Giotto and the Orators: Humanist Observers of Painting in Italy and the Discovery of Pictorial Composition, 1350-1450. (Oxford-Warburg Studies) by Michael Baxandall (1971-06-03)
Friday, January 17, 2020
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Giotto and the Orators: Humanist Observers of Painting in Italy and the Discovery of Pictorial Composition, 1350-1450. (Oxford-Warburg Studies) by Michael Baxandall (1971-06-03) Details
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The book is really illuminating about the Renaissance. For example, at the time of Giotto, Italian was not a totally developed language and therefore each of the different city states had substantial language differences. The humanists were trying to recreate a pre-medieval Latin. This meant that they were readily employable in Rome. This explains why artists more readily move from their home town to Rome than to another region. That is an insight alone well worth reading the book for.