Botticelli: Life and Work [Hardcover]

Ronald Lightbown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 1989

Every aspect of Botticelli's work--his devotional and secular art, portraits, illustrations, and depictions of classical myth--are examined with a text that is a perfect complement to the magnificent art. 350 illustrations, 250 in full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"There is no more radiant picture in European art than this," writes Lightbown of Botticelli's Birth of Venus . That painting, as well as the Primavera and other Botticelli masterpieces, have been newly cleaned in the past decade, so the radiance of their reproductions dazzle in this expanded revision of Lightbown's 1978 monograph. An absorbing text, fresh photographs of every autograph work and marvelous enlarged details of the cleaned ones situate the Florentine innovator in the hothouse of 15th-century politics and Renaissance culture. How did Botticelli break away from the Gothic style of his mentors to achieve his powerful, plastic idiom? By painful trial and error, Lightbown demonstrates. This British expert on Renaissance painting discusses Botticelli's remarkable portraits (only eight or so survive), his religious visions and the agitated energy of his almost hallucinatory drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy. All students of Botticelli should own this resplendent volume.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Lightbown's monograph . . . has long been considered the definitive text on Botticelli. A newly revised version just released updates the author's critical consideration of the artist's work, and presents new, fresh illustrations of works that have been cleaned in the past decade. . . . Even in reproduction these works have never looked so good. -- San Diego Tribune, 12/8/89

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (October 20, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896599310
• ISBN-13: 978-0896599314
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 11.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,396,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book!, August 13, 2005

By 

singer-songwriter (North Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Botticelli: Life and Work (Hardcover)

This is fascinating book about the life of Botticelli and techniques he used. The reproductions are wonderful, including some close-ups of characters from selected paintings. I recently returned from Italy, and having viewed many of these paintings at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence makes the reading and the beautiful color plates throughout the book all the more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this book to fans of Renaissance art.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, February 26, 2006

By 

Agnolo van Rijn "Crazy For Painting" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Botticelli: Life and Work (Hardcover)

This book is worth the money if only for the reproductions. Lots of large plates with a lot of close ups as well. If you only want one book on Botticelli this would be a good one.

5.0 out of 5 stars Botticelli - life and Word, October 26, 2011

By 

nanabanana - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Botticelli: Life and Work (Hardcover)

This is an amazing book. It was everything promised and so much more. We have spent hours enjoying the pictures. I have been to Italy and seen some of them in person. This book gives us the opportunity to study them in detail. The quality is outstanding and the book is perfect in every way.