Portland Public Library

An art lover's guide to Florence, Judith Testa

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-269) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

An art lover's guide to Florence

bibliography

776874764

Judith Testa

"No city but Florence contains such an intense concentration of art produced in such a short span of time ... while most guidebooks offer only brief descriptions of a large number of works, with little discussion of the historical background, Judith Testa gives a fresh perspective on the rich and brilliant art of the Florentine Renaissance ... Concentrating on a number of the greatest works by such masters as Botticelli and MIchelangelo, Testa explains each piece in terms of what it meant to the people who produced it and for whom it was made ..."--Back cover

Historical background (A time of turmoil ; The flowering of Florence ; The (mostly) maginificent Medici [Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (1360-1429) ; Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464) ; Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, "The Gouty" (1416-1469) ; Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, "Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449-1492) ; Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici, "The Fatuous" (1472-1503) ; From confusion to Duke Cosimo I]) -- 2. The cathedral of Florence: the cupolone and the condottieri (Brunelleschi's big dome ; Inside the cathedral: the frescoed monuments to John Hawkwood and Niccolò da Tolentino [John Hawkwood ; Niccolò da Tolentino]) -- 3. The cathedral baptistety (History of the building ; The three sets of bronze doors [Doors by Andrea Pisano ; Ghiberti's first set of doors ; Ghiberti's second set of doors: "The Gates of Paradise"] ; Inside the baptistery [The other Pope John XXIII ; The tale of a tomb: the burial monument of anti-pope John XXIII (Balasore Coscia)]) -- 4. The Brancacci chapel in S. Maria del Carmine: where Renaissance painting was born -- 5. The Piazza della Signoria: power politics and sexual politics in the city centre (Donatello's Judith beheading Holofernes ; Cellini's Perseus and Medusa ; Gianbologna's The rape of a Sabine woman) -- 6. Orsanmichele: multipurpose architectural masterpiece (History of the building ; The "March of the statues" ; Verrocchio's Christ and Doubting Thomas) -- 7. The Ospedale degli Innocenti: Europe's first foundling hospital -- 8. The monastery of San Marco: piety and politics in a cloistered world9. The Medici Palace and its chapel (The architecture of subtle authority ; The Medici and the Magi) -- 10. A man, a plan, a palazzo: Giovanni Rucellai and his family palace -- 11. The Sassetti Chapel in S. Trinita: politics, religion and personal repuatation -- 12. The Tournabuoni Chapel in S. Maria Novella (Duelling donors ; The Tournabuoni triumphant: Ghirlandaio's frescoes in the Capella Maggiore) -- 13. The Museo degli Uffizi: the building and some highlights of the collection (History of the building ; Uccello's Battle of San Romano ; Botticelli's Del Lama Adoration of the Magi ; Botticelli's Primavera ; Botticelli's Birth of Venus ; Hugo van der Goes's Portinari Altarpiece ; Raphael's Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi) -- Bronzino's Eleanora di Toledo and her son Giovanni de' Medici) -- 14. The Museo Nationale del Bargello (History of the building ; Donatello's bronze David with the head of Goliath ; Michelangelo's Brutus) -- 15. Il Gigante (Michelangelo's David) -- 16. Michelangelo's Medici Chapel: the tragedy of time in a time of tragedy -- Epilogue