Art History Textbooks ReviewsArt History Textbooks Reviews

A must for students and professors of Art History
This is a fantastic introduction to art history and critical theory. D'Alleva presents complex ideas in a clear manner, never "dumbing down" theoretical concerns. I plan on assigning this to my students, along with her other text "Look!"

A Timeless Classic Study of a Timeless Classic Monument
This handy, compact volume offers a scholarly, yet readable introduction to the history, architecture, and sculptural decoration of the Parthenon. An introductory essay, "The Parthenon and the Theory of Classical Form," provides an overview of all aspects of this temple and a context for the essays to follow.

The history of the Parthenon is discussed in four essays: "The Political Implications of the Parthenon," by Russel Meiggs; "Fifteenth-Century Drawings and Descriptions of the Parthenon," by Charles Mitchell and Ciriaco d'Ancona; an eyewitness account of the bombardment of the Acropolis, 1687 and 1688, by Christoforo Ivanovich; and "The Acquisition of the Elgin Marbles, the Years 1799-1806, by Jacob Rothenberg.

The architecture of the Parthenon is discussed in two essays: "The Design and Building Techniques of the Parthenon," by William Bell Dinsmoor; and "Aesthetic Analysis Concerning the Curvature of the Parthenon," by A. Mavrikios.

Finally the sculptures of the Parthenon are discussed in two essays: "Athena and Athens in the East Pediment of the Parthenon," by Evelyn B. Harrison; and "Gods and Men in the Parthenon Frieze," by Philipp Fehl.

The book is copiously illustrated with black-and-white photographs of the temple and its sculpture (both the friezes and the pediments), maps, plans, and reproductions of historic drawings.

Excellent Start
There are a number of truly excellent, insightful, and must read essays in this book, covering ideas of the other, gender, orientalism, and black women in art history. Which is my only criticism of the book, it is about art history, not contemporary art and not about the theory itself. The theories are employed within the essays which is helpful to see how that is done, but if you are looking for the source of the theories on race and on race in art, this is not the text. However, there are a lot of great essays, very interesting to read, very accessible, not so ladened with theory as to be unapproachable.