The Place of Narrative: Mural Decoration in Italian Churches 431-1600

About this book

Looking at more than two hundred Italian medieval and Renaissance mural cycles Lavin examineswith the aid of computer technologythe "rearranged" chronologies of familiar religious stories found therein. "Like many masterpieces Lavins book builds upon a simple idea . . . it is possible to do a computer analysis of . . . visual narratives. . . . This is the first computer-based study of the visual arts of which I am aware that illustrates how those technologies can utterly transform the study of old master art. An extremely important book one likely to become the most influential recent study of art of this period The Place of Narrative is also a beautiful artifact."David Carrier Leonardo "Covering over a millennium and dealing with the whole of Italy Lavin makes pioneering use of new methodology employing a computer database . . . and novel terminology to describe the disposition of scenes of church and chapel walls. . . . We should recognize this as a book of high seriousness which reaches out into new areas and which will fruitfully stimulate much thought on a neglected subject of very considerable significance."Julian Gardner Burlington Magazine