Customer Reviews

Illustrations and Ornamentation from The Faerie Queene (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

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Wonderful illustrations from a work of romance, chivalry, and adventure, with classical mythology tossed in. I believe the only pieces not included from the six-volume original are the double-page title spread and the cover design featuring Una and the lion (used when the work-in-progress was being issued in parts a few cantos at a time, but also bound into some finished copies). "The Faerie Queene" is like an alternate version of the Arthurian Legends--the same type of stories, but not the same stories--with the admixture of other fantasy genres. These other elements mean that there is more nudity here than in illustrations of the actual Round Table stories, in case that matters to you. (When he married, Crane promised he'd no longer depict the female nude from life, but memory seems to have served him quite adequately for this labor of love!)

Walter Crane is one of the best artists of all time. His vision of the Faerie Queene is beyond compare. I use the illustrations to practice drawing. They are a challenge, but a superb kind of challenge. Whether one is an admirer of the Faerie Queene, or of art itself, this book is not only reasonably priced but well designed packing the maximum number of pictures into the book and making many of the pictures full page size so the reader can really appreciate the detail contained in each illustration.

This book is part of the Dover Pictorial Archive series. It states: "You may use the designs and illustrations for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project. For permission for additional use, please write to Permissions Department, Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501. However, republication or reproduction of any illustration by any other graphic service, whether it be in a book or in any other design resource, is strictly prohibited."

The designs are very lyrical and romantic. There are knights in battle, maidens in distress, and classical gods like Neptune/Poseidon. Many of the illustrations have intricate, ornate borders that are as interesting as the main illustrations themselves. Jousting, sailing ships, mythical creatures - if you're looking for chivalrous or courtly drawings to inspire your own art, this is the book for you!