This unusually beautiful volume, published in a grand format (it measures 11.5x13.25"), offers full-page and many fold-out color plates of outstanding quality of the religious scenes, altarpieces, and close-up details of the portrait-like faces of saints and angels of the great Italian painter Giotto. D'Arcais, an authority on the artist, surveys Giotto's entire career, including precise descriptions of the rendering of each of the figures, choice of subject, chronology within Giotto's oeuvre, condition of the painting, and details discovered in scientific study, making this a superlative resource on the artist. First published in 1995, this edition includes a new preface by the author summarizing recent discoveries and the reconstruction to the church of St. Francis in Assisi following the 1997 earthquake. An updated bibliography is also included. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)