Italian Renaissance Art: Understanding its Meaning - Softcover

Joost-Gaugier, Christiane L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1118306112 ISBN 13: 9781118306116

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

Synopsis

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 it
• Provides a sustained discussion of many great works of Renaissance art that will significantly enhance readers’ understanding of the period
• Focuses 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 art
• Includes detailed interpretation of works by a host of pivotal Renaissance artists, both well and lesser known

About this title

About the Author

Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier is a three-time graduate of Harvard University (AB, AM, PhD) and an internationally known art historian. She has taught and lectured in numerous universities internationally and has chaired departments at several American universities. Professor Joost-Gaugier has written extensively on Italian art and architecture and has authored more than 200 publications, including six books. Her work has been supported by numerous research grants and published in international journals, exhibition catalogues, and conference proceedings. In 2005 she was awarded an honorary Phi Beta Kappa by Harvard University for Lifetime Achievement.

From the Back Cover

"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

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 difficult to discover the true meaning of the Renaissance.

Accordingly, this richly illustrated work teaches its readers a visual method for "reading" and making sense of works of art and architecture, focusing on their characteristics as they were invented and developed throughout the Italian peninsula from Venice to Sicily, in order to understand their development and fully appreciate their significance. The events that occurred in the world of Italian art in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries reveal the breathtaking modernity of Renaissance art and debunk the old-fashioned idea that Renaissance art is "old fashioned." On the contrary, they suggest that what happened in Italy in the Renaissance art world is of fundamental importance to understanding the struggles within the modern art of our own time.

From the Inside Flap

"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

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 difficult to discover the true meaning of the Renaissance.

Accordingly, this richly illustrated work teaches its readers a visual method for "reading" and making sense of works of art and architecture, focusing on their characteristics as they were invented and developed throughout the Italian peninsula from Venice to Sicily, in order to understand their development and fully appreciate their significance. The events that occurred in the world of Italian art in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries reveal the breathtaking modernity of Renaissance art and debunk the old-fashioned idea that Renaissance art is "old fashioned." On the contrary, they suggest that what happened in Italy in the Renaissance art world is of fundamental importance to understanding the struggles within the modern art of our own time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1118306112
• ISBN 13: 9781118306116
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 290