Books : Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Rating: - Top Notch
Does exactly what it says on the tin. This is a very short introduction to key themes, ideas and works of Renaissance Art. You might think that this doesn't need a comment, given the title of the book, but this OUP series, although always fascinating, is not always geared to the rank amateur and is very much subject to the interests and focus of the particular author. Consequently some books in the series are actually quite specialised and do require prior knowledge of the subject to get the benefit of them. This is not one of them. You do not need to know anything at all about Renaissance art before picking up this book.

It also starts with an invaluable chapter on what the Renaissance actually was and who it applied to, which given the nebulous nature of historical terms is always useful.

The chapters are clearly laid out and well explained. The art works depicted are the ones the author actually talks about, which is not as common as you might think, so definitely worth mentioning. The only short-coming is that the format of the book does not allow for particularly great pictures as they are small, due to the fact that the books are pocket sized, and in black and white, which makes the books more affordable. This is however, the publisher's issue and not the author's, which is why it still gets five stars in my book.

The art works are always discussed in the context of their contemporary use as well as modern understandings and the author does an excellent job of making the reader appreciate the gap between now and then and what it means to those of us interested in understanding the art thoroughly. Highly recommended, one of the best of the OUP series.