Customer Reviews

Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting and Glass, 1250-1550

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Having spent a month painting in Venice and planning a return painting trip, I began reading Mr. Hills' book and quickly ran to get a note pad (and a dictionary). His evaluations of so many rich aspects of Venice, visually and historically, were illuminating, and his blending of these various fields into one another fantastic. Notes in hand, the return trip was magnificent, as was the city. The language can get a bit dense, but as I looked up unfamiliar words, they were the exact word for what was being described.

Extraordinary examination of color, space, the transparent, the luminous, form, shade, shadow and how these interact to form a work of art. As the author states: "Too often art historians write of pictorial space as though it replicated physical space whereas Renaissance painting at its most refined is a process whereby thought becomes incarnate in design: in doing so space becomes luminous, self-evident, revelatory."

Just back from Venice, how I wish I had owned and studied this volume which re-tells the story of Venetian art and architecture, placing it securely within the development of other Italian art of the periods it covers. The reproductions are delicious and the analysis accessible to anyone who is interested enough to do a little digging. Well worth its price.