Review by Choice Review
Devotion by Design is a well-illustrated text on the National Gallery in London's Italian altarpieces made between 1250 and 1500. These altarpieces are traditionally hung in a chronological presentation in the museum setting, but this exhibition focuses on a group of such works in order to examine their original settings, their original frames, and their original groupings prior to being cut apart and placed into modern frames for the museum audience. Nethersole (Courtauld Institute of Art, London) discusses the liturgical function of these altarpieces and the surrounding objects that would have affected their original presentation and use in the church, and addresses the various types of altarpieces and their original terminology. The author then focuses on the construction of these altarpieces, with photographs of the wood panels viewed from front and back, and provides several charts that reconstruct dismembered altarpieces. This book explores collaborative commissions and contracts between artists, donors, the church, carpenters, merchants, notaries, and members of the community to show the social function of these objects. Finally, it reviews the history of the dismantling of these altarpieces, their sale, and the challenges faced today in their reassembly. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. A. L. Palmer University of Oklahoma
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
