Clare Gibson
Clare Gibson is a writer and historian specialising in art history and how to interpret symbols, especially in art, antiquities and architectural details.
Her previous works include The Hidden Life of Ancient Egypt (2009), The Hidden Life of Renaissance Art (2007), The Hidden Life of Art (2006), Symbols of the Goddess: Universal Signs of the Divine Female (1997, 2005), Sacred Symbols: A Guide to the Timeless Icons of Faith and Worship (1997), and Signs and Symbols: A Guide to their Meaning and Origins (1996), all previously published by Saraband.
Educated in Germany and England, she studied modern and medieval history and worked as an editor before focusing on symbolism and her writing career. She is also well known for her Twitter feed as @MrsSymbols and her popular blog, Seeing Symbols.
BUYING OPTIONS
Buy The Hidden Life of Renaissance Art
This beautiful volume will open your eyes to the messages that the great masters of Renaissance art conveyed through symbols and visual codes. As you linger over its pages, you’ll learn how to decipher all kinds of hidden clues to the deeper meanings that lie beneath the artistry of a painting’s surface.
REVIEWS OF The Hidden Life of Renaissance Art
This copiously illustrated book makes the case that, far from doing away with the medieval mania for allegory, the Renaissance only redoubled it, thanks to the neo-platonic notion that the material was just a bodying forth of the ideal. Its in part a fact-packed reference companion: know your classical gods and goddesses, your saints and sacraments at a glance. Gibson's great contribution, though, is in the lucid way she anatomises a range of Renaissance masterpieces, teasing out the complex meanings that inform the ravishing beauty of these works. - The Scotsman
'If someone you know is a fan of Renaissance art, a present of this book will go down a treat. The sumptuous paintings reproduced in its pages are worth the cover price alone, with masterpieces from Renaissance greats Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Holbein in all their glory. However, it's the detailed historical context and the information provided about how to decipher the hidden messages encoded within the paintings that make it a fascinating read. A gem.' - Michelle Stanistreet, Sunday Express