City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers

Average Rating:

.Caravaggio: A Life
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: Helen Langdon

November 04, 1999
This is a very well-written book about the life and times of Caravaggio, paying a considerable amount of attention towards even the smallest details. Although I did find this book paid more attention towards what happened in his life as opposed to his paintings, this is a biography and not an art book. Although the level of detail is astounding and anybody looking into Caravaggio should consider this book an absolute must.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Caravaggio: A Life

Used Price: £11.25

Average Rating:

.Vermeer: The Complete Works
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: Arthur K. Wheelock

January 01, 1998
I must confess that I knew Vermeer when I watched the movie "Girl with a Pearl Earring", a not very known movie from 2003, but with a very good story based on the life of this painter. When I bought this book I thought was a normal size book, but it is double the size of that, so you can appreciate all the plates with better resolution. What a great painter, Vermeer based his pictures on domestic situations, tipically in the same room, with an exquisite use of colors and a masterful use of light. Everything in his painting looks so real, the textures of the tapestry, the clothes of the women, the bread in the precious "The Milkmaid" -- which remember me those breads my mother does, the glasses and those provocative lips of the "Girl with a Pearl ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Vermeer: The Complete Works

Used Price: £8.55

Average Rating:

.Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750: The Early Baroque v. 1 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: R Wittkower

September 21, 1999
Nothing more has to be said about the merits of this famous book by the great R. Wittkower. The edition here advertised is the 3rd from 1973, it's the last one revised by the author himself, so don't be misslead by the date given in the advertisement (1992). Otherwise this book (altough only with b/w plates) is a must for everyone interessted in this period of art.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750: The Early Baroque v. 1 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)

Used Price: £19.95

Average Rating:

.The Baroque Architecture of Sicily
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: Maria Giuffre, Melo Minnella

October 22, 2007
Nothing more has to be said about the merits of this famous book by the great R. Wittkower. The edition here advertised is the 3rd from 1973, it's the last one revised by the author himself, so don't be misslead by the date given in the advertisement (1992). Otherwise this book (altough only with b/w plates) is a must for everyone interessted in this period of art.
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Baroque Architecture of Sicily

Used Price: £33.00

Average Rating:

.Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: J Summerson

October 20, 1993
This book, for many years now, the standard text, is always readable and generally reliable. Not much of interest architecturally speaking, passed by Summerson's eye, without him noting it. In an age like ours, when plain speaking scholarship is long gone, probably due to lack of new material than lack of talent, this book is likely to offend due to its bland format and refusal to delve beyond the surface. But this lack of depth is actually its strength as a text. If you want a book on the subject without frills, this will be the one for you. As a historian and not an architect, Summerson sometimes gets caught up in details that architects would be unlikely to find useful, but nevertheless, even those bits are informative.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)

Used Price: £12.36

Average Rating:

.Dutch Seventeenth-century Genre Painting: Its Stylistic and Thematic Evolution
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: W Franits

May 27, 2008
This book, for many years now, the standard text, is always readable and generally reliable. Not much of interest architecturally speaking, passed by Summerson's eye, without him noting it. In an age like ours, when plain speaking scholarship is long gone, probably due to lack of new material than lack of talent, this book is likely to offend due to its bland format and refusal to delve beyond the surface. But this lack of depth is actually its strength as a text. If you want a book on the subject without frills, this will be the one for you. As a historian and not an architect, Summerson sometimes gets caught up in details that architects would be unlikely to find useful, but nevertheless, even those bits are informative.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Dutch Seventeenth-century Genre Painting: Its Stylistic and Thematic Evolution

Used Price: £24.78

Average Rating:

.Baroque: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: Rolf Toman

February 15, 2006
The text of this book is boring, tedious and frequently gets bogged down in little details.

So why did I give it five stars?

It's because of the photos! The book is 500 pages long, and there are literally hundreds of full-color photographs of Baroque palaces, cathedrals, paintings and sculptures. The book pages are very large, and this makes the photos large and detailed as well. But the most sensational thing is the price: only 25 dollars for the hardback edition! Trust me, a book like this usually goes for 100 dollars or more. Perhaps it's subsidized by some UN agency? (A caveat: Since the book is very heavy, the postage might be larger than average.)

Rolf Toman's "Baroque" is probably mostly directed at ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Baroque: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting

Used Price: £14.35

Average Rating:

.Bernini (Penguin art & architecture)
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: Howard Hibbard

August 30, 1990
This book is a must have if you are studying the work of Bernini in some context or are just interested in learning more about him. Although the photographs arent excellent they are useful. The text remains one of the most helpful in getting a detailed overview of the artist, and as the book is now out of print it is otherwise very difficult to get your hands on!
>>See More Reviews & Details on Bernini (Penguin art & architecture)

Used Price: £2.08

Average Rating:

.Patrons and Painters: Study in the Relations Between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: F Haskell

July 01, 1980
This book is a must have if you are studying the work of Bernini in some context or are just interested in learning more about him. Although the photographs arent excellent they are useful. The text remains one of the most helpful in getting a detailed overview of the artist, and as the book is now out of print it is otherwise very difficult to get your hands on!
>>See More Reviews & Details on Patrons and Painters: Study in the Relations Between Italian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque

Used Price: £8.95

Average Rating:

.Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750: v. 1-3 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)
City Travel Guides > Books > Bestsellers
by: R Wittkower

September 28, 1999
Nothing more has to be said about the merits of this famous book by the great R. Wittkower. The edition here advertised is the 3rd from 1973, it's the last one revised by the author himself, so don't be misslead by the date given in the advertisement (1992). Otherwise this book (altough only with b/w plates) is a must for everyone interessted in this period of art.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750: v. 1-3 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)

Used Price: