ON CLOSER EXAMINATION SEEING THROUGH PAINTINGS: PHYSICAL EXAMINATION IN ART HISTORICAL STUDIES / Andrea Kirsh and Rustin S. Levenson.

(Materials and meaning in the fine arts, vol. 1).--New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, June 2000.-312 p.: ill. ISBN 0-300-08046-8 (cl., alk. paper): $45.00. There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had from reading a work of excellent scholarship. From its in-depth table of contents that maps the books logical structure, to its comprehensive index, Seeing Through Paintings is in every respect the work of skilled and meticulous researchers. An examination of materials, techniques and condition in western painting from the medieval through the contemporary, this study is a fascinating and informed, behind-the-scenes look at paintings as physical objects. Surrounded as we are by reproduced images, we neglect to ask the very questions that original works not only raise but can answer under careful examination. The book introduces non-specialists students, teachers, painters, collectors, docents to the historical and critical implications of such study, and the authors, an art historian and a conservator, make a convincing case for the limitations inherent in the widespread practice of teaching art history from slides and photographs. Their approach is measured and systematic, with a chapter dedicated to each element that comprises the structure of a painting: support, ground, paint, varnish, as well as frame, labels and marks. Included are concise, well-illustrated case studies, each describing the examination of a particular work -- from Giotto to Pollock -- for what its physical condition reveals about its history. One such study indicates that Leonardo da Vinci used his fingers, in part, to paint his well-known portrait of Ginevra de Benci a technique otherwise unknown among Tuscan painters of the period. For further reference, the research behind this and the other studies is well-documented within the footnotes. In addition, there are wonderfully informative sidebars inserted into the text, with all the immediacy of hypertext links in an online document, that refer the reader to additional resources in a particular subject area: "Sources on the Occasional Use of Fingers," "Sources on the Politics of Brushwork" and "Sources on Gilding, Tooling and Punchwork," to name but a few. It is highly instructive, if perhaps somewhat ironic given the authors well-founded mistrust of reproductions as the basis of study, that Seeing Through Paintings is extensively and beautifully illustrated. These high-quality images include black-andwhite, color, and ultraviolet photographs, x-ray studies, infrared reflectograms, radiographs and photomicrographs, among others. To encourage the reader to examine the actual works, the authors have included a fascinating appendix entitled "Paintings in Exemplary Condition in Public Collections." These are arranged by physical condition, such as "Old master paintings in distemper that have not been varnished," then by owning museum.

While the subject matter could easily become dauntingly technical, in fact the text is highly readable and the glossary of technical terminology provides much useful background information. In addition, there is a list of standard reference sources on artists materials and techniques in the bibliography. One of the authors stated objectives in undertaking this work was to assemble a bibliography of well-illustrated, non-technical, English-language literature which could be readily located in art and research libraries, an accessible alternative to the body of technical literature available to conservators. The result is an extensive, annotated listing of books, articles, videos and research studies, particularly those which make innovative use of technical information. Based upon its many exemplary qualities, Seeing Through Paintings is highly recommended as an addition to any academic, art and design or museum library. Watch for forthcoming titles in this series including The Past in the Present: Preserving and Interpreting Cultural Objects; Conservation Controversies: Toward a Common Vocabulary; and New Media: Conservation Issues in Photography, Film, Video, and Intermedia Art. Louise Greene University of Maryland