Review
"The Cambridge University Press is to be congratulated for making available in English these fine studies of great and influential early Italian Renaissance artists...will be the standard by which other works on these artists will be judged." Aaron W. Godfrey, Stony Brook University
"A wide-ranging and stimulating compendium. [Essays] are written by eminent scholars and yield a rich picture of Piero's life and art." Confraternitas
"Authors have commendably reviewed a vast literature on the painter, and several of them offer interesting interpretations of his works." Sixteenth Century Journal
Book Description
As a great master of the early Renaissance, Piero della Francesca created paintings for ecclesiastics, confaternities, and illustrious nobles throughout the Italian peninsula. Since the early twentieth century, the rational space, abstract designs, lucid illumination and naturalistic details of his pictures have attracted wide audiences. Piero's treatises on mathematics and perspective fascinate scholars in a wide range of disciplines. This Companion brings together new essays that offer a synthesis and overview of Piero's life and accomplishments as a painter and theoretician.
Cambridge Companion to Piero Della Francesca FROM THE PUBLISHER
A great master of the early Renaissance, Piero della Francesca created paintings for ecclesiastics, confraternities, and illustrious nobles throughout the Italian peninsula. Since the early twentieth century, the rational space, abstract designs, lucid illumination, and naturalistic details of his pictures have attracted a wide audience. Piero's treatises on mathematics and perspective also fascinate scholars in a wide range of disciplines. The Cambridge Companion to Piero della Francesca brings together new essays that offer a synthesis and overview of Piero's life and accomplishments as a painter and theoretician. They explore a variety of themes associated with the artist's career, including the historical and religious circumstances surrounding Piero's altarpieces and frescoes; the politics underlying his portraits; the significance of clothing in his paintings; the influence of his theories on perspective and mathematics; and the artist's enduring fascination for modern painters and writers.
SYNOPSIS
The term companion, which implies a resource for students, scarcely does justice to this series, which provides scholarly essays by leading scholars in the field. For Piero the topics include: the local saint's tale that influenced his Legend of the True Cross, the style of costume used in his paintings, his ruler portraits, his treatises on mathematics and their influence, the sources and iconography of the Misericordia Polyptych, and the influence of Piero's work on modern painters. Wood, who teaches art history at the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provides a lengthy introduction on the state of research. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
The term which implies a resource for students, scarcely does justice to this series, which provides scholarly essays by leading scholars in the field. For Piero the topics include: the local saint's tale that influenced his Legend of the True Cross, the style of costume used in his paintings, his ruler portraits, his treatises on mathematics and their influence, the sources and iconography of the Misericordia Polyptych, and the influence of Piero's work on modern painters. Wood, who teaches art history at the U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provides a lengthy introduction on the state of research. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Art & Photography
Book Info
