This book gives the necessary background for the study and appreciation of Italian painting and sculpture from about 1250 to 1550. It tells how the artists learned their craft, the organization of their workshops, and the guilds they belonged to; how their customers or patrons treated them and where their work was displayed?churches, civic buildings, or private homes. The book discusses how art was made?tempera, oil, panel, canvas, fresco; it surveys the characteristic types of Renaissance art?altarpieces, portraits, tombs, busts, doors fountains, medals, etc.

This up-to-date, well-illustrated, and thoughtful introduction to the life and works of one of the giants of Western Painting also surveys the golden age of Venetian Painting from Giovanni Bellini to Veronese and its place in the history of Western art. Bruce Cole, Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts at Indiana University and author of numerous bo