley D'Ardia Caracciolo (Translator)
by R. Ward Bissell
A beautifully illustrated study of the life and works of this influential seventeenth-century woman artist, including the first catalogue raisonné of her autograph works.
by Mary D. Garrard
by Alexandra Lapierre, Liz Heron (Translator)
Small wonder that biographer Alexandra Lapierre was drawn to write about Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the first female painters to gain acclaim in the male-dominated 17th-century art world. Her story has all the ingredients of high drama: rape, jealousy, and an infamous court trial set against a backdrop of art and passion. Meticulously researched, framed in a fictional context, Lapierre's treatment applies a painterly touch to a scholarly work. Billed as a biography in the U.K. but as a novel in the U.S., it combines the rigor of one genre with the page-turning immediacy of the other.
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
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