Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19946 in Books
• Published on: 1991-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 408 pages

Synopsis
The collection of Early Renaissance painting in the National Gallery in London is one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world. This book provides a survey of European painting between 1260 and 1510, in both northern and southern Europe, based largely on the National Gallery collection, and is at the same time a guide to the paintings in the Gallery. It is published to coincide with the opening of the Sainsbury Wing in which the Early Renaissance collection will be exhibited. The authors explain the background of relious belief and devotional practice for which many of the paintings were created, and the secular requirements and ambitions which influenced them. They discuss the social context in which art was created and then displayed in the street, the palace or the church; and consider the role of the patron and the dealer. They describe the artist's workshop, consider the role of apprentices and assistance, discuss the influence of guilds and courts and explore the reasons for the introduction of new subjects and techniques and also the survival of traditions. The book goes on to supply an account of the materials and techniques of the early Renaissance artist.

The preparation of panels, the application of gold leaf, the use of tempera and oil paint are all explained on the basis of research. After this introduction, some 70 of the finest and best known paintings in the gallery are examined in detail, including masterpieces by Duccio, Van Eyck, Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, Bouts, Bellini, Memling, Raphael and Leonardo.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book with necessarily limited scope
This is a beautiful, sumptuous book, crammed with detail and excellent colour reproductions. Other readers mightn't go for all the technical information but I can't get enough of it. I also prefer the discussions of individual works which occupy a large part of this volume -- its companion, 'Dürer to Veronese', takes a more synoptic view, which tends to obscure the fact that these are surveys of a collection.

That's my only quibble, and it isn't really with the book, which is about as accomplished at it could be -- so good, in fact, that it's tempting to read it as a textbook of the whole period. Much of the material is of general relevance, of course; but don't forget that many of the major works from this period aren't in galleries at all: they're still in the places they were meant to be.

Discussions of technique dominate the artworks themselves
I have to say I'm really in two minds about this book. On the one hand, it explores the world of the early renaissance artist (primarily in Italy, the core of the Gallery's collection) in fascinating detail - the workshop, the methods and techniques, from the preparation of the panels through grinding the paints to the sequence of activities in preparing the finished work. On the other, it becomes almost possible to lose sight of the overall impact of the artworks in this welter of close-up detail. I don't for a minute regret buying this book; but I don't return to it as often as I'd hoped.

Giotto to Durer
Not cheap, but excellent value for money for anyone interested in the period and especially those who can get to the National Gallery to look at the works in detail.

Well printed and with good illustrations. The text covers not only the technical details of art production but also provides explanations of the stories shown in the pictures, so it works well both for both beginners and more advanced readers.