Tuscany

When Provence was published, reviewers marveled that the photos looked like paintings. Equally memorable are the brilliant photos in this book, which exquisitely capture the light, colors, and textures of Italy's most romantic region. In her text, Guillaume discusses the enormous influence Tuscany has had on scores of notable artists and writers. 160 color photos.

When their previous book, Provence, was published, reviewers marveled that the photographs looked like paintings. Equally memorable are the splendid photographs in Tuscany, which exquisitely capture the light, colors, and textures of Italy's most romantic and inspiring region. For three decades Sonja Bullaty and Angelo Lomeo have been drawn to Tuscany and its surrounding areas endeavoring to photograph the special light, the sculpted countryside, the heralded cities and hilltowns, and the celebrated art and architecture. Their photographic themes include timeless views of ocher landscapes where farmers arrange their haystacks like artists; castles overlooking acres of irises and vineyards; shadowy cypress trees defining the land; explosions of color in springtime; incandescent views of Florence, Siena, and Pisa; faces on sculptures; faded frescoes in silent cloisters and other details of art and architecture; humorous vignettes of the daily round; and sparkling Mediterranean seascapes. This photographic album of Tuscany is truly unlike any other. In her fascinating text, Marie-Ange Guillaume provides a verbal portrait of the scores of artists and writers, as well as infamous people, who lived or worked in Tuscany, including Michelangelo, Leonardo, Stendhal, Savonarola, the Brownings, Henry James, Modigliani, Fellini, and James Ivory. The anecdotal text, liberally flavored with quotes from the letters and diaries of these well known individuals, provides insights about Tuscany today and in centuries past.

Library Journal

New York City photographers Bullaty and Lomeo and Parisian journalist Guillaume teamed earlier to produce Provence (Abbeville, 1993). During the past 30 years, the husband-and-wife photographers have accumulated the equivalent of a year spent in Tuscany. In 150 photographs they portray this area of Italy in land- and seascapes, with views of Pisa, Florence, and Siena. The landscapes are exquisite in their capture of light and texture, fooling the viewer into believing they are actually paintings. The details of art and architecture, whether in the cities or the picturesque hill towns, are also nicely represented. The accompanying text by Guillaume offers a view of this region, much of it sprinkled with the words of the famous who have spent time or were born there, including Stendhal, Henry James, Savonarola, Michelangelo, and the Brownings. The photographs complement the photographers' realization that "there is too much of everything to absorb," so "relax and ... look forward to new riches every day." Recommended for travel, art and architecture, and Italian studies collections.-William R. Smith, Johns Hopkins Univ. Lib., Baltimore