Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology

Library session for ART 210 Italian Renaissance Painting and Sculpture

Basics | Finding Facts | Finding Books | Finding Articles | Finding Images
| Free Websites |

| Basics |

Library session web page, http://marquand.princeton.edu/art210.php

Princeton University Library web page, http://libweb.princeton.edu/

Library online catalog, http://catalog.princeton.edu/

Find Articles and Databases, http://library.princeton.edu/catalogs/articles.php

| Finding Facts |

TIP #1: Facts can be found in both print and electronic sources. Web searching is fine, but remember that the library pays for a large number of subscription databases, whose information is not available on the free Web.

Encyclopedia of the Renaissance, 6 vols., ed. Paul F. Grendler. New York: Scribner's, 1999.
General and Humanities Reference, Firestone, CB361 .E52 1999.

The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance, edited by J.R. Hale. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Marquand Library (SA) DG445.T43 2003

Irene Earls, Renaissance art : a topical dictionary. New York : Greenwood Press, c1987.
Marquand Library (SA): Reference N6370 .E27 1987

The New Century Italian Renaissance Encyclopedia, ed. Catherine B. Avery. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972.
General and Humanities Reference, Firestone, DG537.8.A1 N48.

Gordon Campbell, Renaissance Art and Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Marquand Library (SA) N6370.C36 2004.

Grove Dictionary of Art A good starting point, it includes biographies of both Western and non-Western artists, architects, patrons, critics, and collectors in addition to entries on art styles, subjects, and media, all of which contain short bibliographies for further information. [Print version: Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist Art, 2 vols., edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 2000. Marquand N6370.E53 2000.]

| Finding Books |

TIP #1: You will not find articles in the online catalog, only journal titles. For articles look in databases like the Art Index or the Bibliography of the History of Art.

TIP #2: If Princeton doesn't have everything you need, search in WorldCat to find citations for further material. You can request items to borrow through the Borrow Direct service or interlibrary loan.

Princeton Library Catalog Contains the holdings of 15+ Princeton libraries, plus two off-site facilities. Don't underestimate the searching capabilities of the catalog, which go beyond keyword searching. Consult the Search Tips on the home page of the catalog, plus see Help for more in-depth information. A few key tips:

1. Don't be intimidated by the Subject Heading search. Formulating Library of Congress subject headings just takes a bit of practice, but can be quite useful when tracking down books on a specific topic. You can always start with a Keyword search, find a record that's useful, then hyperlink via its subject headings to find more titles (make sure you're in Long View or More Like This mode).

2. Always start with the catalog--unless you're looking for an article(s) and don't know the journal name yet--as there are links within catalog records to databases, e-books, and e-journals.

3. The Guided Search tab allows one to combine terms for a more sophisticated search. You may also limit your search to just Marquand's holdings: "Set Limits."

Keyword Searching

Try to think of words that are specific to your topic (such as "botticelli" and criticism) and not too general (renaissance). Think of multiple ways to describe what you want.

Use quotes for exact phrases

"lorenzo the magnificent"

Combine keywords to narrow your search. The AND is automatic

"art patronage" florence
history "venetian painting"
(sculpture renaissance) not rome

You can also use truncation

architect? picks up words like "architects" and "architectural"

Subject Searching

When you search by subject, you can search by a very broad concept (mannerism) to a very narrow one (exhibitions of Donatello's "Judith and Holophernes"). You must put your search words in a particular order, and you cannot use AND, OR, NOT.

mannerism
art -- renaissance -- italy
painting -- early renaissance -- italy -- florence
sculptors -- italy
ghirlandaio
donatello 1386-1466 -- judith and holofernes -- exhibitions

Note: the dashes (--) between words are to illustrate the subdivisions.

Limiting Searches

The "Set Limits" button takes you to a screen where you can set limits which will narrow your search results. These limits only work with keyword searches. They stay in effect for subsequent searches unless you clear them.

You can limit by:

Date (year item was published)
Language
Item type (such as archival collection or music score)
Medium (such as a soundrecording or visual material)
Location (a specific Princeton library)
Place of publication (country, US state, Canadian province)

| Finding Articles |

TIP #1: As in the main catalog, both keyword and subject searching and other search concepts--truncation, boolean searching, etc.--will work in periodical databases, with some variation database by database.

TIP #2: To find the actual article in the library after finding the citation, you have to search the online catalog for the title of the journal. For instance, to find the following article:

David Hemsoll, "Simone Martini's St John the Evangelist re-examined: a panel from an early portable triptych." Apollo (London, England) v. 147 (February 1998), p. 3-10.

Do a journal title search in the online catalog for Apollo.

TIP #3: Many databases support Find it @PUL, which searches for the article in full text sources and in our online catalog.

TIP #4: In addition to searching for a journal title in the library catalog, the E-Journals search will tell you if we have access to a particular journal electronically (includes JSTOR titles).

Art Index Good, general index to periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, competition and award notices, exhibition listings, interviews, and film reviews. Covers all the arts, including architecture.

Bibliography of the History of Art Contains records describing the current literature of art, including books, museum and exhibition catalogs, Festschriften, congress and symposium proceedings, dissertations. Very scholarly sources.

FRANCIS International coverage of the humanities and social sciences in multiple languages.

Historical Abstracts Indexes books and journal articles on the history of the world (excluding the U.S. and Canada) from 1450 to the present. 

ITER: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
An online bibliography covering relevant secondary material published since 1700 to the current year.

| Finding Images |

TIP #1: Use both print and electronic resources for finding images.

TIP #2: Often journal articles will contain images. Citations in Art Index will indicate if there are reproductions of plans, elevations, etc. Marquand has two scanners and a color printer, so you can scan images in for use in your papers and presentations.

Almagest Contains digitized images for study and class use, accessible throughout the campus.

ARTstor A repository of digital images in the arts. The images are drawn from museums, archaeological teams, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference publishers.

CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online) Online collection documenting more than 115,000 works of art from around the world. Images, text and multimedia represent a broad range of works of art from the collections of the members of the Art Museum Image Consortium.

Artcyclopedia A commercial site useful for locating images.

| Free Websites|

Art History Resources on the Web: Renaissance Art in Italy

National Gallery of Art: Italian Painting of the 16th Century

THAIS: 1200 Years of Italian Sculpture