Description
In the past half century, numerous scholars have downplayed the Renaissance contribution of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent. They say that compared to his grandfather Cosimo, Lorenzo was not so magnificent. Historian F. W. Kent seeks to correct this view by examining Lorenzo's interest in art, aesthetics, collecting, and building. Kent finds that Lorenzo indeed had a cultural and artistic vision, which he applied to many aspects of his private and public lives, witness his interest in public buildings, urban design, and the construction of various Medici palaces. His expertise was well-regarded by gildsmen and artists who often turned to him for advice as much as for patronage. Supplementing the text are new photographs by Ralph Lieberman, commissioned by the author.
Without exaggeration, this is one of the most important books on the Italian Renaissance to have been published over the last two generations. As a study of Lorenzo de' Medici's patronage, his wide-ranging artistic tastes, his complex personality, and the art world of his times, it is an original, comprehensive, and insightful work. And given Lorenzo's stature as a politician, patron, and poet, as well as the vast bibliography on the man and his times, it is also a work of remarkably courageous synthesis. -- Richard Goldthwaite, The Johns Hopkins University
About the Author
F. W. Kent is a professor of history and Australian Professorial Fellow at Monash University and the founding director of Monash University Centre in Prato. He is the author of Household and Lineage in Renaissance Florence: The Family Life of the Capponi, Ginori, and Rucellai.
Reviews
This suggestive book... looks for its audience to art historians whom F. W. Kent feels might benefit from a historian's discussion of the fragmentary information surrounding Lorenzo's various activities. -- Melissa Meriam Bullard American Historical Review 2005 Kent has brought the breadth and depth of knowledge furnished by his nigh on forty years' research in the archives and libraries of Florence, an extraordinarily sensitive ear for the voices of his fifteenth-century Florentines, a nuanced and subtle understanding of their society and its leading figure, and a Renaissance elegance of structure and writing. -- Ros Pesman Australian Book Review 2006 Extremely valuable... Even though the book tackles a specific theme-Lorenzo the Magnificence's relationship with the visual arts-it also characterizes this key Renaissance figure in the broad political, cultural, and psychological terms available only to a scholar so deeply engaged with every aspect of Lorenzo's life. -- Lorenzo Fabbri Renaissance Quarterly 2006 Elegantly compresses long study, and will stand as a companion to the same author's forthcoming two-volume biography of Lorenzo. -- Patricia Rubin Burlington Magazine 2006 A book with much to offer all readers. -- Susannah Baxendale Journal of Modern History 2008 [Kent is] to be commended highly for penetration as well as precision in [his] scholarship. Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 2008 A remarkable biography of a remarkable man. -- Wayne Andersen Common Knowledge 2009
Book Information
ISBN 9780801886270
Author F. W. Kent
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 363g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 13mm
Without exaggeration, this is one of the most important books on the Italian Renaissance to have been published over the last two generations. As a study of Lorenzo de' Medici's patronage, his wide-ranging artistic tastes, his complex personality, and the art world of his times, it is an original, comprehensive, and insightful work. And given Lorenzo's stature as a politician, patron, and poet, as well as the vast bibliography on the man and his times, it is also a work of remarkably courageous synthesis. -- Richard Goldthwaite, The Johns Hopkins University
About the Author
F. W. Kent is a professor of history and Australian Professorial Fellow at Monash University and the founding director of Monash University Centre in Prato. He is the author of Household and Lineage in Renaissance Florence: The Family Life of the Capponi, Ginori, and Rucellai.
Reviews
This suggestive book... looks for its audience to art historians whom F. W. Kent feels might benefit from a historian's discussion of the fragmentary information surrounding Lorenzo's various activities. -- Melissa Meriam Bullard American Historical Review 2005 Kent has brought the breadth and depth of knowledge furnished by his nigh on forty years' research in the archives and libraries of Florence, an extraordinarily sensitive ear for the voices of his fifteenth-century Florentines, a nuanced and subtle understanding of their society and its leading figure, and a Renaissance elegance of structure and writing. -- Ros Pesman Australian Book Review 2006 Extremely valuable... Even though the book tackles a specific theme-Lorenzo the Magnificence's relationship with the visual arts-it also characterizes this key Renaissance figure in the broad political, cultural, and psychological terms available only to a scholar so deeply engaged with every aspect of Lorenzo's life. -- Lorenzo Fabbri Renaissance Quarterly 2006 Elegantly compresses long study, and will stand as a companion to the same author's forthcoming two-volume biography of Lorenzo. -- Patricia Rubin Burlington Magazine 2006 A book with much to offer all readers. -- Susannah Baxendale Journal of Modern History 2008 [Kent is] to be commended highly for penetration as well as precision in [his] scholarship. Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance 2008 A remarkable biography of a remarkable man. -- Wayne Andersen Common Knowledge 2009
Book Information
ISBN 9780801886270
Author F. W. Kent
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 363g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 13mm
