Symbols and Allegories in Art

This sixth volume of the Getty's superb Guide to Imagery series does not disappoint, following a winning formula to satisfying results. Like its predecessors, the book lushly reproduces masterworks and breaks them down into their component parts, explaining the meanings attached to each in helpful marginal text. The volume contains a selection of exemplary paintings from the last 500 years, but it's particularly heavy on the Renaissance-familiar standouts include van Eyck's The Arnolfini Marriage, Holbein the Younger's The Ambassadors, Botticelli's Spring and several fantastic works by Bruegel the Elder. The book is divided into four sections-""Time, "" ""Man, "" ""Space"" and ""Allegories""-with plenty of subsections in each. For anyone unfamiliar with Renaissance symbols and tropes, this book adds depth and nuance to the sensual power of its greatest works.