Since it seems many things I did were related to some point to books, and keeping in mind I also like reading, I decided to start a blog about books. Books that I've read, books I'd like to read, interesting news and info from the publishing world - that kind of thing.
Today I discovered some books from my not so distant past that I want to go through again: Michael Baxandall's Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, Millard Meiss' Painting in Florence and Sienna after the Black Death, Walter Friedlander's Mannerism and Mannerisms, Mosche Barasch's Theories of Art. I was delighted to discover some of the things that, for me, bring the sweetness in reading stuff that at times comes in some very stern and (dare I say it?) tedious language. Consider, for instance, the following:
"Wednesday 3 August 1485:
at the chapel at S Spirito seventy-eight florins fifteen soldi in payment of seventy-five florins in gold, paid to Sandro Boticelli on his reckoning as follows - two florins for ultramarine, thirty-eight florins for gold and preparation of the panel, and thirty-five florins for his brush [labour and skill]".
This agreement notice is reproduced in Baxandall, together with others concerning the likes of Ghirlandaio ("and the blue must be ultramarine of the value about four florins the ounce"), Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca.
I am sure this is not everybody's cup of tea, but if you have a deeper interest in the history of art, I think it's impossible not to ask yourself what's the deal with the ultramarine blue: why must Ghirlandaio use stuff that's four florins an ounce, while Boticelli has only two florins to spend on it and no price per quantity is specified.
In case anyone's interested, here are some considerations about ultramarine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarine
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