Giotto and the Orators: Humanist Observers of Painting in Italy and the Discovery of Pictorial Composition, 1350-1450

Rating:
Summary: challenging, but well worth it
Review: Baxandall's analysis of the intersection of humanist literature and Renaissance aesthetics is truly innovative and insightful. Baxandall sets out to trace the developments of Renaissance 'art criticism' by looking at humanist texts and the various ways in which they address art. This it truly a new approach: one that merits the attention of all art historians as well as anyone who is generally interested in Renaissance art and/or culture.
I will not deny it; this book is a challenging read. Baxandall includes numerous lengthy citations; including a 5-page 'quotation' from Petrarch's "De remedies utriusque fortunae" as well as an 8-page excerpt from Bartolomeo Fazio's "De viris illustribus." Luckily these longer citations are in translation. Baxandall has included a lengthy appendix which includes the original texts of twenty Latin and Greek treatises which are heavily cited. Baxandall does, however, frequently quote in Latin without providing a translation. If you do not know Latin I can image that the text will be doubling frustrating, however I still maintain that it is worth it. Baxandall's insights are refreshing.
This book is the product of years of study and thought by one of the brightest minds in art history. His ideas call into question our mode of approaching Renaissance art, challenging us to confront the artifacts on their own terms, much as he does in his delightful work "Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy." Only in this way can we hope to uncover many of the aspects of Renaissance art which have hitherto fore been ignored by art historians.