Art and Love in Renaissance Italy

Art and Love in Renaissance Italy

Various authors
2008
376 pages
250 illustrations
Book of the Year Award (ForeWord) in Art, Finalist (2008)
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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.

Bowl with The Virgin and the Unicorn and arms of Matthias Corvinus and Beatrice of Aragon, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Pesaro
Italian, Pesaro
probably ca. 1486–88
Roundel (tondo), workshop of Giovanni Maria Vasaro, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Castel Durante
workshop of Giovanni Maria Vasaro
ca. 1510–20
Dish (coppa), workshop of Guido Durantino  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Urbino and Gubbio
workshop of Guido Durantino
ca. 1525
Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee, Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
1528
Plate (tondino), Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
probably 1519
Plate (tondino), Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
ca. 1520
Dish (coppa umbonata), Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
1522
Dish (coppa amatoria), "In Castel Durante" Painter  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Castel Durante
"In Castel Durante" Painter
ca. 1530
Shallow bowl with Ruggiero, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, possibly Urbino
Italian, possibly Urbino
ca. 1525
Plate (one of a pair), Nicola da Urbino  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Castel Durante
Nicola da Urbino
ca. 1525 or later
Ewer, Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered, Italian, Gubbio
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
ca. 1520–25
Ewer stand with male and female profiles and arms of the Orsini family, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered, Italian, Deruta
Italian, Deruta
ca. 1500–1510
Vase with love motifs, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), Italian, Deruta
Italian, Deruta
ca. 1470–90
Plate with The Lover Tormented, Maestro Giorgio Andreoli  Italian, Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered, Italian, Gubbio
Maestro Giorgio Andreoli
Painter of the Judgment of Paris
dated 1522
Goblet, Glass, enameled and gilded, Italian, Venice, Murano
Italian, Venice, Murano
ca. 1475–1500 (modern foot)
Armorial tazza, Italian (Venice) or façon de Venise (Venetian-style), Colorless (slightly gray) nonlead glass; blown, pattern-molded, enameled, gilt, Venetian or façon de Venise, or French
Italian
French
1499–1514
Spice plate, Glass, diamond-engraved, Italian, Venice, Murano
Italian, Venice, Murano
ca. 1558
The Marriage of the Virgin, Michelino da Besozzo (Michelino de Mulinari)  Italian, Tempera and gold on wood
Michelino da Besozzo (Michelino de Mulinari)
ca. 1430
Jewish betrothal ring, Gold, enamel, Eastern European or Italian
Eastern European or Italian
17th or 19th century
Cluster Brooch with Letters Spelling "Amor", Gold, pearls, diamond, emerald paste, and silver pin, French
French
mid-15th century
Showing 20 of 78

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Bayer, Andrea, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Kimbell Art Museum, eds. 2008. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy. New York : New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press.