Renaissance Self-Portraiture: The Visual Construction of Identity and the Social Status of the Artist - Hardcover

Woods-Marsden, Joanna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300075960 ISBN 13: 9780300075960

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1998

Synopsis

This lavishly illustrated book is the first to explore the genesis and early development of self portraiture during the Renaissance in Italy. Woods-Marsden argues that artists represented themselves on canvas in an effort to change both the status of art and their own social standing.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Woods-Marsden (art history, UCLA) presents a clear and convincing argument that Italian artists in the 15th and 16th centuries used autonomous self-portraits (which do not depend on their setting for interpretation) to raise the status of artists from craftsmen/technicians to intellectuals. She writes clearly and develops her arguments through case studies ranging from Alberti to Michelangelo, including women such as Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fonatana. She identifies substantial differences between the works of the 15th century and those that followed, indicating a successful effort on the part of artists to be accepted into their desired worlds of court and intellect. Within its self-imposed boundaries of time and form, the book is highly convincing. Highly recommended for advanced and special collections.AJack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0300075960
• ISBN 13: 9780300075960
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 296