Synopsis
Recent restoration campaigns, particularly to the Sistine Chapel, have focused attention on the importance of colour in our experience of paintings, but until recently it has been neglected by art historians. The author believes that the work of art can only be fully appreciated when it is regarded as the product of both the artist's hand and mind. This study utilizes the traditional sources, such as contemporary theoretical writings and iconographical analysis, but in addition draws on the scientific findings of the conservation laboratories. This is a new body of data assembled in large part since World War II, which art historians are only beginning to exploit to fill out the history of technique. Rather than writing merely a history of technique, however, the author has integrated this material with traditional approaches to cultural history. She undertakes to examine twenty major paintings of the period from Giotto to Tintoretto to elucidate how colour and technique contribute to their meaning. She gives us then, the first modern consideration of Renaissance paintings both as physical objects and as monuments of cultural history.
Reviews
How Renaissance painters used color to unify their pictures, exploit symbolism and achieve emotional expressiveness is the theme of this handsomely illustrated monograph, which focuses on 20 paintings. Hall, an associate professor of art history at Temple University, highlights Leonardo's naturalistic use of shadowy midtones in the Mona Lisa , the way Michelangelo's fleshy hues dynamically link the figures in the Sistine Chapel vault, Titian's predilection for bright, saturated colors to create movement and Piero della Francesca's innovative experiments with oils. Hall makes us realize that, given the Renaissance's limited palette, the harmonious, radiant compositions achieved were marvels indeed. For the Mannerists, she shows, color was just as important as distortions of form in disrupting classical style. This sophisticated study combines traditional analysis with a consideration of recent scientific findings from conservation laboratories.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
With the exception of Venetian colorism, the obviously central role of color in Renaissance painting has been relatively neglected. In this pioneering synthesis, Hall brilliantly conjoins an understanding of the technique and materials employed from the 14th through the 16th centuries with vivid evocations of the role of color within a complex of compositional, expressive, and iconographic requirements. The integral consideration of color as a critical aspect of composition and meaning serves to illuminate and enrich the perception and comprehension of works that are among the major achievements of European painting. Particularly stimulating and valuable are the discussions of works by the greatest High Renaissance masters in terms of self-selected color styles and modal theory. A useful glossary and excellent color reproductions of recently restored paintings complement this essential text. For larger art collections.
- Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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