As the first comprehensive treatment of Venetian sculpture of the early Renaissance in nearly a century, this book examines the documents, literary sources, and oeuvre of all Venetian sculptors in stone, bronze, and wood between the decoration of the crowning of San Marco at the beginning of the fifteenth century and the artistic revolution wrought by Jacopo Sansovino from ca. 1530 on. Its text pays particular attention to the style of individual works, to their physical and artistic context, their sources and their influence, and synthesizes forty-five years of attentive looking, of research in archives and libraries of the Veneto, and hundreds of photographic campaigns throughout Italy and as far afield as Croatia and Poland - many from specially mounted scaffolds. The introduction treats general questions of material, purpose, patronage, the origin of sculptors, their workshop practices and the structure of guilds, while the conclusion considers ways in which Venetian sculpture was unique. There is no aspect of the subject to which the author has not contributed major discoveries and her book, with its 800 illustrations, should constitute a work of reference long into the future.

As the first comprehensive treatment of Venetian sculpture of the early Renaissance in nearly a century, this book examines the documents, literary sources, and oeuvre of all Venetian sculptors in stone, bronze, and wood between the decoration of the crowning of San Marco at the beginning of the fifteenth century and the artistic revolution wrought by Jacopo Sansovino from ca. 1530 on. Its text pays particular attention to the style of individual works, to their physical and artistic context, their sources and their influence, and synthesizes forty-five years of attentive looking, of research in archives and libraries of the Veneto, and hundreds of photographic campaigns throughout Italy and as far afield as Croatia and Poland - many from specially mounted scaffolds. The introduction treats general questions of material, purpose, patronage, the origin of sculptors, their workshop practices and the structure of guilds, while the conclusion considers ways in which Venetian sculpture was unique. There is no aspect of the subject to which the author has not contributed major discoveries and her book, with its 800 illustrations, should constitute a work of reference long into the future.

Series statement from publisher's website.

This study reveals the broad material, devotional, and cultural implications of sculpture in Renaissance Venice. Examining a wide range of sources—the era’s art-theoretical and devotional literature, guidebooks and travel diaries, and artworks in various media—Lorenzo Buonanno recovers the sculptural values permeating a city most famous for its painting. The book traces the interconnected phenomena of audience response, display and thematization of sculptural bravura, and artistic self-fashioning. It will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance history, early modern art and architecture, material culture, and Italian studies.

Lorenzo Lotto's Portrait of Andrea Odoni is one of the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Son of an immigrant and a member of the non-noble citizen class, Odoni understood how the power of art could make a name for himself and his family in his adopted homeland. Far from emulating Venetian patricians, however, he set himself apart through the works he collected and the way he displayed them. In this book, Monika Schmitter imaginatively reconstructs Odoni's house – essentially a 'portrait' of Odoni through his surroundings and possessions. Schmitter's detailed analysis of Odoni's life and portrait reveals how sixteenth-century individuals drew on contemporary ideas about spirituality, history, and science to forge their own theories about the power of things and the agency of object. She shows how Lotto's painting served as a meta-commentary on the practice of collecting and on the ability of material things to transform the self.

The field of Venetian studies has experienced a significant expansion in recent years, and the Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797 provides a single volume overview of the most recent developments. It is organized thematically and covers a range of topics including political culture, economy, religion, gender, art, literature, music, and the environment. Each chapter provides a broad but comprehensive historical and historiographical overview of the current state and future directions of research. The Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797 represents a new point of reference for the next generation of students of early modern Venetian studies, as well as more broadly for scholars working on all aspects of the early modern world. Contributors are Alfredo Viggiano, Benjamin Arbel, Michael Knapton, Claudio Povolo, Luciano Pezzolo, Anna Bellavitis, Anne Schutte, Guido Ruggiero, Benjamin Ravid, Silvana Seidel Menchi, Cecilia Cristellon, David D’Andrea, Elisabeth Crouzet-Pavan, Wolfgang Wolters, Dulcia Meijers, Massimo Favilla, Ruggero Rugolo, Deborah Howard, Linda Carroll, Jonathan Glixon, Paul Grendler, Edward Muir, William Eamon, Edoardo Demo, Margaret King, Mario Infelise, Margaret Rosenthal and Ronnie Ferguson.

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.