An introduction to 15th century Italian painting and the social history behind it, arguing that the two are interlinked and that the conditions of the time helped fashion distinctive elements in the painter's style.

Excerpt from Memoirs of Early Italian Painters: And of the Progress of Painting in Italy To Cimabue for three centuries had been awarded the lofty title of Father of Modern Painting and to him, on the authority of Vasari, had been ascribed the merit, or rather the miracle, of having revived the art of painting when utterly lost, dead and buried of having by his single genius brought light out of darkness, form and beauty out of chaos. The error or gross exaggeration of Vasari in making these claims for his countryman has been pointed out by later authors. Some have even denied to Cimabue any share Whatever in the regeneration of art; and, at all events, it seems clear that his claims have been much over-stated; that, so far from painting being a lost art in the thirteenth century, and the race of artists annihilated, as Va' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Take a journey through the history of Italian painting with this fascinating memoir. Covering the period from Cimabue to Bassano, it explores the lives and works of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. Beautifully written and illustrated, it is a must-read for art enthusiasts. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.