Pope1-min
Catholic Theology, Rome, Tour Guide Interest, Uncategorized

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,…

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Iguvium1-min
Ancient Rome, Tour Guide Interest

The Tables of Iguvium

Augusto Ancillotti, Romolo Cerri. Edizioni Jama Perugia, 1997. Softcover, 126 pages. Color photos, facsimiles, transliterated text, translation and comment.            The Iguvine Tablets, also known as the Eugubian Tablets or Eugubine Tables, are a series of seven bronze tablets from ancient Iguvium (Gubbio), Italy. The earliest tablets, written in the native Umbrian alphabet, were probably produced…

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lizlev1
Art History, Catholic Theology, Rome, Saints' Lives, Tour Guide Interest

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…

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Ravenna1
Art History, Mosaics, Tour Guide Interest

Ravenna, City of Art

Edizioni Salbaroli-Ravenna. No author, no date. Softcover, 143 pages. An excellent, concise, well illustrate book. A good prelude to seeing the actual mosaics. The Italian guides published (in English) by Edizioni Salbaroli of Milan are the best around. This one contains a brief potted history (no mean feat as it was a very important place at one time), a simple…

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4001
Art History, Catholic Theology, Tour Guide Interest

The Fifteenth Century Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

Recent Restorations, Volume IV. Jorge Maria Cardinal Mejia, Arnold Nesselrath e others. Vatican City State, ©2003. Softcover, 249 pages. 222 colour photographs, 7 b/w photographs, 12 diagrams. Completely dedicated to the restoration of the frescoes depicting episodes in the lives of Christ and Moses, painted on the side walls of the Sistine Chapel by some of the greatest artists of…

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