Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style
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Author Description
Serving as both an introduction to fifteenth-century Italian painting and as a text on how to interpret social history from the style of pictures in a given historical period, this new edition to Baxandall's pre-eminent scholarly volume examines early Renaissance painting, and explains how the style of painting in any society reflects the visual skills and habits that evolve out of daily life. Renaissance painting, for example, mirrors the experience of such activities as preaching, dancing, and gauging barrels. The volume includes discussions of a wide variety of painters, including Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Masaccio, Luca Signorelli, Boccaccio, and countless others. Baxandall also defines and illustrates sixteen concepts used by a contemporary critic of painting, thereby assembling the basic equipment needed to explore fifteenth-century art.This new second edition includes an appendix that lists the original Latin and Italian texts referred to throughout the book, providing the reader with all the relevant, authentic sources. It also contains an updated bibliography and a new reproduction of a recently restored painting which replaces the original.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates how the visual style of fifteenth-century Italian painting functions as a direct reflection of the social habits, cognitive skills, and daily experiences of the people who commissioned and viewed it. Michael Baxandall, a renowned art historian, utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between formal art analysis and social history. He argues that the 'period eye'—the set of visual habits and intellectual tools common to a specific society—dictates the aesthetic choices made by artists and the expectations held by their patrons.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of the relationship between commercial practices, such as gauging barrels, and geometric perspective in painting.
- A lexicon of sixteen critical concepts used by fifteenth-century observers to describe and evaluate art.
- Examination of the influence of religious practices, such as preaching and dance, on the composition of sacred art.
- Primary source documentation including Latin and Italian texts in the appendix.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the Italian Renaissance and does not extend its analysis to Northern European artistic traditions.
- It does not provide a comprehensive biographical survey of every artist mentioned, focusing instead on stylistic and social context.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts widely regard this work as a foundational text in the social history of art, frequently cited for its innovative methodology in connecting visual culture to broader societal structures. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires careful engagement with the author's specific terminology and historical arguments.
Page Count:
192
Publication Date:
1988-07-28
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
019282144X
ISBN-13:
9780192821447
Historiography
Renaissance
Italian Art
Social History
Art History
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