Forging Authenticity. Giovanni Bastianini and the Neo-Renaissance in Nineteenth-Century Florence

Moskowitz Anita Fiderer

ISBN 10: 8822261712 / ISBN 13: 9788822261717

Published by Casa Editrice Leo S. Olschki, 2013

About this Item

English Text.Firenze, 2013; clothbound, pp. 176, ill., b/w plates, cm 22x32.(Arte e Aarcheologia. Studi e Documenti. 32). Giovanni Bastianini, probabilmente il miglior imitatore fiorentino della scultura italiana rinascimentale dell'Ottocento, è stato oggetto di una controversia che continua ancora oggi. Analizzando la dicotomia tra il suo stile pseudo-rinascimentale e contemporaneo, Moskowitz pone saldamente la sua figura nel contesto economico, politico e culturale del Risorgimento. Europei e Americani, desiderosi di assimilare l'atmosfera di una perduta Età dell'Oro, rappresentarono un mercato pronto a incoraggiare la produzione di arte neorinascimentale.

Seller Inventory # 2559682

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Forging Authenticity. Giovanni Bastianini and the Neo-Renaissance in Nineteenth-Century Florence
• Publisher: Casa Editrice Leo S. Olschki
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8822261712
• ISBN 13: 9788822261717
• Binding: Rilegato in Tela
• Condition: new
• Weight: 1.44 kilograms
• Book Type: Libro

About this title

Synopsis

Giovanni Bastianini (1830-1868) was a Florentine sculptor whose creations answered to the growing demand for Renaissance and Renaissance-like works of art during the second half of the 19th century. Arguably the most infamous and gifted imitator/faker of Italian Renaissance sculpture, he became a subject of great controversy during his lifetime that continues to this day. This book examines Bastianini’s total oeuvre, exploring the differences between his pseudo-Renaissance and his contemporary ‘period’ style. At the same time, it places him firmly within the economic, political and cultural context that encouraged the production of neo-Renaissance art, which found a ready market in both Europe and the New World. The book will be of great interest not only to scholars of Italian Renaissance and nineteenth-century sculpture attempting to sort out the authentic from works of questionable attribution, but also to those engaged in the history of taste and the conditions surrounding the Risorgimento that promoted the creation and acquisition of Renaissance art and artifacts in both Europe and the New World during the latter part of the nineteenth century.

About the Author

Anita Moskowitz, Professor Emerita at Stony Brook University, has lectured and published widely on Italian Gothic and Renaissance sculpture, and issues of forgery and imitations. Her books include The Sculpture of Andrea and Nino Pisano, Nicola Pisano’s Arca di San Domenico and its Legacy, Italian Gothic Sculpture c. 1250-c. 1400, Nicola and Giovanni Pisano Pulpits, and The Façade Reliefs of Orvieto Cathedral.