Baroque & Rococo: Art & Culture (ISBN 0130856495)

Not Worth the Effort:
Being an art history major and having read numerous books on 17th and 18th art, I found Minor's work to be one of the least helpful or accessible. He arranges his text by subjects instead of chronologically or by artist or by country. Though an interesting approach, it makes it difficult to follow the development of the arts through the centuries. Anyone really interested in Baroque art and culture should look instead to Julius Held and Donald Posner's classic text.

mediocre:
I was an art history student when I took a class in 18th century art. This text is unfortunately the only survey of Rococo and French academy art from the era, so there are very few alternatives than just the Rococo chapter in a general survey book like Janson's History of Art. The material is organized thematically, not chronologically, which could be engaging if the text was not so confusing or superficial. Most of the book focuses on the art of the 17th century, and absolutely nothing after 1760. The section on Rococo interiors is fairly comprehensive, however, and to his credit, Minor does include writings from Winkelmann and Diderot, grave omissions from previous survey texts.

goody goodness:
this book is good. i liked it. it was not bad. it was good. not poop. good book. tasty. my teeth itch.