Product Description

In this classic study, surveying the city's life from Christian Antiquity through the Middle Ages, Richard Krautheimer focuses on monuments of art and architecture as they reflect the historical events, the ideological currents, and the meaning Rome held for its contemporaries. Lavishly illustrated, this book tells an intriguing story in which the heritage of antiquity intertwines with the living presence of Christianity. Written by one of the great art historians of our time, it offers a profile of the Eternal City unlike any drawn in the past or likely to be drawn in the future.

"Krautheimer was never (or only rarely) interested in studying heavily researched subjects, in valorizing what was already valorized, in reconquering what had long been conquered and reconquered. He was at heart a pioneer, a discoverer, a master of uncharted scholarly terrain in an age when so many things art historical were thought to be understood."--From the preface by Marvin Trachtenberg

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #517023 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 389 pages

Review
"It would be difficult to find a word other than masterpiece to describe this book." -- Church History

"Krautheimer's book shows us what history and art history can be when they are truly combined." -- Speculum

A welcome return of an unsurpassed study of a period of Rome's history that is difficult to tell. -- C.M. Richardson, The Art Book

The new edition of the Profile is a welcome return of an unsurpassed study of a period of Rome's history that is difficult to tell . . . [It] is difficult to find fault in such an undertaking or to review its significance when few would dare attempt the same project today. -- Review

Review
Krautheimer's book shows us what history and art history can be when they are truly combined.
(Speculum )

It would be difficult to find a word other than masterpiece to describe this book.
(Church History )

Everyone should be grateful for this learned and humane work, which combines a powerful grasp of the principles and minutiae of the history of Western art with a detailed topographical grasp of this complex city.
(The New York Review of Books )

The new edition of the Profile is a welcome return of an unsurpassed study of a period of Rome's history that is difficult to tell . . . [It] is difficult to find fault in such an undertaking or to review its significance when few would dare attempt the same project today.
(C.M. Richardson The Art Book )

About the Author
Richard Krautheimer was Professor at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. He authored numerous works, including The Rome of Alexander VII, 1655-1667 and Lorenzo Ghiberti (both Princeton).

Customer Reviews

Indispensable guide to Rome's forgotten milennium
Too many histories jump lightly and quickly from the grandeur of pagan Rome to the grandeur of Renaissance and Baroque Rome --ignoring the thousand year artistic and architectural history in between. This book fills in a long and fascinating gap in the history; and brings to our attention works of art that, if they are outshone by the splendours before and after, are not to be despised. The only problem with this book is the relative paucity of pictures and plans, and the absence of any in colour. If printing photographs or reproductions is expensive, why can't they provide a DVD to go with the book?

History through architecture
In the transition from antiquity to medieval times Rome went from the largest city in Europe to a small provincial town. Most histories only discuss Rome as the center of the Catholic church. This book covers the physical development of Rome during this period. As a result it also discusses the cultural and political history of the city.

I had always wondered how the ruins remained so undisturbed. I discovered that the center of the town moved away from the hills towards the river and St. Peter's (which was originally a grave site outside the town and across the river). Also, the process of reusing pieces of old buildings was going on from ancient times. (Today we call that an ecologically good practice.)

The photos and illustrations show the development of the town, before the rapid reurbanization of the 20th century. Many of the photos appear to be from the 1950s or 60s. There are a few color illustrations, but most are in black and white.

The book was written in 1980, it has a new forward, which is almost completely unrelated to the book.