Cosimo de` Medici and the Florentine Renaissance [Hardcover]

Dale Kent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0300081286 | ISBN-13: 978-0300081282

A comprehensive examination of the whole body of works of art and architecture commissioned by Cosimo de'Medici and his sons. Recurrent themes in the commissions indicate the main interests to which Cosimo's patronage gave visual expression.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The most powerful figure in the political and economic life of early Renaissance Florence, Cosimo de' Medici was also its greatest patron of the arts. In her vigorously argued and exhaustively documented study, Kent (history, Univ. of California, Riverside) has examined virtually every facet of Medicean patronage between 1420 and 1464. In doing so, she uncovers and explicates the complex of civic, religious, personal, and dynastic impulses that undergird Cosimo's almost innumerable sacred and secular commissions. The result is a perspective that forcefully manifests the patron's participation while delineating the social and intellectual ambiance in which he flourished and which engendered the values and ideas articulated in the works he commissioned. The complex interaction among patron, artist, and society as well as consumer, creator, and viewer are propounded with a depth of historical understanding not often found in the literature of art history. Kent's immensely learned, contextually alert, and provocative investigation establishes a standard against which all future studies of patronage will be measured.DRobert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Immensely learned, contextually alert, and provocative . . . a standard against which all future studies of patronage will be measured." -- Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology

...[A]mbitious...[T]he result of long and admirably meticulous research into a relatively short period. -- Tim Parks, New York Review of Books

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300081286
• ISBN-13: 978-0300081282
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,364,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cosimo and Renaissance Patronage, April 30, 2001

By 

martha a. munters (alexandria, va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cosimo de` Medici and the Florentine Renaissance (Hardcover)

As an art history student working on a thesis concerning the patronage of the Medici family, I have found this monumentally intellectual work to be the best source of both information and explanation, articulately and interestingly stated. I have read at least 40 books, and many many papers written on this subject, none as well done as Ms. Kent. She looks at patronage from a completely different standpoint than almost anybody else has done and worked it beautifully. The fact that the spiritual feeling of the day has been understudied and overlooked and undervalued is very clear and makes the patronage of the Medici very understandable indeed.

Thank you so much Ms. Kent for making my thesis easier to write and giving me so much information I haven't found elsewhere. It is for a colleague of yours. If only I could be as articulate as you, I would be very happy indeed.

I highly recommend this book to any student of Art History who has an interest in the Renaissance.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and beautifully written, March 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cosimo de` Medici and the Florentine Renaissance (Hardcover)

This is a gorgeously illustrated and beautifully written exploration of Cosimo's patronage and the political, civic, and religious motivations for his many commissions. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Renaissance or art patronage.

20 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice cover, March 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cosimo de` Medici and the Florentine Renaissance (Hardcover)

I'm one of Kent's students. The introduction is perhaps the most interesting of all: this is a woman who has an intimate knowledge of the Medici. Then again, this book reads like one big Tabloid newspaper: it is a collection of gossip between the family Medici the most powerful family in Renaissance Florence. The unsinkable Cosimo d' Medici wrote volumes of personal correspondence that was never intended to see the light of day. Except this book exposes the family.

It's truly a piece of humanist thinking and worth your florins