Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Campbell's catalog of 52 early Renaissance Netherlandish paintings from the collection of the National Gallery in London serves to build on the series of catalogs written and revised by Martin Davies between 1945 and 1970. Each entry offers updated information on authorship and provenance, history, iconography, and patronage. Though Campbell notes that the veracity of these works was not the artist's ultimate goal, he chooses not to discuss intended or shifting meaning, original audience, or other recent developments in the iconographic interpretations of these paintings. Instead, Campbell (research curator, National Gallery), together with the Conservation Department, has done an extensive technical investigation of each painting in the form of X-radiographs, infrared reflectogram photographs, and paint samples of both the paintings and frames. These complete physical assessments offer not only a better understanding of the chemistry of Renaissance materials, but also the technical and artistic process of building paint onto the surface of a panel by layering primings and pigments. Accordingly, the high-quality photographs are stunningly beautiful, and extensive technical notes on each work offer new information on the style and method of each artist. Upper-division undergraduates and up. A. L. Palmer; University of Oklahoma