Sixteenth–Century Italian Art

Sixteenth–Century Italian Art is a collection of 23 classic and recent essays on this important and transformative period. The book includes distinguished studies of Cinquecento painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture. Organized thematically, it introduces major topics and debates in the field. Several of the essays appear here in English for the first time. Complete with editorial introductions, the anthology presents a range of approaches recent historians have taken to sixteenth–century Italian art. Highlighting themes on which Italian Renaissance studies from the last half–century have focused, the book is ideal for introductory courses.

Acknowledgments. Series Editor’s Preface. Introduction: Michael W. Cole. Part I: Pagan Mysteries. Introduction. 1. Raphael’s Tomb: Tilmann Buddensieg. 2. St. Peter’s as Ruins: On some views by Heemskerck: Christof Thoenes. 3. “Virtue Reconciled with Pleasure,” from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance: Edgar Wind. 4. Love′s Sweet Poison: A New Reading of Bronzino′s London Allegory: Robert W. Gaston. Part II: Nature and Artifice . Introduction. 5. Science and the Poetic Impulse: Martin Kemp. 6. Mannerist Grottos in 16th–century Italy: Philippe Morel. 7. Imitation, Innovation, and Renovation in the Counter–Reformation: Landscapes all’antica in the Vatican Tower of the Winds: Nicola Courtright. 8. Landscape and Still–Life,” from Federico Borromeo and the Ambrosiana: Art Patronage and Reform in Seventeenth–Century Milan: Pamela Jones. Part III: Figures and Bodies . Introduction. 9. Preparing to Finish: Portraits by Pontormo and Bronzino around 1530: Elizabeth Cropper. 10. The Mistress in the Masterpiece: Nancy J. Vickers. 11. Michelangelo’s Florentine Pietà: The Missing Leg: Leo Steinberg. 12. Reclining Bodies: Figural Ornament in Renaissance Architecture: Alina Payne. Part IV: The Artist . Introduction. 13. The New Professionalism in the Renaissance: Catherine Wilkinson. 14. On Some Engravings by Giorgio Ghisi Commonly Called “Reproductive”: Michael Bury. 15. The Historian and technique: On the role of goldsmithery in Vasari’s Lives:. Marco Collareta. Part V: Reformations. Introduction. 16. Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna: Charles De Tolnay. 17. Gifts for Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna: Alexander Nagel. 18. The Carracci and the Devout Style in Emilia: Charles Dempsey. 19. The Gesù in Light of Contemporary Church Design: James Ackerman. Part VI: Theory and Practice . Introduction. 20. Leonardo’s Color and Chiaroscuro: John Shearman. 21. The Subject of Savoldo′s Magdalene: Mary Pardo. 22. Figure come fratelli: A Transformation of Symmetry in Italian Renaissance Painting: David Summers. 23. Raphael, Angelo Colocci, and the Genesis of the Architectural Orders: Ingrid D. Rowland. Index.

Michael W. Cole is Associate Professor of Southern European Renaissance and Baroque Art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Cellini and the Principles of Sculpture (2002).

“This valuable book offers an excellent balance of articles on the major themes and methods found in the Italian Renaissance. –– Highly recommended” – CHOICE, March 2007