Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style

by Michael Baxandall

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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, show more 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. show less

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3 reviews
Fascinating so far. Discusses how paintings came to be, the relationships and contracts between the patrons and commissioners and the artists and their apprentices, and how the whole process evolved over the century.
Seems like a good book, haven't read it yet though

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Author Information

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15 Works 1,431 Members
Art historian Michael Baxandall was born in Cardiff, England. He studied at Downing College at Cambridge; the University of Pavia in Italy; and the Institute of Art History at Munich. He taught at numerous universities throughout his lifetime including Oxford University, the University of London, Cornell University, and the University of show more California at Berkeley. His books include Giotto and the Orators; Painting and Experience in 15th-Century Italy; The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany; and Shadows and Enlightenment. He died of pneumonia associated with Parkinson's disease on August 12, 2008 at the age of 74. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style
Original title
Painting and Experience in 15th century Italy
Original publication date
1972; 1988 (2nd edition) (2nd edition)
Important places
Italy
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
Art & Design, Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
759.5Arts & recreationPaintingHistory, geographic treatment, biographyItaly, San Marino, Vatican City, Malta
LCC
ND615 .B32Fine ArtsPaintingPaintingHistory
BISAC

Statistics

Members
881
Popularity
30,647
Reviews
2
Rating
(3.99)
Languages
9 — Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish
Media
Paper
ISBNs
19
ASINs
7