Here's a bibliography of "easy reading" that gives some background perspective into the history of art:

 

MESOPOTAMIA

 

Sam Barone, Dawn of Empire.  Fiction - just published in 2006.  If you enjoyed our class discussion of the Prehistoric and Near Eastern "walled cities," you will like reading this account of the people who lived in them.  This is historical fiction at its best. Easy and smooth reading.

 

BYZANTINE ART

 

Tom Harper, The Mosaic of Shadows.  Fiction. The setting of this fast paced mystery is Byzantium in the year 1096.  The title is misleading - there's not too much about art here - but there's a lot of background information about the society and imperial politics of the time.

 

MEDIEVAL

 

Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages.  Nonfiction.  Just published in 2006.  The subtitle explains it all: "The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe."  He begins with Alexandria, the city of reason; discusses how the Romans became Italians; progresses to the cult of the virgin, the pursuit of love, (and their consequences); and concludes by expanding the Mediterranean into the Atlantic and the Orient.  This is the same author who wrote How the Irish Saved Civilization.  This is nonfiction that reads like fiction - easy and highly interesting writing style.

 

Kate Mosse, Labyrinth.  Fiction.  This is another Dan Brown type of  "Holy Grail" book with a different twist.  This novel gives one great insight into the religious philosophy of the Cathers and how it affected Thirteenth Century France.

 

THE RENAISSANCE

 

R.W.B. Lewis, The City of Florence.  This is a travel guide that's not really a travel guide.  Lewis has spent a lot of time in Florence.  He describes its architecture, sculpture, and paintings as if he were a tour guide talking to graduate students.  There's a lot of art history here that's related to the geography, politics, and economics of the Early Renaissance.  Not necessarily easy reading, but chuck full of highly interesting and meaningful details.

 

Mary McCarthy, The Stones of Florence. The author takes the reader on a powerful artistic tour of the Early Renaissance city.  There are plenty of references to our superstars, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli, and (High Renaissance) Michelangelo.  She also draws in 14th and 15th century events in neighboring Padua, Siena, and Rome.  Not necessarily easy reading...but it's a great supplement to our Gardner textbook.

 

Ross King, Brunellechi's Dome.  Non Fiction.  Excellent background into the personalities involved in the building of the dome of Florence Cathedral.  Interesting and easy reading style.

 

Ross King, Michelangelo & the Pope's Ceiling.  Non Fiction.  Powerful book that should be renamed "Not Just the Sistine Chapel."  There's a lot here about the artists, popes, and princes who were contemporaries of Michelangelo. Interesting and easy reading.

 

R.A. Scott, Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal of the Building of St. Peter's.  Great book that covers the major personalities involved in the building of St. Peter's over hundreds of years.  This one of the best books I've ever read!  It's nonfiction but it reads like fiction.  The author kept me in suspense - I kept wondering if St. Peter's would ever be completed!  Easy reading style.

 

BAROQUE

 

Jonathan Harr, The Lost Painting.  Fiction - but based on a true story.  Fast moving mystery about two Italian art students who research and discover a lost Caravaggio. The writer's use of descriptive detail is so powerful that you can actually feel the heat of the Roman and Tuscan sun as you are reading the book.  Easy reading.  Extraordinarily interesting.

 

IMPRESSIONISM

 

Ross King, The Judgment of Paris.  Nonfiction.  If you love the Impressionists you won't want to put this book down!