Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy

An introduction to Italian painting in the 15th century, and the social history behind it. The book covers the structure of the picture trade and its economic basis through contracts, letters and accounts. The author also illustrates how art history can be used to give insights into social history, by showing how the visual skills and activities of daily life can be related to the painters' style. Renaissance painting is related for instance to experience of activities such as preaching, dancing and gauging barrels. Finally, 16 concepts used by a contemporary critic, Cristoforo Landino, in his description of Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Andrea del Castagno and Fra Angelico are described and illustrated, as a basis for looking at 15th century painting. In addition, this new edition has an appendix of the original Latin and Italian texts referred to throughout the book, providing access to the relevant, authentic sources.

ISBN 019282144X   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780192821447 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 263 Publisher Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Imprint Oxford Paperbacks   Series editor Wells, Stanley Format Paperback   Series title Oxford Paperbacks Publication date 19 May 1988   Height (mm) 203 Library of Congress ND615   Width (mm) 135 DEWEY 759.5   Spine width (mm) 5 DEWEY edition DC19   Academic level General Pages 191

Part 1 Conditions of trade: Introduction; contracts and the client's control; art and matter; the value of skill; perception of skill. Part 2 The period eye: Relative perception; pictures and knowledge; the cognitive style; the function of images; "Istoria"; the body and its language; figure patterns; the value of colours; volumes; intervals and proportions; the moral eye. Part 3 Pictures and categories: Words and pictures; Giovanni Santi's twenty-five painters; Cristoforo Landino; categories, including nature, relief, purity, ease, perspective, grace, ornateness, variety, composition, colouring, design, difficulty, foreshortening, promptness, blitheness, devotion; conclusion. Texts and references. Index.

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