Books : Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style (Oxford Paperbacks)

Rating: - Absence of colour plates mars a first rate book
While I endorse entirely the comments of the other two reviewers I found that having only two illustrations out of 80 in colour was a source of irritation. The writer as well as the reader deserves better. Oxford Paperbacks seem to find this acceptable but when one compares this book with those from the Oxford History of Art( eg Art in Renaissance Italy by Evelyn Welch ), the latter series is streets ahead in terms of accessibility. At full price - not Amazon price - I much prefer to spend £2 extra for colour illustrations.Full marks to Michael Baxandall and no marks for commercial integrity to Oxford Paperbacks

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Rating: - An Art Lover's Gem
What a fabulous book! Small, compact & portable but with a wealth of information. Gives a comprehensive guide as to what to look for in the paintings and the background to them. Subjects covered include patronage, value of a master's skill, convention of biblical characters, body positions, importance of dance movement, public v private display and much more. The English is excellent and the style fluid and dynamic - you just have to read on. I know I will use this book for many years to come.

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Rating: - concise, accessible,erudite.
Anyone interested in early renaissance art must read this book it is immensely readable,brief but illuminating.It contains lots of source material well translated.Its only drawback is its lack of big colour plates, but everything in the book is so 'choice' that they may be superfluous.