Wiley Italian Renaissance Art: Understanding its Meaning

Richly illustrated, and featuring detailed descriptions of works by pivotal figures in the Italian Renaissance, this enlightening volume traces the development of art and architecture throughout the Italian peninsula in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A smart, elegant, and jargon-free analysis of the Italian Renaissance – what it was, what it means, and why we should study itProvides a sustained discussion of many great works of Renaissance art that will significantly enhance readers’ understanding of the periodFocuses on Renaissance art and architecture as it developed throughout the Italian peninsula, from Venice to Sicily  Situates the Italian Renaissance in the wider context of the history of artIncludes detailed interpretation of works by a host of pivotal Renaissance artists, both well and lesser known Review “Summing Up: Recommended.  Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty.”  (Choice, 1 November 2013)“I highly recommend the very important and fascinating book Italian Renaissance Art: Understanding its Meaning by Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, to any historians, art critics, art history and Renaissance history students and academics, and to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the real meaning and currents that were present in Renaissance Italy. This book will transform how you view the art and the artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy, and guide you toward thinking of the Renaissance as an important idea and not as a time period.”  (Blog Business World, 13 April 2013)“I highly recommend the very important and fascinating book Italian Renaissance Art: Understanding its Meaning by Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, to any historians, art critics, art history and Renaissance history students and academics, and to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the real meaning and currents that were present in Renaissance Italy. This book will transform how you view the art and the artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy, and guide you toward thinking of the Renaissance as an important idea and not as a time period.”  (Money Talks, 13 April 2013) Review “Joost-Gaugier's book makes a major contribution to our thinking about Italian Renaissance art.  Her fresh ideas will be useful for students as well as for advanced scholars.” Joseph Manca, Rice University“Superseding earlier textbooks full of oversimplified description, Professor Joost-Gaugier's book teaches students how to read and discuss art.  Its central insight – that the Renaissance was an idea that motivated artists of the time – is supported by the author’s sensitive interpretations.” Luba Freedman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem“An engaging introduction to the subject, with a welcome emphasis on art’s formal language.  Students will relish Joost-Gaugier’s descriptions of Renaissance paintings and her erudite narrative.” Mary D. Garrard, American University From the Inside Flap This enlightening volume offers a new interpretation of the Renaissance, a major movement in the history of art. Guided by one of the world’s leading Renaissance art history scholars, readers embark on a journey of discovery that will transform their understanding of these transformative years in the history of civilization. Detailed interpretations of works of art and architecture that were produced during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy help us to understand the true meaning of this term.  Eschewing jargon and lengthy footnotes, the author frames the aesthetics of the Renaissance as a struggle between scientifically inspired problem-solving and irrational, intuitively based perception. Some artists and architects emerge as thoughtful intellectuals devoted to experimentation (the avant-garde) while others rely on the repetition of older methods (the conservatives). Because these opposite tendencies co-existed and interfaced with each other, it has been