Primavera

Paintings like Primavera were, in their Romanesque neopaganism, hard to reconcile with a Catholic culture, but Botticelli deflected criticism with claims of quasi-religious symbolism. Still, Primavera seems luxuriantly anti-Christian, with its gods and goddesses and Graces celebrating the coming of spring. Certainly the work was worthy of the extensive restoration given it recently by a team of Italians, headed by author Baldini, that used all that the modern science of restoration has to offer. The book goes into those techniques in detail, with reproductions of x-rays, canvas-surface cross-sections, macrophotographs, and striking compare-and-contrast pictures. All is not technical; there are essays on Botticelli the man and painter, and a section called ""Interpretations of the Painting.'' (April)