Art and Love in Renaissance Italy

by Edited by Andrea Bayer; Andrea Bayer, Beverly Louise Brown, Nancy Edwards, Evere

• ISBN13: 9780300124118
• ISBN10: 0300124112
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2008-11-25
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Summary

With contributions by Sarah Cartwright, Jessie McNab, J. Kenneth Moore, Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Wendy Thompson, and Jeremy Warren Many famous Italian Renaissance artworks were made to celebrate love and marriage. They were the pinnacles of a tradition---dating from the early Renaissance---of commemorating betrothal, marriage, and the birth of a child by commissioning extraordinary objects or exchanging them as gifts. This important volume is the first to examine the entire range of works to which Renaissance rituals of love and marriage gave rise and makes a major contribution to our understanding of Renaissance art in its broader cultural context. Some 140 works of art, dating from about 1400 to 1600, are discussed by a distinguished group of scholars and are reproduced in full color. Marriage and childbirth gifts are the point of departure. These range from maiolica, glassware, and jewelry to birth trays, musical instruments, and nuptial portraits. Bonds of love of another sort were represented in erotic drawings and prints. From these precedents, an increasingly inventive approach to subjects of love and marriage culminated in paintings by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, including Giulio Romano, Lorenzo Lotto, and Titian.

Author Biography

Andrea Bayer is Curator in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Table of Contents

Lenders of the Exhibition
Contributors to the Catalogue
Art and Love in Renaissance Italy	p. 3
Marriage as a Key to Understanding the Past	p. 9
The Marriage Portrait in the Renaissance, or Some Women Named Ginevra	p. 17
Wives, Lovers, and Art in Italian Renaissance Courts	p. 29
"Rapture to the Greedy Eyes": Profane Love in the Renaissance	p. 43
Catalogue
Commemorating Betrothal, Marriage, and Childbirth	p. 59
Rites of Passage: Art Objects to Celebrate Betrothal, Marriage, and the Family	p. 60
Catalogue Numbers 1-86
Maiolica of Love and Marriage	p. 68
Belle Donne, Facing Couples, and Fede	p. 76
The Cruelty of Love - Amor Crudel	p. 88
Marriage Glassware	p. 93
Gifts and Furnishings for the Home	p. 100
Cassone Panels and Chests	p. 129
Manuscripts and Books and the Rituals of Love and Marriage	p. 139
Childbirth and Family	p. 149
Profane Love	p. 177
Profane Love: The Challenge of Sexuality	p. 178
Catalogue Numbers 87-117
Paintings	p. 185
Drawings	p. 188
Books and Prints	p. 198
Maiolica	p. 214
Bronzes	p. 220
Accessories	p. 225
The Paintings of Love and Marriage	p. 229
From Cassone to Poesia: Paintings of Love and Marriage	p. 230
Picturing the Perfect Marriage: The Equilibrium of Sense and Sensibility in Titian's Sacred and Profane Love	p. 238
Belle: Picturing Beautiful Women	p. 246
Catalogue Numbers 118-153
Betrothal and Marriage	p. 255
Family	p. 275
Widows	p. 282
The Camera: Spalliere and Other Paintings	p. 288
Illustrious Women	p. 309
Belle Donne	p. 315
Mythologies and Allegories	p. 319
Bibliography	p. 333
Index	p. 365
Photograph Credits	p. 376
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.