The Art of Late Renaissance Florence

The Medici family, successful merchants and Florence's most prominent patrons of the arts and sciences, ruled the city from the fifteenth century until the mid-eighteenth century. This beautiful and authoritative book focuses on the glorious art produced during the height of the reign of the Medici dynasty. According to eminent authorities, Florence experienced a great flowering of the arts under the grand dukes Cosimo I, his sons Francesco I and Ferdinando I, and his grandson Cosimo II. Artists such as Pontormo, Bronzino, Vasari, Giambologna, and especially Michelangelo received commissions from the Medici dukes, whose work overshadowed much of the city's cultural and artistic life at that time. The Medici utilized the buildings and works of art resulting from their patronage to promote and reflect their political and cultural aspirations within their native city and across Europe. This handsome book serves as the catalogue for the exhibition "Magnificenza!," opening in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi on June 6, 2002, then traveling to the Art Institute of Chicago (November 9, 2002 to February 2, 2003) and the Detroit Institute of Arts (March 16, 2003 to June 8, 2003).

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