A significant new interpretation of the emergence of Western pictorial realism When Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) completed the revolutionary Ghent Altarpiece in 1432, it was unprecedented in European visual culture. His novel visual strategies, including lifelike detail, not only helped make painting the defining medium of Western art, they also ushered in new ways of seeing the world. This highly original book explores Van Eyck's pivotal work, as well as panels by Rogier van der Weyden and their followers, to understand how viewers came to appreciate a world depicted in two dimensions. Through careful examination of primary documents, Noa Turel reveals that paintings were consistently described as au vif: made not "from life" but "into life." Animation, not representation, drove Van Eyck and his contemporaries. Turel's interpretation reverses the commonly held belief that these artists were inspired by the era's burgeoning empiricism, proposing instead that their "living pictures" helped create the conditions for empiricism. Illustrated with exquisite fifteenth-century paintings, this volume asserts these works' key role in shaping, rather than simply mirroring, the early modern world.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter, architect, inventor and student of all things scientific. His natural genius crossed so many disciplines that he epitomized the term 'Renaissance man'. Today he remains best known for his art, including two paintings that remain among the world's most famous and admired, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. This book features six meticulously crafted pop-ups of his most famous works: Self portrait; Annunciation; Ornithopter; Virgin & Child; Architecture - an overview of his drawings and designs; and Vitruvian Man.

One of the premier artists of Renaissance Venice, Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) enjoyed a successful career creating splendid and sophisticated paintings for an elite clientele. Focusing on Veronese's materials, workshop organization, and remarkably varied techniques, this important book provides a rich examination of the artist's painting practice and how it developed throughout his career-from his initial training in Verona through the height of his fame in Venice. Diana Gisolfi's multidisciplinary approach brings together information on the physical qualities of Veronese's works discovered during recent conservation projects, a fresh look at contemporary texts from the 16th century, and a nuanced understanding of the world of Venetian artists and their patrons. This innovative approach elucidates the working life of Veronese and his circle of contemporaries in new and fascinating ways.

This is a fascinating re-evaluation of the life and works of a hugely talented yet controversial artist. The young Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) created a major stir in late-sixteenth-century Rome with the groundbreaking naturalism and highly charged emotionalism of his paintings. "Caravaggio" is a sumptuously illustrated and engagingly written volume that takes a fresh look at Caravaggio's life and works, uncovering evidence that the efforts of Caravaggio's contemporaries to disparage his character and his artwork often sprang from their own cultural biases or a desire to promote the artistic achievements of his rivals, and that contrary to repeated claims, Caravaggio lacked neither education nor piety, but was an extremely accomplished technician who developed a successful marketing strategy.

The Virgin Mary rises up like a giant Tower of Babel in a close-up view, separated from us by a slender railing along which runs the painter's signature. The Virgin appears to be sitting on a marble slab, slightly raised, and her right shoulder is thrust forward to show us her nude son. Madonna and Child, also known as 'Dudley Madonna', was painted in c. 1508 by Giovanni Bellini (Venice, c. 1430-1516), one of the most celebrated of Italian artists. This book tells the story of the painting, its painter and its provenance - the journey from Bellini's 16th-century Venice to Dudley's 19th-century London - and the context in which it was created, and later collected. The painting was probably acquired in Bologna by John William Ward (1781-1833), who in 1827 became the 1st Earl of Dudley. He was described by his contemporaries as a cultured and educated man, but also, especially in his later years, tending to madness. The Dudley collection was one of the most outstanding in 19th-century England. The years 1505-10 were crucial ones in Giovanni Bellini's career, and this book examines anew the part he played in Venetian High Renaissance painting - his influence upon and response to the upcoming Giorgione, Titian and Sebastiano del Piombo; it looks in particular at the importance of the visit to the Venice of the Florentine Fra Bartolommeo in 1508. Antonio Mazzotta was Pidem Curatorial Assistant at the National Gallery, London, between 2008 and 2010, and he curated the exhibition, Titian's First Masterpiece: The Flight into Egypt, at the National Gallery, London, 4 April - 19 August 2012. The Virgin Mary rises up like a giant Tower of Babel in a close-up view, separated from us by a slender railing along which runs the painter's signature. The Virgin appears to be sitting on a marble slab, slightly raised, and her right shoulder is thrust forward to show us her nude son. The Madonna and Child, also known as 'Dudley Madonna', was painted in c. 1508 by Giovanni Bellini (Venice, c. 1430-1516), one of the most celebrated of Italian artists. Recognised as an important composition by Bellini in the early 20th century, for a hundred years until its sale at auction in 2010 this picture had hardly ever been seen. This book places the painting within Bellini's career and development even though he was over 75 years old when he painted it. Bellini was extraordinarily sensitive to the new generation of High Renaissance artists, responding instantly to new ideas. The publication also discusses the earlier critical fortune of the painting, explaining how it was kept out of the limelight for so long when it is clearly an autograph Bellini. The years 1505-10 were crucial ones in Giovanni Bellini's career, and this publication examines anew the part he played in Venetian High Renaissance painting, his influence upon and response to the upcoming Giorgione, Titian and Sebastiano del Piombo. It looks in particular at the importance of the visit to the Venice of the Florentine Fra Bartolommeo in 1508, a key figure in early 16th-century Florence, who came with a wealth of important new ideas to share and disseminate. His influence on Bellini is most obviously evident in the Madonna's - for him - comparatively oblique pose. It is not known how and when the painting came from Italy to England but it is very likely that is was acquired in Bologna by John William Ward (1781-1833) who, in 1827, became the 1st Earl of Dudley. Described by his contemporaries as a cultured and educated man, he (and later his nephew William Ward) assembled one of the most outstanding collections in 19th-century England but, although talented, tended to madness especially in his later years. The collection was broken up at the end of the 19th century and the painting, having been attributed to the obscure Rocco Marconi by Berenson, was kept in a private collection in a country house in Wiltshire.

This book challenges the notion that Michelangelo, renowned for his magnificent portrayals of the human body, was merely concerned with “superficial� anatomy—that is, the parts of the body that can be seen from the outside. Christian K. Kleinbub provides a fresh perspective on Michelangelo’s art of the human figure by investigating what he calls the artist’s “inner anatomical poetics,� revealing these beautiful bodies as objects of profound intellectual and spiritual significance. Michelangelo’s Inner Anatomies illuminates how Renaissance discourses on anatomical organs and organ systems informed Michelangelo's figures, linking the interior experiences of his subjects to physiological processes associated with sex, love, devotion, and contemplation, among other thoughts and feelings. Kleinbub presents new and compelling interpretations of some of Michelangelo’s most significant works of painting, sculpture, poetry, and architecture. The book’s case studies cover the full range of Michelangelo’s prodigious output—including such iconic works as the Sistine Ceiling, Dying Slave, and Last Judgment—and reconstructs what Michelangelo knew of internal anatomy and how he projected that knowledge into his most important works. Drawing upon theological, poetic, philosophical, and scientific texts, Michelangelo created a context-dependent, adaptable practice that could be adjusted according to the needs of an individual situation or commission and manipulated to embody, literally and figuratively, a variety of meanings. Deeply researched and convincingly argued, this study heralds a significant shift in thinking about the Italian Renaissance body as it pertains not only to the work of Michelangelo but also to the era as a whole.

This generously illustrated book presents highlights from the National Gallery's display of Italian Renaissance painting, one of the richest collections of its kind in the world. Duccio to Leonardo focuses on Italian masterpieces made between 1250 and 1500, including highlights such as Duccio's Annunciation, Botticelli's Venus and Mars, and Leonardo's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist. It begins with a short introduction on the formation of the collection, before discussing each of the chosen works. Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press

Books of Hours are probably the most famous of all medieval illuminated manuscripts. Presented here are 12 Books of Hours that date from the origins of the genre in the 13th century to its eclipse in the 16th century. Examples come from France, Italy and the Southern and Northern Netherlands and are by many notable artists, including Pietro da Pavia, Belbello da Pavia, the Masters of Zweder van Culenburg, the Masters of the Gold Scrolls, Willem Vrelant, Guillaume tile Roy and Jean Poyer. Some are richly illustrated; others are more modest. Each manuscript is wholly unique, offering a captivating glimpse into the lives and preoccupations of their owners, the concerns and contributions of their illuminators. The introduction by Christopher de Hamel, Donnelley Fellow Librarian at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, underscores the intimacy'of Books of Hours as a genre. A team of distinguished scholars have contributed to the essays, bringing up-to-date research to the project that helps situate each manuscript in the most recent scholarship. Comparative photographs of manuscripts in institutions place these twelve Horae in their broader artistic and cultural contexts. Accompanying an exhibition held at Les Enluminures, New York, 2-25 May 2012

The 177 essays in these two richly illustrated volumes represent the cutting edge of Italian Renaissance scholarship in nearly every one of its fields and were gathered to honor Joseph Connors, Director of Villa I Tatti from 2002 to 2010. Demonstrating I Tatti's pivotal role as the world's leading center for Italian Renaissance studies, the essays cover all the branches of art history, as well as many aspects of political, economic, and social history, literature, and music, from the early Renaissance to the eighteenth century. Appropriately, the volumes also include a selection of contributions devoted to Bernard Berenson and his legacy as both a collector and a scholar. Each of the authors-a group representing dozens of countries-was a Fellow or associate of the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies during the eight years in which Connors served as Director.

The essays in Space, Image and Reform in Early Modern Art build on Marcia Hall's seminal contributions in several categories crucial for Renaissance studies, especially the spatiality of the church interior, the altarpiece's facture and affectivity, the notion of artistic style, and the controversy over images in the era of Counter Reform. Accruing the advantage of critical engagement with a single paradigm, this volume better assesses its applicability and range. The book works cumulatively to provide blocks of theoretical and empirical research on issues spanning the function and role of images in their contexts over two centuries. Relating Hall's investigations of Renaissance art to new fields, Space, Image and Reform expands the ideas at the center of her work further back in time, further afield, and deeper into familiar topics, thus achieving a cohesion not usually seen in edited volumes honoring a single scholar.

"WINNER of The Art Newspaper / AXA Exhibition Catalogue Award 2007 Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo was an intriguing artist who painted some of the most beautiful and fascinating ceramics produced in Renaissance Italy. With surfaces entirely painted with scenes from classical literature, Roman history or the Bible, his dishes were much sought after by the educated elite of his time, and continue to fascinate ceramics enthusiasts today. The colors of his works appear as fresh now as when the pieces were first made, providing a sense of immediacy that brings the culture of Xanto's Italy to life before our eyes. Accompanying an exhibition at the Wallace Collection - the first ever dedicated to the artist - this book puts the work of Xanto and his contemporaries in its historical, political and artistic context. Xanto's`cut and paste' method of incorporating figures derived from prints is explored, his artistic development is traced and the spread of his influence assessed. Included is a full transcription of Xanto's sonnet sequence, published, for the first time with an English translation. An appendix comprising a list of Xanto's works is another `first'. Accompanied an exhibition at the Wallace Collection, London, opening 25 January. John Mallet is curator of the exhibition, formerly Keeper in the Department of Ceramics and Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the world authority on Xanto."

A visually stunning examination of El Greco's work that considers the artist's constant reinvention and professional drive Renowned for a singular artistic vision, Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known as El Greco (1541-1614), developed his distinctive painting style as he assiduously pursued professional success. This fresh and engaging survey of El Greco's work explores varied aspects of the artist's career-his aesthetic education in Italy, the mixed reception of his mature works in Spain, his uncompromising approach to business, and the baroque logistics of his Toledo workshop-and reveals the depth of El Greco's astounding ambition. The impressive volume focuses in particular on his 1577-79 altarpiece paintings for the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo-among them the magnificent Assumption of the Virgin-which heralded the artist's arrival in Spain after productive periods of formation and re-formation in Crete, Venice, and Rome. Lavishly illustrated and clothbound with gilded edges, this publication features reproductions and scholarly discussions of more than 60 works ranging from large-scale canvases to intimate panels, with essays that elucidate the motives and meanings behind the artist's constantly changing and inventive approach. Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Schedule: Reunion des musees nationaux-Grand Palais, Paris (October 14, 2019-February 10, 2020) The Art Institute of Chicago (Spring-Fall 2020)

Sublime Beauty: Raphael's Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn focuses on one of the artist's most beguiling and enigmatic paintings and the idendity of the mysterious blonde sitter who epitomized his female portraiture during his Florentine period. Two essays by leading specialists in Renaissance art, Linda Wolk-Simon and Mary Shay-Millea, explore the stylistic relationship between this masterpiece and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and the link to Petrarch's poetry and popular notions of beauty in Renaissance art. They examine attributions and the painting's distinct iconography, and why, in place of the usual lapdog, the woman holds a unicorn.

What was the role of art in the context of rapidly changing political alliances of the early modern period? The interdisciplinary contributions to this volume explore this question from the perspectives of "War and Peace," "Jesuits and Diplomacy," "Negotiating with Faith," and "Court and Diplomatic Celebrations". Special attention is paid to those art genres that were suitable for easy distribution due to their reproducibility, such as medals and prints. But also paintings, tombs and ephemeral festivities like fireworks served the manifestation of claims to power. The exemplary analyses provide a broad view of the political dimensions of early modern transcultural artistic exchange in Europe and beyond.

Michelangelo's masterpiece The Dream ( Il Sogno) has been described as one of the finest of all Italian Renaissance drawings and is amongst The Courtauld Gallery's greatest treasures. Executed in c. 1533, The Dream exemplifies Michelangelo's unrivalled skill as draftsman. Accompanying an exhibition at the Courtauld in 2010, this catalogue examines this celebrated work in the context of a group of closely related drawings by Michelangelo, as well as some of his original letters and poems and works by his contemporaries. The Dream is one of Michelangelo's 'presentation drawings', a magnificent and famous group of highly refined compositions which the artist gave to his closest friends. These beautiful and complex works transformed drawings into an independent art form and are amongst Michelangelo's very finest creations in any medium. The Dream was probably one of a superb group made for a young Roman nobleman with whom Michelangelo was in love, Tommaso de' Cavalieri, who was celebrated for his outstanding beauty, gracious manners and intellect. This group is studied in the book and includes The Punishment of Tityus, The Fall of Phaeton, A Bacchanal of Children and The Rape of Ganymede. In his Life of Michelangelo (1568) the biographer and artist Giorgio Vasari praised these exceptional works as "drawings the like of which have never been seen" - and they are still regarded as amongst the greatest single series of drawings ever made.

From the strictly regimented church bells to the freewheeling chatter of civic life, Renaissance Florence was a city built not just of stone but of sound as well. An evocative alternative to the dominant visual understanding of urban spaces, The Noisy Renaissance examines the premodern city as an acoustic phenomenon in which citizens used sound to navigate space and society. Analyzing a range of documentary and literary evidence, art and architectural historian Niall Atkinson creates an "acoustic topography" of Florence. The dissemination of official messages, the rhythm of prayer, and the murmur of rumor and gossip combined to form a soundscape that became a foundation in the creation and maintenance of the urban community just as much as the city's physical buildings. Sound in this space triggered a wide variety of social behaviors and spatial relations: hierarchical, personal, communal, political, domestic, sexual, spiritual, and religious. By exploring these rarely studied soundscapes, Atkinson shows Florence to be both an exceptional and an exemplary case study of urban conditions in the early modern period.

Did ordinary Italians have a 'Renaissance'? This book presents the first in-depth exploration of how artisans and small local traders experienced the material and cultural Renaissance. Drawing on a rich blend of sixteenth-century visual and archival evidence, it examines how individuals and families at artisanal levels (such as shoemakers, barbers, bakers and innkeepers) lived and worked, managed their household economies and consumption, socialised in their homes, and engaged with the arts and the markets for luxury goods. It demonstrates that although the economic and social status of local craftsmen and traders was relatively low, their material possessions show how these men and women who rarely make it into the history books were fully engaged with contemporary culture, cultural customs and the urban way of life.