[DOC] Rome: A Cultural; Visual; and Personal History by Robert Hughes at Arts-Photography

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Robert Hughes ..quality and substance..By Daniel G. MadiganRobert Hughes brilliant revelation of Imperial Rome as a complex world chiefly remembered for its art. the only thing that comes out of ancient Rome as an exemplar of beauty and truth. changed so much of what I thought of Rome from Ancient to Modern life and practice.A great study. the first critic to explode absurd. conventional ideas about culture and not tolerate the evaluations of the unintelligent.77 of 83 people found the following review helpful. Immersion in the Eternal CityBy The Ginger ManHughes Roman biography moves chronologically from the foundation of the city through events of the fascist era. While his previous book about Barcelona is social history. Rome combines cultural. visual and personal history with straightforward political and military narrative.The focus of Hughes analysis depends on the historical period under consideration. In his chapter on the founding of the city. Hughes confines himself largely to political developments including the first and second Punic wars. the rise and fall of Julius Caeser and the ascent of Octavius. Similarly. his history of the nineteenth century includes tales of Mazzini. Garibaldi. Cavour. Pope Pius IX. the Syllabus of Errors and ultramontanism. Along the way. Hughes pauses occasionally to provide the reader with aesthetic insights. He criticizes the Vittoriano monument. for example. on both aesthetic and historical grounds: "Neither in design nor in material does the typewriter look Roman. and. in point of fact. it is not."In his chapter on the Renaissance. however. Hughes focuses almost exclusively on art and architectural history including discussion of Brunelleschi. Bramante. Raphael and Michelangelo. His work is especially illuminating in sections such as the one covering the Grand Tour and Neoclassicism. Here. Hughes brings to bear his formidable understanding of cultural history to reveal less widely known facts about Roman history. We meet leading English purveyors of inauthentic Italian antiquities Thomas Jenkins and James Byres. first choice for foreigners wanting Roman portraits Pompeo Batoni. master of more than 1.000 engravings of Roman architecture Giovanni Battista Piranesi and inventor of archeological categories Johann Jonachim Winkelmann. We are treated to Hughes sharp insights concerning all things Roman. He concisely describes the formidable nature of travel in 1780: "Abroad was bloody and foreigners were bastards." More charitably. Hughes resurrects the reputation of painter Antonio Canova. calling him the "last of a line of geniuses who redefined art" beginning in the 14th century and ending with Canova.Hughes covers a long historical period and many subjects in this book. But the pace is brisk. the portraits of people and events are well chosen and the authors voice is caring and incisive. Hughes acts as Bear Leader to the reader (as Grand Tour guides referred to themselves) and never lets his charges forget how strongly he feels about the city. Rome. says Hughes. is irksome. frustrating. contradicting. spectacular and secretive. It is. in sum. "an enormous concretion of human glory and human error."For all its faults. the city is unique and full of wonder. "Nothing exceeds the delight of ones first immersion in Rome." advises the author in his loving introduction. If you have not visited the city in person. you could do far worse than to experience your first virtual immersion in the pages of this book.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. An opus on RomeBy Michael BoyajianA great read even with some of the errors which some say are attributable to the fact checker rather than the author whose love of the subject jumps off the pages. One error that I recalled says that Romes ancient racetrack is buried under apartments but its not its outline is in plain view next to the Palentine Hill and is the second thing you see after all the tour buses leave the Colosseum.