Italian Renaissance Art

by Laurie Schneider Adams

"The chronology of the Italian Renaissance, its character, and context have long been a topic of discussion among scholars. Some date its beginnings to the fourteenthcentury work of Giotto, others to the generation of Masaccio, Brunelleschi, and Donatello that fl ourished from around 1400. The close of the Renaissance has also proved elusive. Mannerism, for example, is variously considered to be an independent (but subsidiary) late aspect of Renaissance style or a distinct style in its own right."

Genres: Art, Italy, Art History, Nonfiction, Renaissance, History, Reference

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 8, 2001

Reviews

[Yan Yang]

The book makes your heart sing

[Michael Huang]

A comprehensive discussion of the arts in Italy around the Renaissance period. Time wise, it started in the 13th century before the Renaissance and ended in the 16th century mannerism. It covers different formats: sculpture, painting, and architecture; all the masters: Ghirlandaio, Donatello, to Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphaël; and all the region: Florence and Rome of course but also Venice, Milan, Urbino. There are many beautiful illustrations and lots of detailed discussion of history as well as art movements. At 400+ pages of large format, it’s a lot of content.

[Stormy]

I never get tired of looking at Renaissance art and reading about the history of the artists. Makes a nice companion while watching “The Medici” episodes on Netflix.

[Sally]

Great textbook actually — highly recommend. Super comprehensive. Made great use of the term glossaries in the back.

[Todd Landrum]

A thick, scholarly book with plenty of history to accompany dense and thorough art analysis. Probably more than the average person wants (or maybe I'm below average).

Five stars though because it is an absolutely beautiful book.

[Johns]

This is the one book you should read and study before taking in all the art in Florence, Italy. Simply wonderful text and photos which give a comprehensive look at this pivotal epoch in art history.

[Margaryta]

This was pretty good as a course textbook, although I found it to be a bit too general for my liking. I would've wanted a bit more insight into the background of some of the works and artists. This book works best as an introduction as well as guide on what artists and pieces to focus on, but if you're looking for more information, context, details, and interpretations, this is only the bare minimum starting point for that.