octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
Enormously thorough listing and explanation of subjects and symbols in art, and full of fascinating detail. The title is somewhat misleading, however. It rather gives the appearance of art in general, but Hall's focus is entirely European - if you're looking to understand symbolism in Asian or African art, for instance, look elsewhere. Of the art covered, the subjects and symbols come primarily from two sources: myth and religion. Even those are somewhat limited - the religious influence is entirely Christian, as would largely be expected in Europe, and the mythology is classical. Greek and Roman sources predominate; there's no mention of Celtic or Scandinavian myth here, for instance. That being said, within these limits this appears, to my limited knowledge, a rather exhaustive reference. And though I read the whole thing through, it's one of those reference books that you could open up and dip into and find something informative and interesting on any random page. It's usefully cross-referenced, too, which makes things easier for the reader who's looking to interpret the symbols of a specific painting - a very friendly reference book that works well for the beginner, I reckon. Being a beginner myself I tried this out with a random painting, Raphael's "Madonna of the Goldfinch", and now I actually understand what all the details mean, so yay!
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