Art in Renaissance Italy

"Impressively erudite...richly illustrated...A sound reference for all readers."--Choice Spanning more than three centuries, this beautiful and authoritative work brings to life the rich tapestry of Italian Renaissance society and the art works that are its enduring legacy. Fresh and broad in approach, this is the only serious book on the subject to integrate both social and art history for the whole of Italy--not just Florence, Siena, and Rome. Art lovers and history students alike will welcome this new edition of a highly regarded work previously issued for the academic market. The art is gorgeous and the contextual discussions--of Renaissance artists in their world and of Renaissance art in Western art history--are unmatched. 600 illustrations, 210 in full color, 512 pages, 9 1/2 x 11"

"Art mattered in the Renaissance... People expected painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of visual art to have a meaningful effect on their lives," write the authors of this importand new look at Italian Renaissance art. A glance at the pages of Art in Renaissance Italy shows at once its freshness and breadth of approach, which includes thorough explanation into how and why works of art, buildings, prints, and other kinds of art came to be. Also discussed is how men and women of the Rena issance regarded art and artists as well as why works of Renaissance art look the way they do, and what this means to us. Unlike other books on the subject, this one covers not only Florence and Rome, but also covers Venice and the Veneto, Assisi, Siena, Milan, Pavia, Padua, Mantua, Verona, Ferrara, Urbino, and Naples -- each governed in a distinctly different manner, every one with its own political and social structures that inevitably affected artistic styles. Spanning more than three centuries, the narrative brings to life the rich tapestry of Italian Renaissance society and the art works that are its enduring legacy. T hroughout, special features evoke and document the people and places of this dynamic age.