- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Duncan Baird Publishers; 1st ed. edition (15 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844833070
- ISBN-13: 978-1844833078
- Product Dimensions: 30 x 24.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 491,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Mail on Sunday, October 22, 2006
An utterly fascinating study
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format: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.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
the best cheat sheet for art history class
26 April 2007
Format: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
Great pictures, Anodyne text
9 Feb 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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 15 people found the following review helpful
Pricing
10 Oct 2009
Format: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.
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