In recent years, art historians have begun to delve into the patronage, production and reception of sculptures-sculptors' workshop practices; practical, aesthetic, and esoteric considerations of material and materiality; and the meanings associated with materials and the makers of sculptures. This volume brings together some of the top scholars in the field, to investigate how sculptors in early modern Italy confronted such challenges as procurement of materials, their costs, shipping and transportation issues, and technical problems of materials, along with the meanings of the usage, hierarchies of materials, and processes of material acquisition and production. Contributors also explore the implications of these facets in terms of the intended and perceived meaning(s) for the viewer, patron, and/or artist. A highlight of the collection is the epilogue, an interview with a contemporary artist of large-scale stone sculpture, which reveals the similar challenges sculptors still encounter today as they procure, manufacture and transport their works.

1478 was the year in which Leonardo da Vinci, aged 26, obtained his first official commission and witnessed the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici family. In that year, he probably opened his independent workshop, leaving that of his master Andrea del Verrocchio, and, in its final months, he began to paint two paintings representing the Virgin Mary. One of these paintings is very likely the Benois Madonna at the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg; a work that marks a strong change in Leonardo’s style and power of expression and his representation of light and human emotions. This book provides an in-depth analysis of Leonardo’s growth as an artist in this year, detailing his training, his culture, his collaboration with Verrocchio, and his engagement in the artistic and cultural life of 1460s and 1470s Florence.

Also available as the second book in a five volume set (ISBN#0815329334)

Sir Kenneth Clark made his name as a scholar of Leonardo da Vinci by a Critical Catalogue of Leonardo’s drawings at Windsor Castle, published in 1935, which was recognized as establishing the subject on a firmer chronological basis. Four years later he produced this short book on Leonardo as an artist, which has been generally regarded as the clearest and sanest introduction to this great and controversial subject. This is the first book on Leonardo written after critics had reached general agreement as to which works were really by his own hand. It is also the first study of Leonardo to take advantage of our wider range of aesthetic experience and our fuller knowledge of psychology. Sir Kenneth writes ‘that all great art should be reinterpreted for each generation’, but although his interpretation of Leonardo is twenty years old, it remains valid today. He has written a fresh introduction which goes rather deeper than his previous conclusions, and for this edition has made extensive revisions to the text. “Your true critic must be doubly armed, with knowledge and intuition. Sir Kenneth Clark, armed with both to a remarkable degree, has written a book on Leonardo’s development as an artist which (I do not exaggerate) will set a new standard in art criticism in England.”—Sunday Times “It is so intelligent, so modest, so beautifully written and so wise.”—Harold Nicolson

he revival of the bronze statuette popular in classical antiquity stands out as an enduring achievement of the Italian Renaissance. These small sculptures attest to early modern artists' technical prowess, ingenuity, and desire to emulate—or even surpass—the ancients. From the studioli, or private studies, of humanist scholars in fifteenth-century Padua to the Fifth Avenue apartments of Gilded Age collectors, viewers have delighted in the mysteries of these objects: how they were made, what they depicted, who made them, and when. This catalogue is the first systematic study of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection of Italian bronzes. The collection includes statuettes of single mythological or religious figures, complex figural groups, portrait busts, reliefs, utilitarian objects like lamps and inkwells, and more. Stunning new photography of celebrated masterpieces by leading artists such as Antico, Riccio, and Giambologna; enigmatic bronzes that continue to perplex; quotidian objects; later casts; replicas; and even forgeries show the importance of each work in this complex field. International scholars provide in-depth discussions of 200 objects included in this volume, revealing new attributions and dating for many bronzes. An Appendix presents some 100 more complete with provenance and references. An essay by Jeffrey Fraiman provides further insight into Italian bronze statuettes in America with a focus on the history of The Met's collection, and Richard E. Stone, who pioneered the technical study of bronzes, contributes an indispensable text on how artists created these works and what their process conveys about the object's maker. A personal reminiscence by James David Draper, who oversaw the Italian sculpture collection for decades, rounds out this landmark catalogue that synthesizes decades of research on these beloved and complex works of art.

A comprehensive survey of the work of this most influential Florentine artist and teacher Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435–1488) was one of the most versatile and inventive artists of the Italian Renaissance. He created art across media, from his spectacular sculptures and paintings to his work in goldsmithing, architecture, and engineering. His expressive, confident drawings provide a key point of contact between sculpture and painting. He led a vibrant workshop where he taught young artists who later became some of the greatest painters of the period, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi, and Domenico Ghirlandaio. This beautifully illustrated book presents a comprehensive survey of Verrocchio's art, spanning his entire career and featuring some fifty sculptures, paintings, and drawings, in addition to works he created with his students. Through incisive scholarly essays, in-depth catalog entries, and breathtaking illustrations, this volume draws on the latest research in art history to show why Verrocchio was one of the most innovative and influential of all Florentine artists. Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

A vast catalog dedicated to Leonardo's entire oeuvre on the occasion of the largest exhibition realized on the genius, symbol of Italian art and creativity, during Milan Expo 2015. This volume represents a unique opportunity to admire and understand Leonardo's extraordinary complexity as an artist, painter, and sketcher, and, in part, his work as a scientist and technologist. This volume is meant to illustrate, through twelve sections, some central themes in Leonardo's entire artistic and scientific career, underlining some constants in his vision as an artist and a scientist, as well as his interdisciplinary vocation and continuous intermingling of interests. Two final sections show the influence of Leonardo the painter and art theorist on the modern era and the creation of his legend, centered on the Mona Lisa.The volume also includes masterpiece paintings by Leonardo, some of his original codes, and over one hundred signed drawings, as well as a considerable number of artworks, drawings, manuscripts, sculptures, and codes from major museums and libraries around the world and from private collections, with works by Antonello da Messina, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Ghirlandaio, Verrocchio, Antonio and Piero del Pollaiolo, Jan van Eyck, and Bramante, just to name a few.

This book traces the story of the world's greatest treatise on painting - Leonardo Da Vinci's "Treatise of Painting". It combines an extensive body of literature about the Treatise with original research to offer a unique perspective on: • Its origins, and history of how it survived the dispersal of manuscripts; • Its contents, their significance and how Leonardo developed his Renaissance Theory of Art; • The development of both the abridged and complete printed editions; • How the printed editions have influenced treatises and art history throughout Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and America from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries.