Paul (art history, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) spent many years researching what he terms his "unexpected book"--spurred by curiosity pertaining to one portion of his completed
dissertation on Jacopo Tintoretto's representations of the Apocalyptic Woman (2004; Harvard U.). His fascination was with a Benedictine convent with an illustrious 300-year history, abandoned
by the nuns in the early 1800s, converted to other uses, then purchased by the city of Venice and restored in the 1990s. This study explores the many dimensions of the convent's history
including thorough investigation of the building's architecture and art, and the social and cultural aspects of the institution. Annotation �穢2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
