- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Duncan Baird (28 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844833224
- ISBN-13: 978-1844833221
- Product Dimensions: 30.6 x 24.6 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,166,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Mail on Sunday, October 22, 2006
An utterly fascinating study
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
Renaissance artists had a habit of encoding meanings into symbols - everything from bee-hives to centaurs. Sometimes these meanings in paintings, sculptures, buildings and literature drew upon a traditional symbolic repertoire, but often a more esoteric meaning was encoded - perhaps a hidden political message or an expression of heretical faith. Richard Stemp leads us through a wealth of examples - more than 100 works of art - each shown in all its glory and then deconstructed, or decoded, to interpret the symbols it contains. For all those who relish secret symbolism and conspiracies as well as lovers of the art of Renaissance Italy, this book will instruct and delight in equal measure.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bookworm,
By
This review is from: The Secret Language of The Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art (Hardcover)
This book was requested by one of my sons for Christmas, and it turned out that it was out of print and that no new copies were available in the UK. Thanks to Amazon I was able to buy a used first edition in mint condition, and nobody would know that it wasn't new off the shelf. Amazon to the rescue, and I'm delighted once again.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
2.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the best cheat sheet for art history class,
By Alexis Rzewski - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art (Hardcover)
Finally figured out what to say when walking into an italian church or museum and have to explain to friends what this or that is all about. Always wanted to know why christ is holding an apple or why there is a bird on the corner, or why this saint is holding this particular object. Could have given it 5 stars, but held back, since the names of art and literal references are all english-based, with little mention of the original names in italian or latin. The illustrations are of superb quality, and so is the paper and book binding.
9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great pictures, Anodyne text,
By Mark Gibbs - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art (Hardcover)
If you want a coffee table book with high quality reproduction of Renaissance masterpieces...buy this book. If you want to know "the secret language" of the "hidden symbolism of Italian Art", then you don't need it. Simply ask the nearest Catholic priest or go to the Catholic Encyclopedia website. The author gives precisely the same information...so how "secret" can it be?Essentially this is an appreciation of art from the perspective of a dyed in-the-wool Vaticanite. It is fine if you accept the notion that Leonardo, Boticelli, Raphael, Crivelli, etc were pious Catholics who rigorously adhered to traditional Church doctrine. But it seems to me that they were free-thinkers. Doubters were classed as heretics and were not free to openly express their views. That explains why there are so many symbols in these works of art..not because they affirm Church dogma but they deny it. To give an example, the author mentions that a swallow was a common feature in religious paintings. Swallows migrate every year, nobody knew where they went, and then they suddenly returned. Therefore, the swallow makes an excellent symbol of the resurrection, because Jesus disappeared after his crucifixion, before miraculously re-appearing. It's insulting, isn't it? How about the meaning, widely understood, behind Aesop's fable, "one swallow does not a summer make"? Beware of false assumptions! Things are not what they seem. The inclusion of a solitary swallow into a piece of religious art suggests the artist's true intent is to cast aspersions on common creeds not to fortify them. 2 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Pricing,
By Reviewer "reviewer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art (Hardcover)
I have not actually had a chance to review this book, but I just had a family member tell me that they saw the same exact book at Barnes and Noble for around $10.00 which means it is priced too high here.
|
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
