« The great period of western European culture that begins with the Renaissance about 1400 and ends with the Rococo about 1780 can truly be called "The Golden Age" of figurative art, and especially of sculpture. Never have sculptors risen to higher levels of achievement, nor has their influence been more widely felt. During the Middle Ages sculptors were concerned with illustrating and expounding the concepts of Christianity. In the modern era they have devoted themselves to secular subjects. But in the centuries between, from the fifteenth century to the French Revolution, artists had to be masters of both religious and secular art, and be prepared to represent Classical concepts side by side, and even to intermingle the two in their works. Donatello, Michelangelo and Bernini, Pilon and Girardon, Berruguete and Cano, Schlüter and Günther, Duquesnoy, Gibbons, and Roubilliac are some of the famous sculptors of the period ; around them were gathered a great many others who successfully fulfilled an unparalleled variety of creative tasks. The attempt to achieve a balance between the rediscovered world of nature and antiquity on the one hand, and Christian tradition on the other, created stresses which enriched their artistic endeavours and stimulated the evolution of new techniques and forms – new forms that are classified today as Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque and Rococo. In a sound text and with a wealth of illustrations, the author vividly portrays the richness of this distinctive Western period and provides new insight into the special problems which confronted the sculptors of this era. »--

"The museum's distinguished director in the 1930s and 1940s, Chick Austin, acquired notable works by Strozzi, Luca Giordano, Claude, and the first authentic Caravaggio in an American museum. Today the Atheneum can present an exhibition beginning with such renaissance masters as Piero di Cosimo and Sebastiano del Piombo, continuing with the finest examples of Baroque painting, and culminating in a blaze of rococo splendor with Tiepolo, Canaletto, Guardi, Melendez, Greuze, and Goya. This catalogue includes a history of the collection by Eric Zafran and entries on the individual paintings by distinguished scholars."--BOOK JACKET.

"Traditional surveys of the period divide their material strictly by countries and chronological periods. By contrast, Vernon Minor looks at the prevalent themes of Baroque and Rococo artistic production through the lens of the dominant institutions of the day. The ideologies of the Counter-Reformation Church, the court of Louis Quatorze and the mercantile economy of the Calvinist Dutch are implicit in much of the painting, sculpture and architecture of the epoch."--BOOK JACKET.

"From the Renaissance and Mannerism to impressionism and Post-Impressionism, from the Gothic Revival to the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Art Nouveau, the history of Western Art is here narrated through more than 180 articles on its most significant styles and movements. Covering all forms of the visual arts - architecture and decorative arts as well as painting and sculpture, each survey discusses the origins, characteristics, leading players, and influence of the most important movements in European. North American, and Latin American art. With articles written in clear, straightforward language and with selective bibliographies, this extensive guide is an essential introduction for anyone with an interest in art and the arts in general."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved