The Usurer's Heart: Giotto, Enrico Scrovegni, and the Arena Chapel in Padua
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
The Usurer's Heart: Giotto, Enrico Scrovegni, and the Arena Chapel in Padua Details
Review “A significant contribution to one of the most famous monuments in the history of art.”—Erik Thunø, Rutgers University“This is a valuable study that brings together a coherent, persuasive argument, a useful review of the literature, an amplification of sources, and stunning visual support.”—Gail L. Geiger, Renaissance Quarterly“These complex arguments are presented in a book whose format is most elegant, and the authors and the publisher are to be commended for organizing the text and images with the needs of the reader in mind.”—Amy R. Bloch, CAA.reviews“No previous study has marshalled the evidence . . . so thoroughly and with such conviction. . . . [Derbes and Sandona] demonstrate a profound knowledge of late medieval writing, from the sermons of St. Anthony of Padua, to the theology of Thomas Aquinas, to secular literature and chronicles. This is a focused and tightly argued book; and the result is both convincing and compelling.”—John Osborne, The Burlington Magazine“Written by distinguished scholars of medieval art and literature, [The Usurer’s Heart] benefits from an interdisciplinary approach, and the wealth of visual and verbal evidence presented makes a thorough and convincing case for the impact of the patron’s personal history on the chapel’s unique imagery. The clearly written prose is enhanced by an abundance of illustrations in black and white interleaved conveniently within the text, supplemented by high-quality color plates at the volume’s end.”—Holly Flora, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies“The Usurer’s Heart is an outstanding book that should be in every academic library in this country. It is beautifully illustrated, meticulously researched, thought-provoking, and challenging. That some readers, like this reviewer, may not accept every conclusion the authors draw is irrelevant; all readers will be enlightened by Derbes and Sandona’s interpretation of one of the most important works in the history of Western art.”—Jane C. Long, Sixteenth Century Journal“Written by distinguished scholars of medieval art and literature, [this] book benefits from an interdisciplinary approach, and the wealth of visual and verbal evidence presented makes a thorough and convincing case for the impact of the patron’s personal history on the chapel’s unique imagery. The clearly written prose is enhanced by an abundance of illustrations in black and white interleaved conveniently within the text, supplemented by high-quality color plates at the volume’s end.”—Holly Flora, Ecclesiastical History Read more About the Author Anne Derbes is Professor of Art and Co-Director of Honors at Hood College. Her previous books are Picturing the Passion in Late Medieval Italy: Narrative Painting, Franciscan Ideology, and the Levant (1996) and, with Mark Sandona, The Cambridge Companion to Giotto (2003). Mark Sandona is Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at Hood College. He is co-editor, with Anne Derbes, of The Cambridge Companion to Giotto (2003). Read more
Reviews
