5 comments about Venice: Lion City.

1. I'm afraid "elventh" has it correct. This book is a great study of a specific slice of art history. I read everything Wills writes and pass along his writings to everyone I know, but not this one. For those with the patience and background, (I lack the background, but after reading it I lack less) however, it is fully worth the time.



2. This book provides some interesting artistic and historic insights to lovers of Venice, but it is a difficult "read" and is often strained in its interpretations and conclusions. It also presumes a fairly advanced knowledge of Venetian art and history. In addition, there are various out-and-out errors: For example, on pg. 19, the Italian word "fondaco" is wrong-- it should be "fondamento"; on pg. 21, the saint identified as Stephen is actually Sebastian; on pg. 264, St. Sebastian's date, stated unequivocally to be 4th century A.D., could just as well have been 3rd century, since sources differ on the point. I would have expected a higher degree of accuracy from this author.



3. This is a wonderful book. While Wills has been criticized as a non-specialist in these reviews, in many ways I found that an asset in this book. It is beautifully written - he has a uniquely clear and flowing style of writing that is a continual pleasure for me - and as he presents the essence of the many subjects he wishes to cover, he rarely gets bogged down in detail. In addition, many of the things that he investigates are wonderful surprizes for non-specialized readers such as myself (e.g. that the body of St. Mark was stolen by Venetians and set up in a shrine to establish the legitimacy of the city's unusual political culture).
   
   THe book is organized in several theme sections. First, in Imperial Disciplines, there are the historical origins and unique structure of this Renaissance state, which allowed it to escape the power struggles that dogged medieval Italy, i.e. unlike the innumerable city states re-fought the same territorial battles every generation under different egomaniacs. Second, in Imperial Personnel, Wills looks at the various members of society, from the frozen aristocracy (built on the expectation of duty rather than priviledge) to the workers who made the city's arsenal such as great and unique strategic asset as well as the "outsiders," such as the Jews (the word "ghetto," we learn, was coined for Venetian brass foundaries); how the state functioned, who held power and how it was exercised (in a diffused bureaucratic balance), are expertly described while avoiding the heaviness of a comprehensive history. Third, in Imperial Piety, there is the religious iconography and ritual, which in part allowed Venetians the sense of legitimacy they needed to defy Rome and the Pope over centuries. As I am quite ignorent of Christian history, this was fascinating and valuable for me, e.g. that St George was a Christianized Hercules, who also "fought" the many plagues that inevitably arose in the Venetian environment. Finally, in Imperial Learning, there is the Renaissance scholarship that came late to the city, and how it altered the art, politics, book scholarship, and the like - all set in geo-political context. Throughout - and sometimes with too much descriptive detail for me - Wills interprets the art and architecture of Venice in light of these themes. The result is simply dazzling, in my view, a masterwork by a great populariser and philosophical moralist.
   
   At any rate, this was exactly what I was looking for, and from reading many of WIlls' books, what I expected. It is not for graduate-level academics, but rather for those well informed on European history who are curious to learn more on Venice.
   
   Warmly recommended.



4. For someone who is going to Venice for the first time reading any of the various guidebooks devoted to the city will probably suffice, particularly for those who will be spending a limited amount of time there. Those who will be spending more than a day or two, or those returning to the city, who have already seen the usual sights, toured a glass factory and taken a gondola ride and wish to get a deeper understanding of what they have seen will appreciate this book.
   
   The sheer amount of imagery in Venice can be totally overwhelming, even to those who are familiar with Venetian history. It is difficult not to experience sensory overload at the layers of Venice are displayed so densely packed in the confined space of the city. The author uses this treasure trove of art to describe Venice at her peak in the 15th and 16th centuries. Instead of just relating information in a strictly linear fashion the author has chosen to take a more conceptual approach, focusing on the roles of various sections of society, women, youth, artists; on aspects of religion and education to give the reader an idea of how the city actually worked.
   
   This work is definitely not for the casual reader, it is written at a collegiate level and if it was not planned to be a text for an upper level history or art history course it could certainly be used as one. Those who would appreciate this are people who have already been to Venice, particularly if they are planning to return soon. On the down side this is absolutely not an easy read. It is rather heavy going, occasionally repeating information from earlier sections. Anyone who wants to explore even further will find extensive notes at the end of the book.



5. Wills' intention is to "look at the history through the art, the art through the history." As a result, the book depends very much on its illustrations, and these are unfortunately miserably poor. When a work being discussed is reproduced at all, the reproduction is likely to be a dark smudge of ink about the size of a playing card. The result is a very frustrating reading experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

No comments about Marco Polo: A Journey Through China (Expedition).

1 comments about I Wouldn't Leave Rome to Go to Heaven.

1. If you've ever loved a city, you'd know how easy it is to love Rome. And Joie Davidow describes Rome in a modern, highly lived-in way. If you've ever sat in a caffe' and learned to linger and wondered about the man with the big hat, the woman with the long scarf, the waiter with the look, this book brings all of them to life within the sinuous streets of the Trastevere of today -- where one is as likely to hear Moroccan accented Italian, Albanian and English mixed with Italian or Spanish, even romanesco if you're lucky! The personaggi 's lives --highly intelligent people they are, people who know much about themselves - rise out of those steamed cappuccini, take form and shape and lead us through the city that is heaven to Joie, and thanks to her, to me as well. Grazie Joie!

No comments about Goethe in Italy, 1786-1986: A Bi-Centennial Symposium, November 14-16, 1986, University of California, Santa Barbara : Proceeding Volume (Amsterdamer Publikationen Zur Sprache Und Literatur).

No comments about Epicurean Traveler.

No comments about Michelin Road Atlas Italy, Scale 1:300,000.

1 comments about Rome and the Vatican Travel Pack (Globetrotter Travel Packs).

1. This is a great buy. This travel guide is complete, well illustrated with color photos and maps, an okay index, and it comes with a separate Rome and the Vatican travel map. About every two pages there is a small color map of the area relevant to those pages. Map and travel guide are compact and in a clever transparent jacket.

2 comments about The Flight to Italy: Diary and Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics).

1. Those who love Goethe or love Italy or love traveling might have come across The Italian Journey, Goethe's late-in-life rendering of his experience "fleeing" Weimar and hopeless love to fulfill a lifelong dream of being in Italy. I can't say staying in Italy or visiting Italy or studying Italy because Goethe's quest was so much more profound and fundamental; in Italy Goethe hoped to BE. This diary and these letters, however, are Goethe's immediate impressions, un-editted and not reconsidered. These are his immediate considerations and his emotions expressed in the diary he wrote for Frau von Stein, the woman he loved more or less hopelessly for several years. I love both books, but this one, unlike Italian Journey, is not neatly refined and carved and considered from a mature viewpoint; this is full of the urgency and passion and longing that propelled Goethe across the Brenner and up the slopes of Vesuvius. It's just GREAT.



2. Goethe's Italian journey came after ten hard years administering and working at Weimar. In these years his literary output contracted. The trip to Italy was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, a dream inspired in part by his own father's earlier journey and love of Italy. In Italy Goethe found yet another side of his multifaceted self . He opened to the world and the light and to sensuous reality. His connection with Nature is a fundamental theme of his poetry and in Italy he found a Nature which seemed imbued with organic form and Art , and an Art imbued with Nature. In a sense leaving home enabled him to come home to a central side of himself.
   Goethe was a writer- scientist- artist whose central theme was his own inner development. This development took a dramatic turn for the good, and these journals of his Italian trip are a central part of ' the great confession' which was his work.

No comments about Piano, Piano, Pieno: Authentic Food from a Tuscan Farm.

No comments about Italia Romantica: English Romantics and Italian Freedom.