John Pope-Hennessy (1913–1994)

such a badly organized book. most of the time the pictures discussed are on a nearby page----not on the page. sometimes I could not find the pictures being taken about. sometimes 3 or 4 different pictures would be discussed on the same page. sometimes pictures were discussed and I couldn't find the picture.
maybe it's better to look at the pictures and forget the writing.

A superb work beautifully illustrated, printed in Japan, by one of the 20th century's greatest art critics with the Paradiso translation by Charles Singleton.

Of particular interest here are a number of birth-trays (trays used and displayed in the lying-in room in Renaissance Italy:

* One with scenes from Bocaccio's Comedia delle Ninfe Fiorentine showing hunters conversing with nymphs in a garden/sylvan setting
* A 1428 Florentine tray with a birthscene on one side and on the other, a naked child with coral amulet,pinwheel and hobbyhorse, urinating silver and gold, in a forest setting along with 2 inset coats of arms and the motto, being show more translated, "May God grant health to every woman who gives birth and to their father... may [the child] be born without fatigue or peril. I am an infant who lives on a [rock?] and I make urine of silver and gold."
* a Medici birth tray with a triumph, to commemorate the birth of Lorenzo il Magnifico in 1449.

Also a number of painted cassones, or chests, including a number with battle scenes, the story of Jason and the Argonauts, the labors of Hercules, and a 1460-70 depiction of the book of Esther, with a dinner scene. Another cassone depicting Plutarch's life of Publicola shows a wide variety of circa 1480 women's clothing, as well as maidens (fully clothed) swimming the Tiber. Another set of fragments depict a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman (both with the huge blonde hair fashion) playing chess surrounded by a crowd of onlookers of both sexes.

A set of panels (probably for wall display) depicting the Old Testament story of Jospeh is especially vivid and entrancing, though the story of the queen of Sheba might be of interest to those curious about triumphal city entries. Also of interest would be fragments of a cassone panel showing the Triumph of Chaste Love.

For jewelers and scholars of hairdressing, the portraits included here are especially interesting though there are less than 10-- in one case, the critics comment, "it is as though the painter had been invited to prepare a visual catalogue of the jewels owned by the Scolari" (59).

NOTE: I did not read all the text, but browsed it along with the images. show less

An artist worth knowing more about.