Michelangelo's (1475-1564) "Taddei Tondo," in the collection of the Royal Academy in London, offers a fascinating insight into the master's technical and experimental skill. Joshua Reynolds, the Academy's first president, considered that Michelangelo represented everything that an artist should aspire to, combining technical brilliance with sublime poetical imagination, and the Tondo shows this in scintillating relief. Expertly researched and written by the renowned Renaissance art historian Alison Cole, this book moves through the life of the "Tondo," from Michelangelo's rivalry with Leonardo to the marble's arrival at the Royal Academy and its use in the RA Schools. Finishing with a fresh look at the Tondo's role in revealing Michelangelo's technical experimentalism, Cole explores the importance of finish and what constitutes a finished work of art. Lavishly illustrated and including new photos of the Tondo, this is an enriching exploration of a lesser-known side of the great Renaissance master's work.

In this authoritative study, Alison Cole explores the distinctive uses of art at the five great secular courts of Naples, Urbino, Ferrara, Mantua and Milan. The princes who ruled these city-states, vying with each other and with the great European courts, relied on artistic patronage to promote their legitimacy and authority. Major artists and architects, from Mantegna and Pisanello to Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci, were commissioned to design, paint and sculpt, but also to oversee the court's building projects and entertainments. Bronze medallions, illuminated manuscripts and rich tapestries, inspired by sources as varied as Roman coins, Byzantine ivories and French chivalric romances, were treasured and traded. Palaces were decorated, extravagant public spectacles were staged and whole cities were redesigned, to bring honour, but also solace and pleasure. The 'courtly' styles that emerged from this intricate landscape are examined in detail, as are the complex motivations of ruling lords, consorts, nobles and their artists. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, Cole presents a vivid picture of the art of this extraordinary period.