The Sculpture of Nanni di Banco - Hardcover

Bergstein, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691009821 ISBN 13: 9780691009827

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Along with Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Donatello, Nanni di Banco (ca. 1374-1421) determined the course of Renaissance art in Florence, and yet he has received relatively little critical attention. Here Mary Bergstein brings a fresh, wide-ranging critical perspective to bear on the artist who created some of the most important public works of the early Renaissance period, including his life-size niche figures for Orsanmichele and the Assumption of the Virgin for the Porta della Mandorla of the cathedral of Florence. She offers a complete study of the artist, including a much-needed social history of his sculpture. In a series of five thematic essays, Bergstein interweaves biography with rich explorations of the political, historical, and cultural context in which Nanni worked, while offering new insights into several of his most famous sculptures. The book concludes with a catalogue raisonné and a documentary register.


Nanni has been typically viewed as a traditional stonecarver who took up a verbatim archaeology of classical forms in statuary, but lacked an overarching sense of imagination. Bergstein seeks to redress this notion, beginning with an exploration of Nanni's aesthetic and intellectual development, most notably through his leadership role in the stonemason's guild. Nanni's sculpture, she maintains, frequently expressed a gravitas of character and physical presence, nuanced by a profound awareness of mortality, whereas his approach to immortality was transcendent in its attempt to link the spiritual concerns of the Florentine city-state with those of the entire Christian cosmos.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Bergstein is Associate Professor of Art History at Rhode Island School of Design. She has published extensively in Italian, English, and American journals.

From the Back Cover

"Mary Bergstein's The Sculpture of Nanni di Banco fills a major gap in Renaissance sculpture studies and will occupy a place in every art history library. The author writes beautifully, and her formal analyses of the sculptures are sensitive and compelling. While specialists will be particularly drawn to the catalogue section with the appendix of documents, the general reader--including the undergraduate college student--should enjoy the narrative chapters."--Patricia Fortini Brown, Princeton University

"This book makes a significant contribution in that it pulls together documents, photographs, and previous scholarship to provide an up-to-date evaluation of the career of Nanni di Banco. The author's analysis of each sculpture is thorough and solidly grounded in the extant documentation and an intelligent synthesis of previous literature. She offers many new insights into many of the sculptures."--Sarah McHam, Rutgers University

From the Inside Flap

"Mary Bergstein's The Sculpture of Nanni di Banco fills a major gap in Renaissance sculpture studies and will occupy a place in every art history library. The author writes beautifully, and her formal analyses of the sculptures are sensitive and compelling. While specialists will be particularly drawn to the catalogue section with the appendix of documents, the general reader--including the undergraduate college student--should enjoy the narrative chapters."--Patricia Fortini Brown, Princeton University

"This book makes a significant contribution in that it pulls together documents, photographs, and previous scholarship to provide an up-to-date evaluation of the career of Nanni di Banco. The author's analysis of each sculpture is thorough and solidly grounded in the extant documentation and an intelligent synthesis of previous literature. She offers many new insights into many of the sculptures."--Sarah McHam, Rutgers University

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691009821
• ISBN 13: 9780691009827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240