The Court Cities of Northern Italy
Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini

The Court Cities of Northern Italy examines painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and architecture produced within the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.

Charles M. Rosenberg (Edited by)

9780521792486, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 June 2010

468 pages, 263 b/w illus. 3 maps
28.6 x 22.4 x 2.9 cm, 1.67 kg

"Charles Rosenberg’s volume has answered many questions, but it encourages countless more and will hopefully incite further scholarly inquiry into the court cities of the Italian Renaissance."
-Timothy McCall,Villanova University

This volume examines the painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and architecture produced in nine important court cities of Italy during the course of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Although each chapter represents a separate study of a particular geographical locale, many common themes emerge. This volume gives a multifaceted consideration of the art created for princes, prelates, confraternities, and civic authorities – works displayed in public squares, private palaces, churches, and town halls. Including six essays specially commissioned that explore the interaction of artists and their civic and/or courtly patrons within the context of prevailing cultural, political, and religious circumstances, The Court Cities of Northern Italy provides a rich supplement to traditional accounts of the artistic heritage of the Italian Renaissance, which has traditionally focused on the Florentine, Venetian, and Roman traditions. The book includes 35 color plates and 221 black and white illustrations.

Introduction Charles M. Rosenberg
1. Patrons, artists, and audiences in Renaissance Milan, 1300-1600 Evelyn Welch
2. Center and periphery: art patronage in Renaissance Piacenza and Parma Giuseppe Bertini
3. The art of diplomacy: Mantua and the Gonzaga, 1328-1630 Molly Bourne
4. Estense patronage and the construction of the Ferrarese Renaissance, c. 1395-1595 Anthony Colantuono
5. Art, patronage, and civic identities in Renaissance Bologna David J. Drogin
6. Art patronage in Renaissance Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini, c. 1400-1550 Mary Hollingsworth.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]