This volume examines works of art in a variety of media produced in Florence during the period from 1300 to 1600. Chronologically organized, each chapter examines works of art and architecture within the context of the major political, social, economic and cultural events of the period. Patterns of patronage, both secular and religious, that accompanied changes in political authority as power shifted from Republican regimes to rule by the Medici family and back are also assessed. The volume follows the movements and trends that were initiated by Florentine artists beginning with Giotto in the fourteenth century; then followed a century later by Masaccio, Donatello, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo; and finally the achievements of sixteenth-century artists such as Cellini, Bronzino and Vasari. The book is lavishly illustrated in both black and white and color.

Francis Ames-Lewis is Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has edited or co-edited ten volumes of collected essays and conference papers, and has contributed numerous articles to scholarly journals and books. He is the author of several books, including Drawing in Early Renaissance Italy, The Draftsman Raphael and The Intellectual Life of the Early Renaissance Artist.