Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

While the importance of color to the Venetian pictorial tradition has been almost endlessly observed and discoursed upon, never before has this critical topic received so wide-ranging, perceptive, and original a synthesis. Methodically, but with a sometimes uncanny visual sensitivity, Hills (Warwick Univ., England) reconstructs the range and nuance of the Venetian palette as it manifests itself in the specific materials employed in the city's architectural and urban fabric, mosaics, minor arts, textiles, and painting. The evolving and expanding range of coloristic decisions and innovations that culminate in the masterpieces of Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian are savored within the unique effects of Venice's ambiance. Adeptly integrated with the author's always perceptive analyses is a fascinating array of contemporary documents that lay the foundation for the understanding, reading, and appreciation of color as a social phenomenon.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

While the importance of color to the Venetian pictorial tradition has been almost endlessly observed and discoursed upon, never before has this critical topic received so wide-ranging, perceptive, and original a synthesis. Methodically, but with a sometimes uncanny visual sensitivity, Hills (Warwick Univ., England) reconstructs the range and nuance of the Venetian palette as it manifests itself in the specific materials employed in the city's architectural and urban fabric, mosaics, minor arts, textiles, and painting. The evolving and expanding range of coloristic decisions and innovations that culminate in the masterpieces of Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian are savored within the unique effects of Venice's ambiance. Adeptly integrated with the author's always perceptive analyses is a fascinating array of contemporary documents that lay the foundation for the understanding, reading, and appreciation of color as a social phenomenon. All of this is complemented by a superb selection of some 200 reproductions. A requisite acquisition for academic art history collections.--Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

The "color of Venice" means not only paintings glistening with oil, polychromed sculpture, and brilliant encasements of mosaic, but also reflections on the waters of the lagoon and the astounding changing panorama of a light-filled sky. This ambitious and stimulating book takes it all on. Hills (Warwick Univ.; London Univ.) allows us to see the special quality of Venice from a new perspective: a closed environment in which every aspect of the setting contributes to a sense of well-being. Detailed discussion of the marbles, pavements, and the "throbbing" gold and blue intensity of the interior decorations of San Marco stand side by side with sensitive assessments of the delicate washes of Venetian manuscript illumination. The laying of mosaic tesserae is discussed in the same breath as the flickering brush strokes of a Titian. An important thesis is the sudden escalation in color sensibility that takes place in Venice in the 15th century. A final chapter treats the extraordinary developments in Venetian glass, building on centuries of a coloristic education, that began in the Renaissance. Large color illustrations generously covering the full range of material take us into every corner of the city. A definitive study that will engage both scholars and amateur lovers of Venice. General readers; undergraduates through faculty. D. Pincus; National Gallery of Art