Description: The Spectacle of Clouds examines the different ways Heaven has been conceived and represented from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, crossing over into the fields of history, religion and philosophy. By examining visual sources such as paintings, frescos and stage designs, together with letters, guild-ledgers, descriptions of performances and treatises, a new methodology to approach the development of this early modern visuality is offered. The result is an historical reconstruction where multiple factors are seen as facets of a single process which led to the development of Italy's visual culture.
Review Quotes:
'This study offers a definitive chronology and morphology of stage machinery, including the emphasis on Florence and the rewriting of the 'Baroque cloud dome' history from Correggio to Lanfranco. There is a mine of great information throughout the book and anyone seeking to use the book selectively to learn about one monument - e.g. Cigoli's dome in Santa Maria Maggiore - will find the structural elements of each example outlined and be able to understand where such a monument stands in the larger development of dome decoration.' Ian Verstegen (University of Pennsylvania) is author of Cognitive Iconology: When and How Psychology Explains Images
'One of the main achievements of Buccheri's study is ... to give the reader a real sense of the central role of theatrical entertainments during this period, and of their extraordinary appeal.' Burlington Magazine