Coffee Table Books On Italy – This post may contain affiliate links from which we may earn a small commission. Read the affiliate disclosure
If you’re running out of ideas for what to get the Italy lover in your life—or if you just want to buy something pretty for yourself—consider the following coffee table books about Italy.
Coffee Table Books On Italy
Check out these and other titles in my extensive list of coffee table books on Amazon. You can also find many of these titles on my bookstore page.
New Mags The Monocle Book Of Homes
This is shaping up to be a great year for coffee table books about Italy. Here are some that have been or will be published in 2021.
Luxury coffee table book publisher Assouline follows up their wonderful books on the Amalfi Coast and Capri (see below) with this beautiful volume focusing on Tuscany. Prepared and written by Italian taster Cesare Cunacca (who also wrote Assouline’s Capri book), Tuscany Marvel transports you to Medici villas, cypress-studded landscapes, generations-old vineyards, artisan workshops and country kitchens. A fantastic book for anyone dreaming of a Tuscan getaway.
Just like its periodical of the same name, The Monocle Book of Italy is packed with dazzling photos and informative sidebars on everything from history to design, food to fashion. A great addition to the coffee table for the most discerning Italophile.
Gray’s Top 10 Coffee Table Books
Aldo Chipullo was one of the most sought-after jewelry designers in Italy before moving to New York in 1960. There he worked for Tiffany & Co., then Cartier, before striking out on his own. His legacy includes the Love bracelet and the Nail collection, both for Cartier, and many other designs that still look modern more than half a century later.
The pieces in this remarkable private collection were last published in a 19th-century catalog and have not been seen by the public since the 1940s. This volume, a companion guide to the Torlonia Marbles exhibition in Rome, contains images and essays on these classic sculptures.
Take a visual journey through the vineyards of Sicily. Get up close to the volcanic soil and follow your guide into island coves and through rural farms as you learn more about the wines and wineries of the largest island in the Mediterranean. (For more on Sicilian wines, pick up this book: The New Wines of Mount Etna.)
Vintage Florence Italy Art Book / Italian Art Book /
When travel plans stalled in 2020, many turned to coffee table books for inspiration. Here is a small selection of beautiful coffee table books published in 2020.
2020 was supposed to be the year of Raphael. It marked 500 years since the artist’s death and was to be celebrated with several exhibitions around the world. Then COVID-19 hit. But after the quarantine, the Scuderia del Quirinale in Rome was able to hold its hit exhibition. This book in Italian is a companion guide to the event that so many missed.
This is no substitute for being on the Amalfi Coast. But this book will transport you to the colorful, sun-drenched coast near Naples. Publisher Assouline has released several of these books focusing on beach destinations around the world, including last year’s equally stunning Capri coffee table book. Get the set!
Writing, Books, And Book Signings
Explore radical Italian design with this book of 70 objects and architectural models from the Dennis Friedman collection. Creative director Friedman, who has worked at W Magazine and Barney’s, donated or loaned these items to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for an exhibition of the same name. Learn more about Dennis Friedman’s radical art collection.
A collection of watercolors of Venice by the English romantic artist William Turner. Tate Britain curator Ian Worrell takes readers around Venice, using Turner’s works to discuss Venetian landmarks and the artist’s creative inspirations.
Many volumes devoted to Italy and Italian art and architecture were published in 2019. Here are a few I would love to receive or give away.
Italian Design Books To Read Now
This versatile book will satisfy anyone who loves Italy and colorful photography. Gray Malin’s popular book captures unique scenes from Italy’s coastal regions, including the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast.
A book for interior design lovers, Entryways of Milan is a fun look at 144 eclectic and elegant
The world celebrated the 500th anniversary of the birth of Leonardo da Vinci in 2019, so this year saw the release of a number of books about the Renaissance man. This focuses on 27 of Leonardo’s paintings and contains analysis and reflections by Martin Kemp, one of the world’s leading Leonardo scholars.
Coffee Table Book Set Coffee Table Decor Book Decor
I own and love the following coffee table books. Although not released this year, these volumes are timeless.
Slim Ahrens was one of the finest photojournalists of his time and this magnificent book is a nostalgic look at the Italian jet set and their mansions, gardens and villas. His works from the 1940s to the 1990s included photographs of “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places” from almost every lush corner of Italy.
This 486-page book stopper is a lovely centerpiece for any coffee table. It contains photographs of every neighborhood of the Eternal City, ranging from 1840 to the present day. I bought this book for myself because I couldn’t wait for someone else to give it to me!
Yves Saint Laurent: The Impossible Collection Book By Assouline
What’s better than a coffee book about Rome? Two (or more). This book contains black and white photographs of Rome by legendary photographer Elliot Erwitt.
This massive two-volume set, which I wrote about when it came out in 2017, takes readers through Ancient Rome through its many phases, using maps, 3-D reconstructions, architectural drawings, and detailed descriptions of more than 500 monuments.
Most coffee table books are designed to be looked at, not read. This one on city parks around the world contains essays by famous authors as well as beautiful photographs. Three Italian parks are featured in this book—Ian Morris writes about the Giardino Pubblico in Trieste, while Zadie Smith covers the Boboli Gardens in Florence and the Villa Borghese in Rome.
Coffee Table Book: Definition And Its Characteristics — Urdesignmag
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Society Social Book Club: 5 Coffee Table Books We’re Loving Right Now
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Venice’s Best Independent Bookstores
Paramount Plus: 7-day free trial. Paramount+ is the official US streaming partner for Serie A, Champions League and Europa League matches. As an author and humorist, Reed Champagne is known for his absurd and second-rate observations on the everyday. Although the story of how Reid met his wife Carol (after being widowed late in life) is so sweet it belongs on Hallmark, his family would argue that his grumpy and smart-ass tendencies belong on the reboot of Grumpier Old Men in 2020
Carol and I have been talking about our next train trip to Europe, and we’ve already agreed that it will be Italy: her to visit a friend in Tuscany, and me to continue my pursuit of the best lasagna in the world.
A gorgeously illustrated (not surprisingly) tome that might leave booksellers scratching their heads over whether to display the book in their travel section or in their cookbook section. (My suggestion: arrange them in both.)
Essential Art History Books For Putting It All Into Perspective
As I skimmed through the book (readers will note that ‘skimming’ is so close to ‘studying’) I could immediately see how
Both whet my appetite and my eagerness to repeat last year’s solo cross-country trip, only this time with Carol to help me count the calories. (We plan to count tons of them.)
Take the Tiramisu recipe for example. I did it with lady fingers for crying out loud and it was great. America’s Test Kitchen’s version (the popular cookbook is responsible for making all one hundred recipes in the book) calls for a combination of dark rum, cocoa powder, grated semisweet chocolate, heavy cream (in addition to the mascarpone) along with strong brewed coffee AND espresso at dust. According to the accompanying text,
New Mags Iittala
It is neither a book for the faint of heart nor for dieters. (I’ve already bookmarked my copy on the page featuring prosciutto and fontina-stuffed veal cutlets.) While there might be a weak argument for balancing the recipes with a brisk walk through the countryside depicted in the book’s gorgeous landscape and architecture photos, you’re kidding yourself. The best approach is to just stop thinking about your waistline and enjoy yourself
In my next life, I’d like to be Italian (a man of time and fugue to be specific. I’d like to experience what it’s like to have practical skill.) while I await this blessed event (and Carol is looking at me darkly right now), I’ll be content with the knowledge that I now have at my fingertips all the pleasures that Lucchese olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, pepperoncini, pancetta and basil pesto can bring. Me too
