Synopses & Reviews
From 828, when Venetian merchants carried home from Alexandria the stolen relics of St. Mark, to the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon in 1797, the visual arts in Venice were dramatically influenced by Islamic art. Because of its strategic location on the Mediterranean, Venice had long imported objects from the Near East through channels of trade, and it flourished during this particular period as a commercial, political, and diplomatic hub. This monumental book examines Venice's rise as the "bazaar of Europe" and how and why the city absorbed artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Islamic world.
Venice and the Islamic World, 8281797 features a wide range of fascinating images and objects, including paintings and drawings by familiar Venetian artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio, and Tiepolo; beautiful Persian and Ottoman miniatures; and inlaid metalwork, ceramics, lacquer ware, gilded and enameled glass, textiles, and carpets made in the Serene Republic and the Mamluk, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires. Together these exquisite objects illuminate the ways Islamic art inspired Venetian artists, while also highlighting Venice's own views toward its neighboring region. Fascinating essays by distinguished scholars and conservators offer new historical and technical insights into this unique artistic relationship between East and West.
Review
"
The Likeness of Venice is certainly the best book ever written about Venetian politics and political culture and certainly one of the best ever written about the relationship between power and the arts for any Renaissance city."Edward Muir, Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University
-- Edward Muir
Review
"This book is unfailingly intelligent and stimulating, beautifully written, clear and unpretentious, yet extremely subtle and wise in its judgements. It will make an impact on early-modern historical studies."Deborah Howard, Professor of Architectural History, University of Cambridge
-- Deborah Howard
Review
'\"This important book is meticulously researched, effectively organized, free of jargon, and based on a remarkable wealth of documentary sources. . . . [C]ompelling reading. . . . The author has made a major contribution to the memory of a remarkable Venetian and his patria.\"Elisabeth G. Gleason,
American Historical Review -- Elisabeth G. Gleason'
Review
'“. . . adds revealing documentation and fresh interpretations . . . is original and persuasive . . . The book is handsomely produced and lavishly illustrated . . . should . . . be a model for future studies in the field.” James S. Ackerman, Annali di Architettura -- American Historical Review'
Synopsis
Immortalized in later centuries in works by Lord Byron, Giuseppe Verdi, Eugène Delacroix, and others, Francesco Foscari reigned as the powerful doge of Venice during tumultuous years from 1423 to 1457. The stuff of legends, his life was marked by political conflict, vengeful enemies, family heartbreak, and, at the end, the forced relinquishment of the ducal throne. Yet Foscari left behind no personal papers, and until now, no complete biography of him has been written. This book, a thorough and fascinating biography, fills that longstanding gap, illuminating not only the life of the man but also the history and culture of fifteenth-century Venice.
Dennis Romano reconstructs Foscaris life through careful reading of extant governmental records and chronicle sources. He also uses architectural monuments built by Foscari and his heirs as critical interpretive keys for unlocking the personality and policies of the doge. Romano analyzes how art and power intersected in Renaissance Italy and how the doge came to represent and even embody the state. With this biography, Romano clears away longstanding myths, fills in previously unknown details about Foscaris triumphs and ordeals, and allows to emerge the first intimate portrait of this singular doge.
Synopsis
A glamorous and unprecedented exploration of Palladios work in one of the most beautiful of all cities
Synopsis
Celebrated Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (15081580) devoted much of his career to the city of Venice. Famous for public buildings he had designed in his native Vicenza and country villas he had built for wealthy patricians there, he arrived in Venice in the mid- 1550s confident of establishing a successful new practice. Yet Palladios Venetian career never matched his lofty expectations. Failing to achieve the position of state architect or to earn the kinds of commissions to which he was accustomed, he found himself working in a category new to his practice: ecclesiastical architecture. It was his stunning churches, however, including San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore, that established Palladios lasting renown.
In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated book, Tracy E. Cooper organizes Palladios work in Venice according to different types of patrons. She discusses hismajor monuments as well as less well-known work for charitable foundations, convents, triumphal processions, and the rebuilding of the Ducal Palace. She tells the compelling story of an established architect breaking into a new market and of a Renaissance city in the midst of sweeping change.
Synopsis
While composers of sacred music in 16th-century Venice were devising increasingly complex choral polyphony, Venetian architects began to develop new configurations of sacred space. This fascinating book explores the direct relationship between architectural design and sacred music in Renaissance Venice. Deborah Howard and Laura Moretti combine historical research into the architectural and liturgical traditions of a dozen Venetian churches with the results of a parallel series of scientific surveys and live choral experiments of the acoustic properties of the chosen buildings.
Synopsis
In the councils and magistracies of the Venetian Republic, politicians argued intently over civic building projects in a manner curiously reminiscent of a modern democracy, taking advice from architects, engineers, and the public. Written by a leading authority on Venetian architecture, the book explores the complex dialectic between theory and practice;and#160;utopia and reality; and design and technology that infused these disputes.and#160;
The bitterly contested debates are seen through the experiences of one particular Venetian nobleman, Marc'Antonio Barbaro (1518-1595). Recognized as a gifted stuccoist and draftsman, Barbaro played a prominent role in the discussions about major state building projects such as Palladio's church of the Redentore, the restoration of the Doge's Palace, and the erection of the Rialto Bridge. He was a distinguished statesman and orator, but his idealistic views about the rhetorical power of classicism frequently clashed with local technological expertise. Venice Disputed recounts not only his public role but also his private life, centered on the now-famous family villa that he and his brother commissioned. Barbaro's compelling story thus weaves together politics, architectural history, and private life in early modern Venice.
About the Author
Dennis Romano is professor of history and fine arts, Syracuse University. He has conducted extensive research in Venice over the past twenty-five years.