Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters

Steedman, AmyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4
Word count
253K words
Chapters
26

Tags

English Originals PaintingArtists Art HistoryWestern ArtAnecdotesPainter StoriesCuriosityIllustrated GuidePopular NarrativeItalian SettingRenaissanceYouth Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters by Amy SteedmanAuthor: Steedman, Amy,Language: English, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: May 1, 1996

Editor's review

Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters introduces Italian painters in a storytelling style, turning art-historical knowledge into highly readable narrative and making it suitable as an introductory book on Western painting. The author, Amy Steedman, writes for general readers in plain language and emphasizes the connection between artists and their works, allowing readers to form a basic impression of the Italian painting tradition through relaxed reading. The English eBook from Project Gutenberg is convenient for reference and excerpting at any time, suitable for family reading, introductory art appreciation, or background reading before visiting an art museum. While reading, you can look up images of the paintings and read while viewing to deepen your understanding of the works' styles and historical context; you can also read chapter by chapter by artist rather than finishing it all at once.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read chapter by chapter by artist, and after each chapter look up images of the corresponding paintings for comparison.
  2. Use it as family reading material, reading about one artist each time and discussing the most memorable works.
  3. Learn the general historical periods beforehand to help grasp the chronological relationships among the painters.
  4. Combine the stories in the book with museum visits, going to see the original works with questions in mind.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26

FAQ

Is this book an art history textbook? It is not a strict textbook but a popular book introducing Italian painters in a storytelling way. It is suitable for building interest and a basic impression, but lacks systematic periodization, explanation of terms, and scholarly notes; if used for coursework, it needs to be paired with a formal art history textbook and catalogues.
Do I need prior knowledge of painting to read this book? No. The author writes mainly in narrative form for general readers, so the threshold for entry is low. Readers need only a basic interest in Italian painting; if they can look up images of the paintings while reading, understanding will be more intuitive.
Is the English original difficult to read? The language is generally plain and the narrative clear, making it a relatively accessible English read. Some painters' names, place names, and art terms may be unfamiliar and can be looked up as you go; readers with intermediate English reading ability can usually finish it smoothly.
Is it suitable for children? It can serve as family reading or art-appreciation material for young people, but some historical background and the artists' experiences need explanation from adults. Parents are advised to skim the content first, choose suitable chapters for shared reading, and use images of the paintings to help children form intuitive impressions.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Steedman, Amy Author

Amy Steedman is an English author of children's literature about whom relatively little is known; her nationality, dates and educational background are not clearly recorded in publicly available sources. Five works are currently attributed to her, falling mainly into two categories: stories from art history and retellings of biblical narrative. Among them, Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters introduces Italian painters to young readers in story form, a typical work of art appreciation for children. The Babe in the Bulrushes, Joseph the Dreamer and David the Shepherd Boy draw on the biblical figures of Moses, Joseph and David, with simple language and straightforward plots suited to children. In God's Garden: Stories of the Saints for Little Children likewise addresses young readers with tales of the saints. Overall, her writing conveys knowledge of art and religious culture through storytelling, serving children's education and early learning in a plain and accessible style. Given the limited public information, details of her life and the influence of her works await further verification.