Best Books to Read About Art Before Going to Florence
Florence is bursting at the seams with art. But where to start? Vast collections of Renaissance paintings fill the museums, all effectually magnificent sculptures look down at us from their bases, note-worthy buildings are to exist plant on every corner… Though wonderful, the sheer quantity of Florentine art and architecture tin be overwhelming. It might therefore be useful to read upwardly on the art history of the area, but this needn't be a daunting, dryly academic feel. We've chosen 7 Florence art history books that provide a great route into the massive bailiwick: the starting time 3 human action equally general introductions, while the 2d four offer alternative means of budgeted Florentine art.
The inside of Florence's Duomo – fresco by Vasari (Photo: Alexandra Korey)
An Fine art Lover'south Guide to Florence
Judith Anne Testa (2012)
It is clear Judith Testa is an art lover from the emotive way in which she describes the paintings and buildings around Florence, and such enthusiasm is infectious. Many books of this kind endeavour to cover a large number of artworks and in and then doing give none the in-depth attention they deserve; An Fine art Lover'south Guide to Florence, on the other hand, takes time to explain the social, political and historical context of the Florentine Renaissance, and then picks out key works and analyses them in depth. The chapter on the Ospedale degli Innocenti is particularly fascinating, and a skillful introduction to the edifice and its history earlier yous visit the new Innocenti museum.
Purchase An Art Lover's Guide to Florence on Amazon.com
Florence: The Paintings & Frescoes, 1250-1743
Anja Grebe and Ross King (2015)
It is piece of cake to see why this book is a New York Times Bestseller of 2015: 2,000 lush, full-colour reproductions of Florence'southward best-loved paintings combine with Ross Male monarch'southward insightful analysis to delight the reader both visually and verbally. This is the most comprehensive volume of its kind, and includes – among many others – every painting in the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace, with some stunning, double-page details. However, the book is almost 700 pages long, and is best used to whet your appetite earlier going to Florence'south museums and churches or as a gorgeous post-visit memento – not 1 to haul from gallery to gallery!
Purchase Florence: The Paintings & Frescoes, 1250-1743 on Amazon.com
Florence: The City and its Compages
Richard Goy (2002)
Architect and historian Richard Goy guides you through Florence's infrastructure by ways of this comprehensive but accessible guide, reminding you of all Florence'southward landmark buildings but also introducing you to some hidden gems. The focus is on Renaissance compages, just the city's Roman origins and modern-day architectural additions set Florence in its entire urban context. It is thrilling to read the volume and look at the pictures when you know that these buildings are sitting right on your doorstep, ready for you to meet in the flesh. Architects' biographies, a glossary of Italian terms and a fold-out map make Florence: The City and its Compages a practical guide, too.
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Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence
Jane Fortune (2009)
While we could probably keep for hours virtually the genius of Michelangelo or Botticelli, most of us would struggle to do more than name a female artist from the Florentine Renaissance. Jane Fortune scoured the attics and archives of Florence's biggest museums to redress the residual, to reveal the talented female artists of the menstruum. Why not learn about Florence'southward art history through a totally different lens?
Buy Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence on Amazon.com
The Medici, Michelangelo, & the Art of Late Renaissance Florence
edited by Cristina Acidini (2002)
None of the works of art you volition see in Florence tin can be treated in isolation; each one is intimately linked to the cultural climate in which it was made. This book – a selection of essays – emphasises the huge impact the patronage of the Medici dynasty had upon Florentine fine art from the fifteenth century onwards. We realise that these magnificent artworks did not only reflect dynastic power, but also helped secure and promote it. Though this volume is perhaps more bookish and historical in its approach, it is by no means tiresome: rich descriptions evoke the fiery nature of the Medici and their tumultuous relationships with the artists whose work they commissioned, while hundreds of coloured illustrations keep you visually excited too.
Purchase The Medici, Michelangelo, & the Art of Late Renaissance Florence on Amazon.com
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
Ross Rex (2013)
The Duomo of Florence Cathedral is awe-inspiring, and the story of its construction, though little-known, is but as remarkable. Though art-historically accurate, this book has the pace of a dramatic novel, and and so is a perfect holiday read. Information technology documents the feuding and the expose backside the xx-v-year-long construction of Filippo Brunelleschi's imperial dome, also every bit the technical innovation which brought information technology to fruition: architectural history meets lather opera. So next fourth dimension yous gaze in wonder at the Duomo or wend your way effectually its narrow staircase, you'll really be able to imagine the incredible story backside it. This isn't the history of a unmarried monument, withal, and understanding Brunelleschi'southward dome helps unlock the art historical mysteries of the period in Florence every bit a whole.
Purchase Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Compages on Amazon.com
From Marble to Flesh. The Biography of Michelangelo'southward David
Victor Coonin, 2014
Maybe the most famous work of fine art in Florence, Michelangelo'due south David has a long story behind his making, and after his installation in piazza della Signoria. Victor Coonin tells this story as if information technology were a biography, and the likeable professor'due south phonation shines through in an like shooting fish in a barrel to read, yet historically rigorous, book. Peculiarly interesting is the chapter about the influence of the statue on contemporary artists, especially in LGBT interpretations.
Purchase From Marble to Flesh for Kindle on Amazon.com
Source: https://www.theflorentine.net/2016/08/01/florence-art-history-books/
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