Dürer /

This beautifully produced volume attempts to address the glaring need for an up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the art of Albrecht Durer. Wolf is an art historian based in Munich and a prolific writer of art history books for general audiences on various subjects, including an earlier contribution on Durer. In this volume, competently translated from the German, Wolf provides a basic biography and selective critical evaluation of the artist, followed by an especially useful catalogue of surviving paintings. Wolf's interpretations, though tersely articulated and at times unorthodox, are presented directly and with conviction. The visuals are simply stunning. This folio-size volume contains about 200 high-quality illustrations ranging from the 15 full-page woodcuts of The Apocalypse (1498) to rare color reproductions of almost every extant painting viably attributed to Durer. The details are invaluable. For further study, the text includes informative notes and a general bibliography (albeit with mostly German sources). Ultimately, this is a generally sound and visually unparalleled book for an introductory overview of Albrecht Durer. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. A. V. Coonin Rhodes College