These are sample inside pages of the issues, above. Remember, email at sicarri – at – hotmail.com to reserve the issues you want.
Category: Rome
Secret Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope, Piccolomini (Pius II, 1458-1464)
The Commentaries of Aeneas Sylvius. Trans. Florence Grragg. Folio Society, ©1988. Hardcover, 373 pages. 10 plates. Think of Siena – the Piccolomini chapel. This book gives all the background to the stories painted there as well as describing Siena’s relationship with Florence, Mantua and Milan; famous personalities such as Cardinal Bessarion is mentioned frequently, as is Ferrante, King of Naples,…
How Catholic Art Saved the Faith
The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art. Elizabeth Lev. Sophia Institute, ©2018. Paperback, 310 pp. Desperate to restore the peace and recover the unity of Faith, Catholic theologians clarified and reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, but turned as well to another form of evangelization: the Arts. Convinced that to win over the unlettered, the best place to fight heresy was…
Le Porte di Roma
Angela Giovagnoli. Edizioni del Pasquino, ©1973. Softcover, 137 pagine. Ricco di fotografie in nero, fuori testo, di Enrico Blasi e Massimo Trombetti e di illustrazioni nel testo. €5.
Caravaggio
Patrick Hunt. Haus Publishing, London, ©2004. Softcover, 162 pages. Underlining and occasional extra notes by me. Concise, all the data you need. €5.
Raphael’s School of Athens
Recent Restorations, Volume I. Arnold Nesselrath. Vatican City State, ©1997. Softcover, 109 pages – 37 pages of text, the rest are plates. This volume, documenting its restoration, is richly illustrated and carefully documented in minute detail. This monumental work of Renaissance art, painted as a tribute to the virtue of Truth, will be further understood and appreciated by art lovers…
Guide to the Masterpieces of the Pinacoteca Vaticana
Barbara Furlotti. Scala, ©2008. Softcover, 125 pages with index. Underlining in pencil. A lot of guides won’t do the Pinacoteca, because there it appears like you really have to know your stuff. Well, this is the book to get you started. Rather than suffer the crowds of the Raphael Rooms, you can take your guests on a walk through art…
Christianizing the Roman Empire AD 100 – 400
Ramsay MacMullen. Yale, 1984. Softcover, 183pp. Professor MacMullen examines the question from a secular – rather than ecclesiastical – viewpoint, and his conclusion is that mass conversions to Christianity were based more on the appeal of miracle or the opportunity for worldly advantages than simply on a “rising tide of Christian piety”. The book has a full complement of notes…
In the Light of Apollo
Italian Renaissance and Greece, Vol. 1. National Gallery, 2003. cm.23×31, pp. 583. peso 2.750 kilo. €15. Paintings, sculptures, bronze statuettes, wedding chests, medals, plaquettes, illustrated manuscripts, majolicas, and rare and valuable objects such as cameos and seals from the Medici treasures captured the magic of the Renaissance, marked by its longing for the Greek antiquity. Legendary heroes of this great…
The Deaths of the Popes
Comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and Epitaphs. Wendy J. Reardon. Beautiful hardcover. 310 pages. Weighs 750 grams. €40. Excellent condition. The traditions associated with a pope’s death have changed from when they were buried in the catacombs of Rome. Various ceremonies, rites and rituals developed over time, but a formal procedure was not initiated until the early 1300s and…