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Rome
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
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"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
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416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 26, 2020
Magnificent book. Loaded with information and will therefore a second (third?) reading.
For the moment I am starting a Google Map so that I can pin all the medieval catacumbae, Domus ecclesiae, churches, towers etc....
A treasure.
A proper review will follow after a deeper revisit.
For the moment I am starting a Google Map so that I can pin all the medieval catacumbae, Domus ecclesiae, churches, towers etc....
A treasure.
A proper review will follow after a deeper revisit.
July 25, 2014
This is a wonderful book to read before visiting Rome. It's title is very apt: it's a history through topography, through art, through tangible places and things. It tells the story of medieval Rome through it's buildings, which is a really interesting and memorable way to do it. I think Krautheimer in general is a better art historian than historian - some of his non-art sections are a bit generalized - but that's okay. I really like that he weaves both together, and shows how the political, economic, or social history of the city became reflected in its buildings.
May 27, 2020
Nors knyga parašyta sunkoku stiliumi ir apipila daugybe faktų ir nuorodų, ji puikiai atskleidžia Amžinojo miesto gyvenimą mums mažai žinomu laikotarpiu (viduramžiai tarp Antikos ir Renesanso). Skaitant šią knygą apima noras pirkti bilietą į Romą ir sekti knygos pasakojimą realybėje.
March 18, 2022
The second book of a short reading course recommended by Norman F Cantor in 'Civilization of the Middle Ages'.
As a resource book, this tome is immaculately researched, detailed to the nth degree, and highly recommended. As a casual foray into medieval history, it's not a casual foray.
The knowledge that Krautheimer displays of the City of Rome of Yore is nothing short of astounding. With heavy concentration (as is appropriate) on the churches and basilicas of the time, Krautheimer takes us by the hand, and sprints us though list after list after list of buildings, streets, hills, monuments, ruins, campinales, towers, facades, narthexes, apses, cloisters, mosaics, bridges, abitati and disabitati in a bewildering display of the devolving and redeveloping city of Rome from the collapse of the Empire until the movement of the papacy to Avignon.
Now, I was fortunate enough to visit Rome about a decade ago, and my historical familiarity, such as it is, leans more to the Ancient Roman side of things. I quickly realised that my passing familiarity was wholly inadequate, and I would often have my Lonely Planet guide out to try and plot spacially the specific locales mentioned against the modern city. When that proved also inadequate, I grabbed a reference book I have on Rome dealing with the architecture, and all this still proved inadequate, but I must have looked quite the madman in my attempt to keep up.
I must admit, amid the flurry of detail I was bombarded with when reading this book, the occasional insight into the city of Rome over this long period lodged into my mind, and had me wishing that the book could have contained more insights on the overall picture of Rome over this perios of time. The insight that Krautheimer revealed that sticks with me is the notion that there were no segregated rich or poor areas of Rome as such, there were small shacks of poor folk living stacked up against rich palaces.
Despite this, other facts of Medieval Rome make themselves abundantly clear through sheer repetition, if nothing else. The idea that Rome in medieval times had inhabited areas and large parts of non-inhabited areas loomed large, which Krautheimer points out later in the book that non-inhabited did not equal empty in the High Middle Ages, as these areas were often used for gardens and orchards and the likes.
The history of Medieval Rome is a Christian history, but a Christian history living literally in the ruins of a large pagan city that it had 'conquered'. Throughout the centuries covered by this book, this uneasy relationship is brought to some light, as the Seat of Peter covers the gamut of unease to an uncomfortable mixture of the two, with the looming influences of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine church warping the redevelopment of Medieval Rome.
I couldn't recommend this book to a casual reader of history. But I can see why Cantor would have it on a shortlist for European medieval history. I will say that I am glad to be able to put it behind me and chew on it for a bit, before moving on to the next book.
As a resource book, this tome is immaculately researched, detailed to the nth degree, and highly recommended. As a casual foray into medieval history, it's not a casual foray.
The knowledge that Krautheimer displays of the City of Rome of Yore is nothing short of astounding. With heavy concentration (as is appropriate) on the churches and basilicas of the time, Krautheimer takes us by the hand, and sprints us though list after list after list of buildings, streets, hills, monuments, ruins, campinales, towers, facades, narthexes, apses, cloisters, mosaics, bridges, abitati and disabitati in a bewildering display of the devolving and redeveloping city of Rome from the collapse of the Empire until the movement of the papacy to Avignon.
Now, I was fortunate enough to visit Rome about a decade ago, and my historical familiarity, such as it is, leans more to the Ancient Roman side of things. I quickly realised that my passing familiarity was wholly inadequate, and I would often have my Lonely Planet guide out to try and plot spacially the specific locales mentioned against the modern city. When that proved also inadequate, I grabbed a reference book I have on Rome dealing with the architecture, and all this still proved inadequate, but I must have looked quite the madman in my attempt to keep up.
I must admit, amid the flurry of detail I was bombarded with when reading this book, the occasional insight into the city of Rome over this long period lodged into my mind, and had me wishing that the book could have contained more insights on the overall picture of Rome over this perios of time. The insight that Krautheimer revealed that sticks with me is the notion that there were no segregated rich or poor areas of Rome as such, there were small shacks of poor folk living stacked up against rich palaces.
Despite this, other facts of Medieval Rome make themselves abundantly clear through sheer repetition, if nothing else. The idea that Rome in medieval times had inhabited areas and large parts of non-inhabited areas loomed large, which Krautheimer points out later in the book that non-inhabited did not equal empty in the High Middle Ages, as these areas were often used for gardens and orchards and the likes.
The history of Medieval Rome is a Christian history, but a Christian history living literally in the ruins of a large pagan city that it had 'conquered'. Throughout the centuries covered by this book, this uneasy relationship is brought to some light, as the Seat of Peter covers the gamut of unease to an uncomfortable mixture of the two, with the looming influences of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine church warping the redevelopment of Medieval Rome.
I couldn't recommend this book to a casual reader of history. But I can see why Cantor would have it on a shortlist for European medieval history. I will say that I am glad to be able to put it behind me and chew on it for a bit, before moving on to the next book.
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July 22, 2025"Aunque se centra en la Alta Edad Media, da contexto sobre cómo el papado consolidó su poder a través del urbanismo desde la Antigüedad tardía". És tan summament important l'urbanisme i sovint ni s'aprecia ni s'estudia; literalment inclou o exclou, modula el nostre dia a dia i, conseqüentment, la manera de pensar -com bé va demostrar l'Església durant tants anys-.
July 9, 2024
A really useful, easy to read, reference work on an era of Rome that is rarely covered.
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January 4, 2010Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. by Richard Krautheimer (?)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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