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booksrockcal's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Good overview of Renaissance Art, including the northern Renaissance. It was a bit dated (published in 1966)- for example, we now know Michelangelo did not paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling on his back. Also I was frustrated that the photos did not identify the location of the paintings. But still it provided a good review for this art history major.
mrsdallogay's review
3.0
*2.5
This book provides a decent introduction to the big names of the early (15th century) Renaissance, but it does little else. The Murray's clearly know the art well, but in many ways their writing is plagued by outdated connoisseurship and focuses little on the actual history aspect of the art.
Occasionally they do discuss more deeply the relationship between the art and the socio-historical climate but it's mostly just intense descriptions of the styles of various artists. Strangely enough the discussion of printing in the Northern Renaissance was probably the book's highlight, despite the fact that the authors specialise in Italian art.
Overall it's not awful, it just isn't up to contemporary standards of art history (it was published originally in the 60s). I'd only recommend this if you're coming to the subject completely blank and are more interested in the formal aspects of Renaissance art than the historical background that they emerged from.
This book provides a decent introduction to the big names of the early (15th century) Renaissance, but it does little else. The Murray's clearly know the art well, but in many ways their writing is plagued by outdated connoisseurship and focuses little on the actual history aspect of the art.
Occasionally they do discuss more deeply the relationship between the art and the socio-historical climate but it's mostly just intense descriptions of the styles of various artists. Strangely enough the discussion of printing in the Northern Renaissance was probably the book's highlight, despite the fact that the authors specialise in Italian art.
Overall it's not awful, it just isn't up to contemporary standards of art history (it was published originally in the 60s). I'd only recommend this if you're coming to the subject completely blank and are more interested in the formal aspects of Renaissance art than the historical background that they emerged from.
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