A fully illustrated publication on a significant artist who was a central figure of the Neo-classical movement.

Anton Raphael Mengs 1728-79 and his British Patrons

Arts & Photography

Roettgen, Steffi

History & Criticism

Philip Wilson Publishers

Certain Italian fresco cycles, notably the Brancacci Chapel in Florence by Masaccio, Masolino, and Filippino Lippi, are well known. Others, such as Piero della Francesca's work in Arezzo and Benozzo Gozzoli's Chapel of the Magi in Florence, have been reproduced countless times. Yet no publisher — until now — has attempted to gather together and document in extensive photographs the essential fresco cycles of the early Italian Renaissance. The list of works covers the regions of Italy, from the Alpine mountain areas to Puglia, with an emphasis on Tuscany and Florence, the artistic center that gave life to the Renaissance. Italian Frescoes: The Early Renaissance opens with a concise introductory text discussing various aspects of fifteenth-century fresco painting: artists, patronage, cultural and historical conditions, technical methods, and questions of local tradition. The central section of the book examines twenty-one fresco cycles, each representing a crowning achievement in this field. A descriptive and interpretive essay introduces each cycle and is followed by a series of full-page and double-page color plates-many of them new photography of recently restored frescoes-covering the entire work. This parade of colorful masterpieces, paired with Steffi Roettgen's authoritative text, makes a brilliant volume that will be treasured by scholars and art lovers alike. A second volume, Professor Roettgen's Italian Frescoes: The Flowering of the Renaissance, continues the story with works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and many others.

Italian Frescoes: The Early Renaissance 1400-1470

Abbeville Press

Praised by historians and art lovers alike, Steffe Roettgens first volume on the frescoes of the early Italian Renaissance is the most comprehensive survey of the surviving fresco cycles painted from 1400 to 1470. In this second volume, featuring paintings from 1470 to 1510, scores of new photographs document the brilliance of works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Mantegna, Perugino, and Signorelli in palaces and chapels stretching from the Alps to Rome. Professor Roettgens concise and authoritative text illuminates such celebrated sites as the Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence, the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, and the Camera degli Sposi in Mantua. She also reveals the charm of lesser-known works, such as those in the tiny northern town of Issogne, which capture fifteenth-century men and women bargaining and flirting at an outdoor market. Descriptive and interpretive essays on each of the seventeen cycles touch on all aspects of fresco painting: the artists and their patrons, cultural and historical conditions, local traditions, and technique. Each essay concludes with a diagram of the site, followed by a stunning series of full-page and double-page color plates of the wall paintings, many of them newly restored. This second volume of Professor Roettgens survey builds on the strengths of Italian Frescoes: The Early Renaissance, and easily stands alone as a record of the spectacular art of a flourishing culture.

Italian Frescoes: The Flowering of the Renaissance 1470-1510

The fifth and final volume of the only comprehensive survey in modern times of the surviving Italian frescoes from the Baroque era, 1600 to 1800, this groundbreaking work is an achievement in scholarship and publishing of the same magnitude as Abbeville's Art of Florence and Art and Spirit of Paris. Following the success of the previous volumes in this extraordinary Italian Frescoes series — The Age of Giotto; The Early Renaissance; The Flowering of the Renaissance; and The High Renaissance and Mannerism — this new publication features twenty–five fresco cycles, each representing a notable achievement in the history of art. The fresco cycles presented include brilliant works by Domenichino, Sebastiano Ricci, Guercino, and Tiepolo—all of them still visible on walls and ceilings of palaces and churches spanning Italy from Venice to Naples. The authors present such celebrated sites as the Barberini Palace in Rome and the Pitti Palace in Florence, as well as lesser–known gems. Each of the chapters is concise and authoritative, offering a descriptive and interpretive essay on all aspects of the fresco cycle, covering the artists and their patrons in the context of their cultural and political history. Each essay concludes with a diagram of the site, followed by a series of full– and double–page color plates showing the entire cycle, many reproduced from new photographs of recently restored frescoes. No publisher until now has attempted to gather together and document all the important fresco cycles of Italian art from the late thirteenth to the eighteenth century. While this volume is a continuation of the previous books, Italian Frescoes: The Baroque Era certainly stands alone as an incredible treasury of art and scholarship that will be eagerly collected by art historians and art lovers alike.

Italian Frescoes: The Baroque Era, 1600-1800

Fresques italiennes de la Renaissance 1470-1510

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