An Art Lover's Guide to Florence / / Judith Testa.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Testa, Judith,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2021]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (306 p.) :; 35 halftones

No city but Florence contains such an intense concentration of art produced in such a short span of time. The sheer number and proximity of works of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Florence can be so overwhelming that Florentine hospitals treat hundreds of visitors each year for symptoms brought on by trying to see them all, an illness famously identified with the French author Stendhal.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 in An Art Lover's Guide to Florence. 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 they made it, deftly treating the complex interplay of politics, sex, and religion that were involved in the creation of those works.With Testa as a guide, armchair travelers and tourists alike will delight in the fascinating world of Florentine art and history.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1 Historical Background -- CHAPTER 2 The Cathedral of Florence -- CHAPTER 3 The Cathedral Baptistery -- CHAPTER 4 The Brancacci Chapel in S. Maria del Carmine -- CHAPTER 5 The Piazza della Signoria -- CHAPTER 6 Orsanmichele -- CHAPTER 7 The Ospedale degli Innocenti -- CHAPTER 8 The Monastery of San Marco -- CHAPTER 9 The Medici Palace and Its Chapel -- CHAPTER 10 A Man, a Plan, a Palazzo -- CHAPTER 11 The Sassetti Chapel in S. Trinita -- CHAPTER 12 The Tornabuoni Chapel in S. Maria Novella -- CHAPTER 13 The Museo degli Uffizi -- CHAPTER 14 The Museo Nazionale del Bargello -- CHAPTER 15 II Gigante -- CHAPTER 16 Michelangelo's Medici Chapel -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Selected Bibliography