Giotto and the Arena Chapel; art, architecture & experience.

9781905375127

Giotto and the Arena Chapel; art, architecture & experience.

Jacobus, Laura.

Harvey Miller Publishers

2008

447 pages

$196.00

Hardcover

Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History; v.47

ND623

Giotto's fresco cycle, which is one of the most acclaimed works of the trecento, and the story of the creation of the Arena Chapel itself are the subject of an exhaustive analysis in this well-researched, heavily illustrated volume. The origins of the Chapel, its complex building history, the iconographic plan of its interior decoration, and the biography of its patron, Enrico Scrovegni, are the subject of the first part. In the remainder of the book Jacobus (Birkbeck College, U. of London, the UK) describes Giotto's fresco cycle from a number of perspectives using archival and archaeological evidence to flesh out the process of painting, the nature of the workshop, the sources and production of the figures, the iconography of the cycle, the relation of the composition of some of the scenes to mystery plays, and the ceremonial use of the space. Typical for this publisher, the book's plates are of the finest quality, with a large section of full-page color plates as well as the smaller b&w images used throughout the text. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co.

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