In many cases, the Web cannot replace the authority of a book, dictionary entry or a journal article. However, there are ways in which the Web can enhance your understanding of a discipline. Here are a few suggestions:
Virtual tours of buildings can give you an idea of how buildings function in three-dimensions and how decoration and images operate as a complete programme, see the following examples:
Ravenna Monuments Dynamic Images this website provides 360 degree dynamic panoramas of the historic early Christian basilicas of Ravenna, Italy. All images are zoom-enabled. Manipulate the images by dragging your cursor over them.
ItalyGuides offers you a rich collection of more than 200 virtual panoramas of Italy's most famous city monuments. These can be explored 360° and each of them comes with text written by history of art professionals. ItalyGuides.it also provide free audio guides download (for iPod or mp3), video in high definition (HDTV), google maps and more than 3000 photos in the photo galleries. The site includes tours of Florence, Naples, Rome and Venice.
Maps and Timelines can enhance your understanding of the political geography of countries or regions. For example, Italy was not a unified country at the time of the Renaissance, but was fractured into different regional and political divisions see map.
World map and Timeline from the Metmuseum website.
Architectural plans, elevations and reconstructions give you an idea how buildings were constructed and how they changed over time, broadly speaking, black or shaded areas in an architectural plan denote solid walls while white areas denote open space see:
Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture the glossary is a searchable database of illustrated architectural terms and styles. This is illustrated with plans, elevations and reconstruction drawings.
Architecture of Renaissance Italy essay from the Metmuseum website. This essay has embedded images which you can magnify through zoom tools. Many galleries are now scanning their collections and hosting them online as open access high resolution images. Zoom tools allow you to take a close look at paintings or manuscripts and help in understanding how the object was made.
