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lavinia_speaks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
gh7's review against another edition
3.0
This book should have had me impatient to revisit all Florence's churches and art galleries with renewed zeal but sadly it didn't quite do that for me. I found it interesting rather than exhilarating. It was perhaps too academic and intellectual for me. However I did appreciate how much mental energy the author brings to his subject and how important a few of his insights are in adding to our knowledge of the social fabric, the sensibility and artistic aims of the Quattrocento.
Baxandall wants to establish a better understanding of the relationship between the artist and his audience in its 15th century social context; to understand what the 15th century eye saw and looked for in art. He wants to magic our own eye back to become the eye of the Quattrocento. He begins by showing us how early Quattrocento works of art were essentially either propaganda posters for the Church or status symbols for their owners. Portraiture in the religious paintings deliberately kept generic as a means of not imparting too much humanity to the otherworldly Biblical characters. You couldn't paint an archangel who looked too much like the local butcher or anyone else you knew in daily life. These paintings had a severe instructive purpose and were not meant to bear too much reality. Private commissions, on the other hand, were evaluated less by their skilful artistry than by the quantity of precious pigments they contained, notably gold and lapis lazuli. We're then shown how these two motivational factors evolve through the century. The inspirations artists drew on to keep their visions recognisable to their audience. We all need to recognise something of the familiar in the art we behold. But the Quattrocento eye was recognising things we no longer do. These include the dances of the period and the system of mathematics most commonly taught. Eventually as the eye widened its scope for inspiration art for art's sake arrives, heralded by life-modelled portraiture and compositional ingenuity. I loved one of his final observations that Piero della Francesca tends to be a gauged kind of painting, Fra Angelico a preached sort of painting and Botticelli a danced sort of painting.
But if you want a much more detailed and intelligent and justly celebratory review than I'm capable of writing I suggest you take a look at Kalliope's brilliant analysis!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/98798373?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Baxandall wants to establish a better understanding of the relationship between the artist and his audience in its 15th century social context; to understand what the 15th century eye saw and looked for in art. He wants to magic our own eye back to become the eye of the Quattrocento. He begins by showing us how early Quattrocento works of art were essentially either propaganda posters for the Church or status symbols for their owners. Portraiture in the religious paintings deliberately kept generic as a means of not imparting too much humanity to the otherworldly Biblical characters. You couldn't paint an archangel who looked too much like the local butcher or anyone else you knew in daily life. These paintings had a severe instructive purpose and were not meant to bear too much reality. Private commissions, on the other hand, were evaluated less by their skilful artistry than by the quantity of precious pigments they contained, notably gold and lapis lazuli. We're then shown how these two motivational factors evolve through the century. The inspirations artists drew on to keep their visions recognisable to their audience. We all need to recognise something of the familiar in the art we behold. But the Quattrocento eye was recognising things we no longer do. These include the dances of the period and the system of mathematics most commonly taught. Eventually as the eye widened its scope for inspiration art for art's sake arrives, heralded by life-modelled portraiture and compositional ingenuity. I loved one of his final observations that Piero della Francesca tends to be a gauged kind of painting, Fra Angelico a preached sort of painting and Botticelli a danced sort of painting.
But if you want a much more detailed and intelligent and justly celebratory review than I'm capable of writing I suggest you take a look at Kalliope's brilliant analysis!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/98798373?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
dominiqueisageek's review against another edition
4.0
Needed to read this for a History of Art Essay. Very interesting insights into the Renaissance, and the processes involved in painting.
libs's review
4.0
My lecturer mentioned this in three consecutive lectures, which had to be a good endorsement. It was definitely worth reading (it's a relatively easy read, short and well-written) and I'm sure I'll return to it over the next few years of studying.
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