The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern,   ISBN:9780740768729

Customer Rating: 

I was getting ready to add art to my teacher certificate and this book was recommended by a workshop artist/professor as a study guide to get ready for the test. It is a very clear guide, and will be very useful.

Customer Rating: 

"The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern" is more than a crash course, a term used for its catchiness. Actually, the book is a synopsis of art history and provides the lay person concise and brief explanations of history, movements, schools, and individual artists and artwork.

I taught art history for several years at the high school level and relied on Janson's History of Art 7th Ed. and Wood's Art of the Western World: From Ancient Greece to Post-Modernism as my personal instructors. Every night I had to slog through pages of information when all I wanted was something concise and to the point. "The Annotated Mona Lisa" would have served me well.

I found this the other day and popped my forehead (as in V-8 commercials) and asked aloud: Why didn't I use this book for my background? Apparently, I bought it then promptly forgot/misplaced/had little time to use it.

Here's why this book will be a companion for anyone interested in teaching him/herself about art history:

1. Five time categories (ex. Prehistoric through Medieval) with very clear subtitles (ex. Mesopotamia: the Architects)

2. Short explanations per topic. For example, two pages are devoted to "Prehistoric Art: The Beginning," with these sub-categories: Sculpture, Cave Painting, First Architecture, Stonehenge: England's first rock group, accompanied by blocked paragraphs about Horse (cave painting), Prehistoric Treasure Trove (Lascaux cave finding), Easter island Monoliths, and photographs of the Venus of Willendorf, Stonehenge, and a horse from the caves.

3. More detail is provided as art progresses. For example, the unit on the Baroque is subdivided into Italian Baroque (3 pages), Flemish (2 pages), Dutch (5 pages), English (3), Spanish Baroque (2), and French (2).

4. To keep the reader grounded, a time line cross-sectioning world events and art history is placed at the beginning of each of the five time categories.

This is one of those must-have books for its brevity and utility. Whether you are learning from the very beginning or need a refresher course, "The Annotated Mona Lisa" will serve you well.

Customer Rating: 

This is a good book. But it has too few of pictures given this is a book about Art. Most of the pictures are rather small, half of them are simply black and white. I would give it 4 stars if the pictures were bigger.

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This book was shipped quickly and it was in new condition when I received it. Plus, it was very helpful when studying for the PRAXIS II.

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I am a High School Art teacher for special ed students. I was looking for an Art History book, at high school level, that had a time line of art history, and information and and artwork of famous artists. This book had it all, written in a language appropriate for older students.