In this volume, Rebekah Compton offers the first survey of Venus in the art, culture, and governance of Florence from 1300 to 1600. Organized chronologically, each of the six chapters investigates one of the goddess's alluring attributes - her golden splendor, rosy-hued complexion, enchanting fashions, green gardens, erotic anatomy, and gifts from the sea. By examining these attributes in the context of the visual arts, Compton uncovers an array of materials and techniques employed by artists, patrons, rulers, and lovers to manifest Venusian virtues. Her book explores technical art history in the context of love's protean iconography, showing how different discourses and disciplines can interact in the creation and reception of art. Venus and the Arts of Love in Renaissance Florence offers new insights on sight, seduction, and desire, as well as concepts of gender, sexuality, and viewership from both male and female perspectives in the early modern era.

This book examines Venus and her arts of love in the society, culture, and governance of Florence from 1300-1600.

About the Author
Rebekah Compton is Associate Professor of Renaissance and Baroque Art History at the College of Charleston, South Carolina. She is a recipient of a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia University and a fellow of I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.

Reviews
'... a compelling method for a broad and inclusive approach to analyzing art as the discipline moves forward in a rapidly evolving academic world.' A. V. Coonin, Choice



Book Information
ISBN 9781108842914
Author Rebekah Compton
Format Hardback
Page Count 292
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 780g
Dimensions(mm) 260mm * 183mm * 20mm