Review by Choice Review
This delightful and convenient volume contributes to an overlooked area of study, being a rich and readable introduction to Venetian art and architecture during its most vital centuries. The well-respected author achieves an admirable balance between history and art history, as well as between detail and sweep, writing text that readers of various levels of expertise will find engaging. Beautifully illustrated and attractively designed, this thoughtful and informative, never bombastic chronicle leads to a balanced conclusion, an essay on the importance of Venetian patronage to the accomplishments of its artists. The organization is chronological, with the first half devoted to the 15th century (e.g., churches, tombs, freestanding sculpture, altarpieces, confraternities, palaces, non-narrative devotional paintings, narrative devotional paintings, and portraits--male and female) and 16th century (similarly arranged according to civic function, and within that, by artist). The treatment of villas of the Veneto includes predecessors of Palladio. Time lines, glossary, bibliography, and index assist readers of various levels of preparation and curiosity (though there is no pretense to full scholarly apparatus). A valuable contribution and a model piece of art historical synthesis, the text is as well written as the project is deftly conceived. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. --Patricia Emison, University of New Hampshire
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
