This beautiful book provides a survey of European painting in northern and southern Europe between 1260 and 1510. It is based largely on the collection of early Renaissance paintings in the National Gallery in London, one of the finest and most comprehensive collections in the world.
In an extensive introduction the authors explain the background of religious belief and devotional practice for which many of the paintings were created and the secular requirements and ambitions that influenced them. They discuss the social context in which art was created and then displayed in the street, the palace, or the church, and they consider the role of the patron and the dealer. They describe the artist’s workshop, consider the role of apprentices and assistants, discuss the influence of guilds and courts, and explore the reasons why new subjects and techniques were introduced and earlier traditions survived. They then supply the first full modern account of the materials and techniques of the early Renaissance artist, drawing on recent research to explain the preparation of panels, the application of gold leaf, and the use of tempera and oil paint. 
The book also features a detailed examination of some seventy of the finest and best known paintings in the Gallery, including masterpieces by Duccio, Van Eyck, Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, Bouts, Bellini, Memling, Raphael, and Leonardo. The book is a stimulating and authoritative guide to the paintings in the Gallery―for those who can observe them in person and for those who must view them through the printed page. 
Publication of this book coincides with the reopening of the Sainsbury Wing designed by Robert Venturi, in which the Early Renaissance Collection will be newly exhibited.

Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery

Arts & Photography

Foister, Susan

Gordon, Dillian

Dunkerton, Jill

Penny, Nicholas

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

A study of Holbein's portrait entitled "The Ambassadors". It offers a technical account of the painting and sets it in the context of the religious and political crisis in Europe in 1533, investigating the political fortunes and artistic patronage of the Dinteville family who commissioned it.

Holbein's "Ambassadors": Making and Meaning (National Gallery London Publications)

Roy, Ashok

Wyld, Martin

National Gallery London

This beautiful volume, companion to the earlier, highly regarded Giotto to Dürer, is a guide to the sixteenth-century paintings of London's National Gallery. It examines the finest works of such artists as Holbein, Raphael, Cranach, Titian, Gossaert, and Bronzino and provides fascinating insights into the individual masterpieces and their makers.

Durer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery

Dunkerton, Professor Jill

Foister, Professor Susan

Penny, Dr. Nicholas

One of the greatest artists of sixteenth-century Europe, Hans Holbein the younger earned high acclaim for his work both in the city of Basel and in England for Henry VIII and other patrons. This book is the first to explore the full range of the artist’s English body of work as well as the relation of this work to the visual and material culture of Tudor England. Providing a detailed account of the paintings, drawings, and woodcuts that Holbein produced in England, the book demonstrates convincingly that that country was not as remote from a common European culture as is often assumed. Rather, it was an unmistakable part of that culture. Susan Foister discusses not only Holbein's well-known portraits but also his decorative paintings and murals, now lost, his designs for goldsmiths, and the works that can be associated with the English Reformation. In addition, she considers Holbein's religious and secular images, his techniques and practices, his status as an official court painter, and a variety of other intriguing topics.

Holbein and England

Paul Mellon Centre BA

Hans Holbein’s prolific production of precise and realistic portraits of the great figures of the 16th century earned him an international reputation in his own time. Although Holbein (1497–1543) gained high acclaim while working in Switzerland, his periods in England, where he became the official artist at the court of King Henry VIII, proved equally important in establishing his reputation. Susan Foister, a leading expert on Holbein, considers the way in which England both influenced and was influenced by the artist and his work. Illustrated with more than 100 color images, Holbein in England includes the artist’s best-known portraits alongside lesser-known but equally important works.

Holbein in England

Reference

Tate Gallery

This beautiful volume, companion to the earlier, highly regarded Giotto to Dürer, is a guide to the sixteenth-century paintings of London’s National Gallery. It examines the finest works of such artists as Holbein, Raphael, Cranach, Titian, Gossaert, and Bronzino and provides fascinating insights into the individual masterpieces and their makers.A readable overview of European painting in the sixteenth century, rich with perceptive commentary.”Andrew Butterfield, Art NewsThis fluently written and beautifully produced book serves both as a period survey and as a reference for sixteenth-century European painting in the collections of the National Gallery.”Jeffrey Fontana, Sixteenth Century Journal

Dürer and the Virgin in the Garden (National Gallery London Publications)

Individual Artists

<div>An exploration of Dürer's career and legacy as an international traveling&nbsp;artist The visual legacy of Dürer's travels extends far beyond his lifetime and throughout Europe, and the documents illuminating them offer unique insights into the distinctive ways Dürer conducted and managed his career, making him an intriguing--and even controversial--figure. This generously illustrated book examines the career of preeminent Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) as an international traveler, addressing his relations with artists from Italy to the Low Countries, including Giovanni Bellini, Joos van Cleve, Jan Gossaert, Lucas van Leyden, Quentin Massys, and Bernard van Orley. Bringing together paintings, drawings and prints, the book examines Dürer as an artist-entrepreneur, explorer, and innovator of artistic theory. Dürer's treatises and letters, and his detailed journal documenting his journey to the Low Countries in 1520-1, offer insights into his artistic practices and encounters with artists and patrons, as well as the nature of travel in the early 16th century.</div>

Durer's Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist

Van Den Brink, Peter

The German Paintings before 1800: National Gallery Catalogues

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Books by Foister, Susan