Raphael

Estelle May HurllProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 103K words
Chapters: 11

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.Raphael by Estelle M. HurllAuthor: Hurll, Estelle M. (Estelle May), 1863-1924,Language: English, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: Sep 19, 2006

Editor's review

This is an English popular introduction to the Renaissance painter Raphael, in which the author Estelle M. Hurll presents his life and artistic achievements for a general readership. Raphael is known for his harmonious, balanced and idealized classical style, and his Madonnas and Vatican frescoes are especially familiar to later generations. The book belongs to art history writing and serves well as an entry point for understanding Raphael and his era, as well as supplementary reading when visiting museums or planning a course of art history reading. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it is easy to obtain, written in accessible language, and suited to fragmented reading and to building a preliminary framework of art history. Note that the book was written long ago, and some of its art-historical views and methods may bear the limitations of their time; readers should not treat it as contemporary scholarly consensus. The presentation of illustrations in the electronic edition also depends on the specific file format. Overall, it is better suited as an entry point for interest than as a work of in-depth research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Beginning readers interested in Renaissance art and Raphael's life
General museum-goers who want background knowledge before a visit
Secondary or university general-education students in need of accessible art history reading
Readers who prefer free e-books and light reading on art

Not a good fit for

Professional art historians seeking contemporary scholarship and detailed visual analysis
Readers expecting high-resolution plates or close study of painting details
Readers who want a systematic general history of art rather than a monograph on a single figure

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the biographical section to establish a basic timeline of Raphael's creative phases.
While reading, search for images of Raphael's representative paintings and compare them with the text.
Treat the book's older views with caution and read it alongside contemporary art-historical works.
Before visiting a museum, skim the relevant chapters as background preparation for viewing.

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.

FAQ

Is this book a catalogue of Raphael's works or a textual biography?

According to the information, this is an English book in the fine arts category (ND: Painting), written by Estelle M. Hurll, and its content is mainly a textual introduction to Raphael. It is not a high-resolution plate catalogue; the presentation of illustrations in the electronic edition depends on the specific file, and readers should not expect album-quality images.

Are the art-historical views in the book still reliable today?

The book was written long ago and is a popular work for a general audience, so its narrative framework and some judgments may reflect the limitations of its time. It can serve as a basic entry point for understanding Raphael, but on questions of dating, attribution and scholarly debate concerning specific works, contemporary art-historical research should be consulted.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

The information does not give a specific difficulty level, but given its positioning as a popular work, the language is usually mainly narrative, and non-native readers can read it with a dictionary. It is advisable to try one chapter first; if the density of unfamiliar words is too high, read it alongside Chinese-language art-historical materials for comparison.

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About the author

Estelle May Hurll Author · American · 1863–1924

Estelle M. Hurll (1863–1924) was an American writer on art, born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wellesley College, where she later taught ethics. She then turned to writing about art for a general readership, producing a series of accessible guides to appreciation that discussed artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio, Reynolds and Jean-François Millet, and also treated Greek sculpture, child life in art and the Madonna in art. Thirteen of her works are held in this collection, mostly classed under inspirational and personal growth. Her plain, approachable style encourages readers to understand both the form and the feeling of works of art, and her books played a modest part in early twentieth-century American art education.