Dominion of the Eye : Urbanism, Art, and Power in Early Modern Florence

Rating:
Summary: Award-winning book
Review: I am one of Marvin Trachtenberg's students, so I am not the most objective evaluator of his book. However, I wanted to add to the record that it was selected the most distinguished work of scholarship in its field in 1999 by both the U.S. Society of Architectural Historians (it was awarded the Alice Davis Hitchcock Prize) and the College Art Association (who awarded it the Charles Rufus Morey prize). Trachtenberg had already been honored with a Hitchock prize in 1973 for his first book, "The Campanile of Florence Cathedral, 'Giotto's Tower'." The last book to win both awards was Richard Krautheimer's now-classic "Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308."

Rating:
Summary: EL ESPACIO PUBLICO FLORENTINO POR MARVIN TRACHTENBERG
Review: IT IS A SHAME THAT A GREAT BOOK LIKE THIS ONE, WITH GREAT QUALITY IN PRINTING HAS SO MANY BAD DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. I HAVE READ THE FORMER ESSAY WRITEN BY TRACHTENBERG, "WHAT BRUNELESCHI SAW" AND THE DRAWINGS AND IMAGES ARE THE SAME FOR THE MOST PART. THERE ARE SOME NEW IMAGES THAT ARE REALLY GREAT AND SOME THAT I MISSED IN THE NEW BOOK. FOR EXAMPLE THE "SKETCHY" PLAN OF PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA THAT HE DREW IN HIS FORMER ESSAY, AND IN WICH HE SHOWS OR PROVES HIS THEORY ABOUT THE MESUREMENTS OF THE SPACE IS ABSENT. DID HE REPLACE IT WITH THE SURVEY MAP OF THE SAME PIAZZA SHOWN ON PAGE XIV OF THE PREFACE? I AM, INTRESTED IN HIS MICRO-HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE PIAZZA, LOOKING BACK AT THESE SPACES THAT WEREN'T SO IRATIONALY CONCEIVED. I DID A LITTLE HOMEWORK AND MADE A "BLOW-UP" OF THE SURVEY MAP TO A KNOWN SCALE(1:500m). I STARTED TO CORROBORATE HIS MESURMENTS OF THE PIAZZA AND I FELT THAT ALL HIS THEORY (I HAVE TO ADMIT I LIKED IT) COLAPSED. AS A THIRD YEAR ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT I HOPE THAT SOMEONE WITH MORE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE THEME SHOULD REVIEW THIS BOOK. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE JOURNAL OF ARCHITECHTURAL REVIEW IS INTRESTED IN REVIEWING IT AND I IMAGINE THAT THEY WILL BE MORE CRITICAL. IT IS MY FEELING THAT WITH OTHER DRAWINGS AND MORE POWERFULL ILLUSTRATIONS (I'M NOT SAYING THAT THE ONES THAT HE HAS AREN'T) TRACHTENBERG WOULD MADE CLEARER HIS THEORIES. FOR ALL IT'S SHORT-COMINGS IT IS A BOOK THAT SAYS NEW THINGS ABOUT MEDIEVAL PUBLIC SPACES.

Rating:
Summary: Award-winning book
Review: IT IS A SHAME THAT A GREAT BOOK LIKE THIS ONE, WITH GREAT QUALITY IN PRINTING HAS SO MANY BAD DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. I HAVE READ THE FORMER ESSAY WRITEN BY TRACHTENBERG, "WHAT BRUNELESCHI SAW" AND THE DRAWINGS AND IMAGES ARE THE SAME FOR THE MOST PART. THERE ARE SOME NEW IMAGES THAT ARE REALLY GREAT AND SOME THAT I MISSED IN THE NEW BOOK. FOR EXAMPLE THE "SKETCHY" PLAN OF PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA THAT HE DREW IN HIS FORMER ESSAY, AND IN WICH HE SHOWS OR PROVES HIS THEORY ABOUT THE MESUREMENTS OF THE SPACE IS ABSENT. DID HE REPLACE IT WITH THE SURVEY MAP OF THE SAME PIAZZA SHOWN ON PAGE XIV OF THE PREFACE? I AM, INTRESTED IN HIS MICRO-HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE PIAZZA, LOOKING BACK AT THESE SPACES THAT WEREN'T SO IRATIONALY CONCEIVED. I DID A LITTLE HOMEWORK AND MADE A "BLOW-UP" OF THE SURVEY MAP TO A KNOWN SCALE(1:500m). I STARTED TO CORROBORATE HIS MESURMENTS OF THE PIAZZA AND I FELT THAT ALL HIS THEORY (I HAVE TO ADMIT I LIKED IT) COLAPSED. AS A THIRD YEAR ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT I HOPE THAT SOMEONE WITH MORE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE THEME SHOULD REVIEW THIS BOOK. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE JOURNAL OF ARCHITECHTURAL REVIEW IS INTRESTED IN REVIEWING IT AND I IMAGINE THAT THEY WILL BE MORE CRITICAL. IT IS MY FEELING THAT WITH OTHER DRAWINGS AND MORE POWERFULL ILLUSTRATIONS (I'M NOT SAYING THAT THE ONES THAT HE HAS AREN'T) TRACHTENBERG WOULD MADE CLEARER HIS THEORIES. FOR ALL IT'S SHORT-COMINGS IT IS A BOOK THAT SAYS NEW THINGS ABOUT MEDIEVAL PUBLIC SPACES.