Amazon.com
Filippo Brunelleschi's design for the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence remains one of the most towering achievements of Renaissance architecture. Completed in 1436, the dome remains a remarkable feat of design and engineering. Its span of more than 140 feet exceeds St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome, and even outdoes the Capitol in Washington, D.C., making it the largest dome ever constructed using bricks and mortar. The story of its creation and its brilliant but "hot-tempered" creator is told in Ross King's delightful Brunelleschi's Dome.
Both dome and architect offer King plenty of rich material. The story of the dome goes back to 1296, when work began on the cathedral, but it was only in 1420, when Brunelleschi won a competition over his bitter rival Lorenzo Ghiberti to design the daunting cupola, that work began in earnest. King weaves an engrossing tale from the political intrigue, personal jealousies, dramatic setbacks, and sheer inventive brilliance that led to the paranoid Filippo, "who was so proud of his inventions and so fearful of plagiarism," finally seeing his dome completed only months before his death. King argues that it was Brunelleschi's improvised brilliance in solving the problem of suspending the enormous cupola in bricks and mortar (painstakingly detailed with precise illustrations) that led him to "succeed in performing an engineering feat whose structural daring was without parallel." He tells a compelling, informed story, ranging from discussions of the construction of the bricks, mortar, and marble that made up the dome, to its subsequent use as a scientific instrument by the Florentine astronomer Paolo Toscanelli. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
Ross King has a knack for explaining complicated processes in a manner that is not only lucid but downright intriguing. . . . Fascinating." (Los Angeles Times)
By all accounts, Filippo Brunelleschi, goldsmith and clockmaker, was an unkempt, cantankerous, and suspicious man-even by the generous standards according to which artists were judged in fifteenth-century Florence. He also designed and erected a dome over the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore-a feat of architectural daring that we continue to marvel at today-thus securing himself a place among the most formidable geniuses of the Renaissance. At first denounced as a madman, Brunelleschi literally reinvented the field of architecture amid plagues, wars, and political feuds to raise seventy million pounds of metal, wood, and marble hundreds of feet in the air. Ross King's captivating narrative brings to life the personalities and intrigue surrounding the twenty-eight-year-long construction of the dome, opening a window onto Florentine life during one of history's most fascinating eras.
Customer Reviews:
Just what I needed on the Dome in Florence.......2007-08-27
This slim volume contains a lot of detailed information - both on the construction of the dome, and on the politics and rivalries behind the scenes. It is well presented and makes for an absorbing read.
The drawings of the unique hoisting equipment developed by Brunelleschi showed that he was as much an engineer as an architect.
I'll be visiting the dome this fall and now have a wealth of information to make my tour more meaningfull.
A Thinker's Book.......2007-07-23
Some books are for cruising,easy reading with the mind in overdrive, even serious books like King's Judgement of Paris, the reading of which brought me to this book. Yes I know it should have been the other way around. I had picked this text up a few times in my bookstore strolls, but always was tempted elsewhere. Then I read that fine work on the birth of Impressionism and its Hercules like incunabula strangulation of the python of Beaux Arts . It was a wowser!! and I wanted a bit more of this author's breezy erudition. Kind of like a great graduate class with that perfect professor; so I went back and bought the "Dome." Well, it was no smoothie. Yes this earlier book has the artists achieving grand feats, there is the rivalry of big egos, there is even the conflict(inevitable) of creative minds mostly in agreement. But it does not have all the same zip as Paris. Maybe because with the passage of time the bits and pieces of these rivalries have been obscured , darkened like Michaelangelo's chapel by all the years smudges and wisps of smoke until when we clean them up, they no longer are what we have come to treasure. The physical difficulty, the inventiveness, the sheer bravado of construction at great height are a big part of this book. To me the tools are so many large ratchets and socket wrenches. Then too, there is the amor loci of architecture. How many copies of the Parthenon have we seen, and yet they are just not the Acropolis. So the Duomo. It is difficult to envision the redtiled Florentine skyline elsewhere. But the objects of Manet, Degas, Cezanne are transportable and have become loved items. Certainly the physical achievement of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flowers far surpasses that of The Alba Madonna, but Raphael is after all with us and as has been said the near dear drives off the distant beloved. So I guess the subject cannot carry all the discussion of the mechanical wow. I am glad I took the course, learned a lot, but would be cautious in whom I would tell to just go ahead, you'll love it.
Can culture be thrilling?.......2007-06-27
I find books about engineering, art and architecture more interesting when they are written as cliff-hangers. 'Brunelleschi's Dome' by Ross King is one of them. As are his 'Michelangelo and the Pope's ceiling' and King's latest 'The Judgement of Paris'.
Superbly documented and written with great speed, they kept me reading instead of looking at the real thing. Coming back to the real things I find myself looking through different eyes!
If you like this type of reading, be sure to look for 'The Lighthouse Stevensons' by Bella Bathurst (HarperCollins, 1999) and 'St Peter's' by Keith Miller (Profile Books, 2007)!
great read.......2007-05-14
a well researched and very readable account of a staggering masterpiece, which at the time was considered impossible to build and of its creation and creator.
Read this book before you go to Firenze!.......2007-05-13
I often give a copy of this book to friends planning a trip to Italy... A quick read and a marvelous story about the intrigue...everything about renaissance Italy was an intrigue!... and history surrounding the building of the dome for il Duomo...I could almost feel Brunellschi climbing the stairs to the top dome with me...
This, and "Michaelangelo, The Popes Ceiling" also by Ross King, ought to be required reading for any student of history or anyone going to Italia... they breath life into Italian history.
Customer Reviews:
THIS WONDERFUL ANTHOLOGY COLLECTS THESE 20 PLAYS:.......2005-06-03
Heywood -- The Four PP
Mr. S [anonymous] -- Gammer Gurton's Needle
Preston -- Cambyses
Sackville & Norton -- Gorboduc
Gascoigne -- Supposes
Lyly -- Gallathea
Peele -- David and Bethsabe
Kyd -- The Spanish Tragedy
Marlowe -- Tamburlaine the Great, Part I
Marlowe -- Tamburlaine the Great, Part II
Marlowe -- The Jew of Malta
Marlowe -- Doctor Faustus
Marlowe -- Edward II
Greene -- Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
Lodge & Greene -- A Looking Glass for London and England
Anonymous -- Arden of Feversham
Nashe -- Summer's Last Will and Testament
Anonymous -- Mucedorus
Dekker -- The Shoemaker's Holiday
Heywood -- A Woman Killed with Kindness
And note that volume 2 (ISBN 002339580X) contains an additional 21 plays.
This two-volume set is actually a more convenient and more economical way to collect 41 plays than piecing together single plays in the New Mermaids, Regents Renaissance, or Revels series. In fact, many of the plays in this two-volume set are not otherwise available.
This book is an embarrasment of riches -- enjoy!
Book Description
After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today.
By placing the image of the Virgin Mary at the center of their churches and their lives, medieval people exalted womanhood to a level unknown in any previous society. For the first time, men began to treat women with dignity and women took up professions that had always been closed to them.
The communion bread, believed to be the body of Jesus, encouraged the formulation of new questions in philosophy: Could reality be so fluid that one substance could be transformed into another? Could ordinary bread become a holy reality? Could mud become gold, as the alchemists believed? These new questions pushed the minds of medieval thinkers toward what would become modern science.
Artists began to ask themselves similar questions. How can we depict human anatomy so that it looks real to the viewer? How can we depict motion in a composition that never moves? How can two dimensions appear to be three? Medieval artists (and writers, too) invented the Western tradition of realism.
On visits to the great cities of Europe—monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto—Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world. Bursting with stunning four-color art, MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES is the ultimate Christmas gift book.
Customer Reviews:
All Over The Map.......2007-09-16
Maybe Cahill's a frustrated stand-up comic. Imagine the author as a stand-up inviting the audience to suggest topics for improvised comedic departure. Someone shouts out, "The Middle Ages!" and Cahill thinks, "Yeah. I can go with that." So we're off on tangent after tangent about Frank Zappa or Osama Bin Laden. Spare us the "cute" writing. Please.
Better Items Available.......2007-09-03
I agree with most of the negative reviewers of this product. The author is condescending and irritating. While he has a fine grasp of the English language, many of his conjectures are not only incorrect they are idiotic. His personal views, which he feels a need to share, detract from the story he is trying to tell in an unavoidable and irritating way. Stay away from this one.
Enjoyable overview of the Middle Ages & how they formed us.......2007-08-12
This is the fourth book in Cahill's "Hinges of History" series, and it is excellent. As others have pointed out it is not in-depth, not scholarly but rather written for people who don't usually read history. He makes it completly enjoyable, ties together main points, major movements, the pivotable people in a sort of quilt of moving shapes and colors that for a moment bring it all alive again. In this book famous and less famous people each are used to illustrate points about an era, and the changes that began in that era, and in fact that person may have been the one of powerhouses of the change, like Abelard, or Eleanor of Aquitaine, or simply a recorder or interpreter of it as Giotto was. Each fingernail sketch of a life in its unique era is memorable. Hildegarde of Bingen, at age 8, was given to the Church by her noble parents, to be interred as an anchorite, a life of complete sequestration, forever. Yet as she grew to adulthood the depth and breadth of her learning, taught to her in her little walled-in cell by a monk, grew to the point that her writings and correspondence was noted throughout Europe and even the Popes knew of her. She was perhaps the best known and best educated woman in Europe in her day and the most influential in the Roman Catholic Church. Made an abbess and allowed to preach and write openly she lived on to age 81, renowned and venerated. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the richest heiress in Europe at age 15, ruler of Aquitaine and other parts of France larger than the remaining lands of France itself was married first to the French king and went on Crusade with him, the first Noble woman known to do so; divorced him to marry her lover the much younger king of England; was the mother of several sons by him including Richard the Lion Hearted, her favorite...from her, most of the royalty of Europe descends. She was a strong, powerful,and free woman for most of her long life. The story of Heloise and Abelard, the great and tragic lovers is retold really well. Dante's story,his long exile due to the great wars of his native Florence and the feuding families at the root of it all reminds one of the Romeo and Juliet story: the "two houses"...But not to miss the point that each life discussed is tied in to a specific time and concept of an age different from us but leading toward us and our time. In fact, as the author points out, the events, the gradual change in thought-- never predetermined-- were how our era as it is now was formed; our way of seeing the world, our political, relgious, cultural and scientific, views were formed from theirs, our immediate cultural forebears.
An Engaging Writer but Superficial and Wrongheaded History.......2007-07-15
Though an engaging writer, Cahill is an appallingly bad historian. He compares the medieval nun Hildegard of Bingen to blues singer Bessie Smith (Hildegard's lyrics display a spiritualized eroticism) and the woman in bondage in The Story of O and refers to Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City in the same passage. ("This was one loose sister," is his characterization of Hildegard.) He compares Dante to James Joyce on the grounds that both were exiles infatuated with their mother cities. He characterizes WWI's Gallipoli as a "confrontation between ... Islam and the West," an appallingly bad summary of a complex military campaign which had little to do with religion and a great deal to do with military matters. Throughout the book, Cahill tramples history into a muddled paste of great figures and exalting moments, ignoring nuance or exception. He concludes with a five-page diatribe against sycophancy and buggery in today's Church. The footnotes don't inform much; the bibliography omits essential scholarship (e.g., R. W. Southern on medieval humanism, Roberto Lopez and Lauro Martines on Renaissance humanism). It is difficult to conceive of an audience that would benefit from reading this silly and superficial book.
Haven't finished reading it yet...too soon..........2007-07-05
but from the first page I have felt as though this is the easiest and most interesting way to experience history.
I don't believe anyone else can make reading & studying history such a pleasure. My method is to jot down notes on a small paper pad with the page number noted, so I can go back & make sure I have absorbed the links that have led to the future. There is such a stupendous wealth of detail.
I have all of Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History books so far and have never been disappointed yet.
Mary H.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful resource.......2007-08-08
The 1989 edition still holds up for the most part with the exception of some pre-1999 restoration images such as many of the Botticellis, including the Cestallo Annunciation and Pontormo's frescos from the Capponi Chapel. The architecture and sculpture images are amazing, especially the two page spread of the New Sacristry of San Lorenzo.
Perfect downplay of Italian Renaissance art........2005-11-26
As a coffee table book- it is OK- big and colorful pictures.... Too colorful! For example, a large-scale view of a painting has a black and yellow palette, but the detail is blue and red. As a professional reference- it is as bad as bad could be. No professional artist would ever have their work photographed with flash!!! But in this book there are plenty of those. Paintings have flash spots - unbelievable!
Sculpture pictures are the worst! They look flat - bad photography can damage even Michelangelo!!!! The lighting is all wrong and incoherent.
The only good photos of sculptures are of those that are outside-- in natural light.
If you are looking for quality reproductions of art, you will be surely disappointed. A very ambitious project, but done by dilettanti.
Amazing Detail often refered to set.......2005-08-26
This is a stunning two volume set. The amount of detail in both the written word and stunning photographs brings Florentine art to life. The text covers not only the technical aspects of the art and architecture but also the socio-political environment in which the art was created. These discourses can be a little dry but they are enlightening. The photography will certainly recapture ones interest when the text gets a little dull.
A Rare and Treasured Treat.......2004-05-25
Talk about magnificently beautiful! THE ART OF FLORENCE does full justice to its subject -- and it's a lot cheaper than plane fare to Italy.
The last time I was in Italy I witnessed three muggings, one in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, and those experiences were so unnerving that I couldn't fully concentrate on the loveliness of the many treasures before me. I barely remember any of them. So what a delight to discover so many of them in stunning full-color plates, to be enjoyed again and again in the comfort and safety of my own home.
The dual volume book is divided into historical sections of about a generation each in length. Each begins with a lucid account of the history of the city during that period with emphasis on the political, social and economic events that influenced the patronage of art at that time. There are separate accounts of the architecture, sculpute and painting done in each period. A rich and exciting interplay unfolds between the arts, the politics and the social structure of each time period. No wonder Florence was the artistic and political leader for all of Europe during the 13th through 16th centuries.
The authors confine themselves to Florentine artists or those who lived for some time in Florence. References to other artists, when necessary, are minimal. Michaelangelo, for instance, is discussed only in terms of the Dona Madonna, since it is the only painting of his in the city. His limning of the Sistine Chapel in Rome is mentioned only in passing.
These two volumes are special -- so special they'll draw you to the reading chair even when the siren of Spring calls through your window.
A work of art about the art of Florence - a treasure.......2004-01-02
This is one of those books I wish I could give six or even seven starts. This is not only a book about great art; it is itself a beautiful work of art. The care lavished in making this book shows from the beautifully decorated slipcase to the wonderfully textured covers (my kids say they feel furry), to its large format and glorious reproductions. There are many foldouts showing large-scale works in broad sweep and even full-page reproductions of details of works shown in the book.
While the artwork shown is dazzling to the eye and overwhelming to the mind, the articles illuminating the works are first rate as well. One really nice feature of the articles is that there are marginal listings of the plates and figures discussed in each paragraph so it is easy to find text related to the images in which you are interested.
There are two volumes and over 1,300 pages. Volume 1 begins with a brief essay on Florence's prelude to greatness (59 B.C. 0 A.D. 1200). Then the book is organized into sections of varying size: Civic Price and Prosperity (1200 - 1340), An Age of Crisis (1340-1400), Images of a Free Republic (The Early 15th Century), and The Era of Cosimo De' Medici (1430-69). Volume two has: Lorenzo Il Magnifico (1469-92), The End of the Republic (1492-1530, and ends with The Medicean Principate (1530 - c. 1600). Each of these larger sections is organized in the same way - Architecture, then sculpture, and then painting. It is quite fascinating to watch how tastes and techniques evolve over the centuries.
There is also a glossary, bibliography, a section on the photographer and authors, an index and photo credits.
This isn't a book you will likely read from beginning to end. It is almost an ocean you will want to spend time exploring for years in order to take in all that it has to offer. It is almost impossible to not take away something new every time you open its magnificent pages. This is a real treasure for your library. I know is one in mine.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
A two-volume anthology that places the Western literary tradition and its canon within a world context. Selections are divided into 6 major literary periods, with each period subdivided into Representative Texts, Western Texts, The World Context, and Background Texts.
Book Description
Man and Nature in the Renaissance offers an introduction to science and medicine during the earlier phases of the scientific revolution, from the mid-fifteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century. Renaissance science has frequently been approached in terms of the progress of the exact sciences of mathematics and astronomy, to the neglect of the broader intellectual context of the period. Conversely, those authors who have emphasized the latter frequently play down the importance of the technical scientific developments. In this book, Professor Debus amalgamates these approaches: The exact sciences of the period are discussed in detail, but reference is constantly made to religious and philosophical concepts that play little part in the science of our own time. Thus, the renewed interest in mystical texts and the subsequent impact of alchemy, astrology, and natural magic on the development of modern science and medicine are central to the account. Major themes that are followed throughout the book include the effects of humanism, the search for a new method of science, and the dialogue between proponents of the mystical-occult world view and the mathematical-observational approach to nature.
Customer Reviews:
A chronicle of Science.......2000-02-07
I almost never read books about man and nature in the renaisance, and this was one of the best ones I have read, if not one of the very best. Read up!
Book Description
An examination by a well-known art historian of over thirty key monuments from the Italian Renaissance, from stylistic, biographical, social, and cultural points of view.
Organized chronologically from early Renaissance precursors to the Mannerist movement, from Giotto to Titian, Key Monuments of the Italian Renaissance describes and analyzes in depth from various points of view major works and major artists, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Artists included are Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto, Lorenzetti, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Massaccio, Gentile da Fabriano, Uccello, Rossellino, Castagno, Piero della Francesca, Alberti, Botticelli, G. Bellini, Verrocchio, Mantegna, G. Sangallo, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael, Giorgione, and Titian. The Florentine Renaissance, the High Renaissance in Florence and Rome, and High Renaissance Painting in Venice are covered. Includes a glossary, a bibliography of works cited, and suggested readings.
Amazon.com
It speaks to the failure of medieval Europe, writes popular historian William Manchester, that "in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the best on the continent." European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressing peasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities of contemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, they waged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all the wastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for the extraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in the hundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars may disagree with his interpretations.
Book Description
It speaks to the failure of medieval Europe, writes popular historian William Manchester, that"in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the beston the continent." European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressingpeasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities ofcontemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, theywaged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all thewastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for theextraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in thehundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars maydisagree with his interpretations.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-08
When I saw this book I couldn't believe that it was written by my William Manchester - but it was. What was he doing in Medieval times and not World War II or post war America? I enjoyed the book. I see that it has brought a lot of medieval critics and experts out of the catacombs. I'm no medieval expert. For me it was a fun a interesting read. It was Manchester throughout and I had no trouble keeping up an interest. When I finished I said to myself, This guy can make anything interesting. He had a great knack. He was a darn good writer.
The Essence of the Dark Ages.......2007-08-18
A World Lit Only by Fire is a fascinating study of the end of the Middle Ages in Europe and the beginning of the Renaissance. Originally intended as an introduction to a biography of Ferdinand Magellan, A World Lit Only by Fire is an engaging introduction to medieval and Renaissance cultures.
Not a scholarly study based on first hand research, the work is intended for the general audience. However, Manchester is an accomplished historian and biographer of prominent 20th Century figures. This is arguably a strength in writing this book. Manchester brings both a professional historian's critical eye and a fresh outlook to examine a pivotal historical period.
The book contains two chapters only: a 25-page overview of the Middle Ages and a 264-page portrait of the pivotal people and ideas responsible for destroying the medieval (primarily Roman Catholic) world view.
Manchester begins by examining what made the Dark and Middle Ages so dark and so middling. His answer is: the death of classical civilization and the subsequent dominance of the Catholic Church. He captures this stifling dominance when he writes, "the entire medieval millennium took on the aspect of triumphant Christendom....the life of every European, from baptism through matrimony to burial, was governed by popes, cardinals, prelates, monsignors, archbishops, bishops, and village priests."
Manchester's general descriptions of the Medieval period's darkness are particularly interesting in the various sad, fascinating, and little known details he provides. For example, "in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the best on the continent." He describes a Yorkshire gravestone that attests to the reality of Robin Hood, and he provides some details behind the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who was more a sadistic pedophile than a fairy tale enchanter.
The author captures an essential aspect of Medieval world in describing the lack of individuality among most Europeans: "The most baffling, elusive, yet in many ways the most significant dimensions of the medieval mind were invisible and silent. One was the medieval man's total lack of ego. Even those with creative powers had no sense of self." He notes that most Europeans of the time had no surnames, and that the builders of Medievaldom's most famous creations, the soaring gothic cathedrals, were anonymous.
The ugliness and brutality of medieval life, Manchester argues, was made possible by an institutionalized mindless. The people and their leaders considered most worthwhile knowledge to be already known - and since much of that knowledge was based on religious authority, to challenge it was usually considered heresy. He quotes Saint Vincent of Lerins saying the Church was, "a faithful and ever watchful guardian of the dogmas which have been committed to her charge. In this secret deposit she changes nothing, takes nothing from it, she adds nothing to it." Manchester quotes another cardinal who asserted, "The Church is not susceptible of being reformed in her doctrines. The Church is the work of an Incarnate God. Like all God's works, it is perfect. It is, therefore, incapable of reform." Thus, to "appeal from the living voice of the Church," was "a treason.' "
The absolute authority of the medieval papacy resulted in its abuse of power, as exemplified by the Borgia popes. Their political and religious corruption was matched only by their sexual depravity. These pontiffs would hardly be recognized by today's masses of Catholics who adore the papacy.
Both in spite of and because of the Church's disgraceful behavior during this period, the seeds of the Renaissance were planted by prominent Catholics. With the rediscovery of classic Greek and Roman literature, many Renaissance artists and intellectuals became prominent within the bosom of the Catholic establishment itself. Manchester covers several, including such illustrious figures as Di Vinci, Copernicus, Michelangelo, Thomas Moore, and Erasmus.
Manchester also provides a vivid portrait Martin Luther, depicting him as both a conservative and a radical individual - driven by a devout religious idealism and tormented by demons from his abusive childhood. This young German theologian would come to change the face of Christianity by his obstinate refusal to accept the absolute power of the Vatican. The tremendous bloodshed resulting from the subsequent Protestant Reformation occurred not only between Catholic and Protestant, but within each group. Protestant sects became ever more zealous in trying to purify their lives and faiths, leading to absolutist Christian religious theocracies, such as that in Geneva led by John Calvin. On the other side, the Catholic counter-Reformation and the Inquisition became infamous for their wide-spread practices of torture and murder of anyone suspected of being a heretic or a Jew.
In the end, Manchester returns to Ferdinand Magellan, presenting an inspiring portrait of the man whose story was the impetus for this book. We see Magellan as a microcosm and culmination of the age. A mariner of almost unbelievable fortitude and courage, Magellan's iron will forced his tiny armada of five ships onward and onward, covering vast stretches of the world's oceans, overcoming mutinies and horrific living conditions. Though Magellan did not survive the journey, due to an overzealous evangelistic streak, the historic first circumnavigation of the globe he made possible forever shattered the medieval world view by providing European society with visceral, convincing evidence - lacking in more theoretical demonstrations - that the Earth is a sphere. This feat was instrumental in destroying the mindless inertia that was the essence of the medieval mind. In fracturing the Church's philosophic dominance, Magellan achievement directed men's eyes outward toward the horizon and the promise of life on this Earth, instead of upward or downward toward the mysteries of the next life.
A World Lit Only by Fire provides an engaging view of the death of the medieval world and the rebirth of Western civilization. Manchester thereby demonstrates the power of ideas to significantly change the course of history. Excellent reading.
Full of falsehoods and totally biased........2007-08-16
This book is completely irresponsible. It is full of falsehoods, some of which are slanderous. And it is extremely biased.
For example, early in the book, Manchester accuses St. Augustine of holding that sex was evil. On the next page he goes even further and says that Augustinians considered even procreation to be evil! This couldn't be further from the truth. Augustine was so clear in recognizing the goodness and legitimacy of sexuality that he wrote an entire treatise entitled "The Good of Marriage." In this treatise he defends the legitimacy and goodness of marriage AND the sexuality and procreation associated with it.
The bias of the book is apparent in every way, although by the title of the book this should not be surprising. In his own introduction to the book, Manchester notes that he is not a medieval historian, and prior to writing the book, had only a typical educated man's familiarity with the time period. And he notes that the real medieval historians that he had look over his work took an enormous number of exceptions to what he wrote. There's a shocker!
If you want to learn about the history of the middle ages, try The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History. If you want to read a tabloid, they're available at your local grocery store.
William Manchester.......2007-08-13
If you like history, you'll love this. Manchester has a wonderful approach to discussing the medieval peoples and how they thought and acted. A great read.
A good, wrong read!.......2007-08-03
I'm a medievalist. Yes, Manchester got a lot of the Middle Ages stuff wrong, or at least very distorted. He doesn't make facts up, but he presents some *highly* selected facts and bases fairly wild conclusions on that selection.
He says, for instance, that no technological progress happened in the Middle Ages, but reading even the title of the book "Horsecollar, Waterwheel, and Cathedral" proves otherwise. For another instance, he professes to believe that medieval man had no sense of self, "a total lack of ego," because there are no signatures or records of those who built the cathedrals. Yet if we look at any modern construction project -- bridge, skyscraper, or jet plane -- we likewise find no signatures, no egos except those of the corporation which built it. Are we modern people, then, also without ego? Not exactly.
Furthermore, it's true that Manchester seems to thoroughly enjoy the R-rated aspects of the medieval church, so much so that's it's hard to believe this is the same man who wrote the somber, dignified "Death of a President" or most of Churchill's biography, "The Last Lion." I can only assume that, having survived the serious illness that he mentions at the start of this book, Manchester was in a "what the hell!" mood, and just let 'er rip.
For the record, medieval society did make advances in the lives of common folks; for just one example, the invention of the horse-collar, which sounds mundane now, enabled animals to pull loads and heavy plows so much more easily that whole areas of Europe were opened up for agriculture for the first time.
And the medieval church, while it surely had its bad apples, also kept literacy and science alive and provided all the social services that governments struggle to provide today.
Furthermore, the great Renaissance men he admires weren't always all that great. Manchester here uses the familiar trick of criticising the "enemy" for what he *does," while praising the "good guys" for what they *think.* For instance, Galileo's science was indeed wonderful, but the way he treated his two young daughters -- forcing them unwilling into a convent at ages 12 and 10, so that the younger went insane -- might be reasonably set alongside the antics of rotten old Pope Alexander VI as a way *not* to treat your children.
So, yes, Manchester's wrong about a lot of things. But he has so much fun with it that I, for one medievalist, don't grudge him his pleasure. The book is lively and entertaining, which most medieval histories are not. Those readers who go away thinking that the Middle Ages was stagnant and the popes were evil will at least have learned a few things about Renaissance advances in science. Other readers may be tempted, by this spicy taste of history, to look further and deeper. Either way, it's good.
Book Description
An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries.
The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder, forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a small parish church, or hanging above a fireplace, mistaken for a mere copy.
Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ–its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle.
Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling, award-winning A Civil Action,
The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. The fascinating details of Caravaggio’s strange, turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work come to life in these pages. Harr’s account is not unlike a Caravaggio painting: vivid, deftly wrought, and enthralling.
". . . Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller . . . rich and wonderful. . .in truth, the book reads better than a thriller because, unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. . .if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk. . .[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when--one of my favorite moments in the whole book--Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. And who wouldn't in Italy? The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable." --The New York Times Book Review
"Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste--and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. It is as perfect a work of narrative nonfiction as you could ever hope to read." --The Economist
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
excellent historical account--unecesary dragging .......2007-09-25
I love Art History. I did not love this book. While the story is historically accurate, I felt I was being dragged through a load of gravel to get to the end. I wanted to quit reading after the first 25 pages--I put the book down at least 6 times over three months, and picked up more riveting books--real page turners. I was waiting for Haar to disclose some juicy secrets about the painting's discovery: didn't happen. But, I had to finish the book--it's my nature and I was afraid I might miss something. (I do admit at the end the restoration process was interesting.) I think I would have preferred to just read the original Art History Journals regarding this stunning story--The Missing Masterpiece:discovery, restoration, and salvation from bad restoration.
Interesting look at Caravaggio fever .......2007-07-28
I read this book after seeing the Caravaggio painting that is its subject at the Dublin Museum of Fine Art. I'm glad things happened in that order as the exhaustive detail in this narrative-style work can be a little off-putting in the first third or so of the book. There is so much time spent on a related lead-in research project on Caravaggio, that the reader is often left wondering where the story is leading.
The spectacular painting, "The Taking of Christ," speaks for itself in the viewing, but also explains why the art world is so obsessive about Caravaggio's work and ultimately justifies the circuitous route author Harr takes in telling the story of the painting's rediscovery after hundreds of years.. The artist was such a genius and produced such remarkable paintings that anyone who enjoys beautiful things can become an ardent admirer without much effort. The great tragedy of Caravaggio's life was its frequent derailing by violent relationships with friends, rivals, and authorities (the result of bipolar illness?), with its interruption of production as well as the subsequent destruction of many of his works.
Harr has produced a competent and well-told story of the pursuit and discovery of one of Caravaggio's great masterpieces that should be intriguing to art afficionados, but which is also accessible and interesting to the layman.
Loved it.......2007-03-08
I loved this book, although I must admit up front that I have a master's degree in art history, and lived in Italy in grad school (and therefore very much drawn to books such as this one). My friends in my book group that are not art historians did not find it as irresistable as I did, but they all liked it very much.
Learning art.......2007-03-07
This book is a fast read that teaches a lot! I knew very little of art history and never even heard of Caravaggio. The characters bring to life a story that we would otherwise be bored with on the History Channel. I love the way that you learn so much but get a good story out of it.
Great Artist, Good Story, Fair Writing.......2007-03-03
Finding a lost work by a master artist is always riveting: a Michaelangelo drawing found stuffed in the archives of the Cooper-Hewitt in New York, a Cimabue is noticed casually hanging on the wall of a house. So also the discovery of a much looked for but long lost painting by the 16th-century Italian, Caravaggio. This is the focus of `The Lost Painting.' Yet despite the subject, the author almost manages to make it boring. Almost.
Harr recounts the stories of the scholars, most of them Italian, involved in the discovery of Carravagio's 'The Taking of Christ,' which, as is often the case with lost masterpieces, was hidden in plain sight. It's a tale that, for a few years in the 1990s, has its principal characters criss-crossing Europe, slowly piecing together clues, hiding some of those clues from each other, being generous and being selfish, and ultimately coming together when they realize the magnitude of their discovery. And at its center is the brief and violent life of Caravaggio. In short, it is a very human story.
Unfortunately the author's prose often lacks passion, an ability to convey the extreme emotions that his characters no doubt felt. It is almost as if, the outcome known in advance, his actors are simply going through the motions. Despite this, however, Harr's attention to detail and methodic unveiling of each new development enables the reader to fill in the emotional gaps. In short, it's a good story, solidly written, but you'll need to add a splash of your own imagination. Given that this book takes you across a continent and across centuries, and into the world of the dangerous, beautiful, and brilliant Caravaggio, that shouldn't be too hard.
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