The Art and Architecture of Mantua - Eight Centuries of Patronage and Collecting (Hardcover, New ed.)

This book celebrates the cultural riches of Mantua. New photographs, most of which have been specially taken for this book following important restoration work, reveal superb details and bring the city and its treasures to vivid life. Mantua has attracted a line of prestigious artists and architects from the Renaissance onwards, including Pisanello, Alberti, Giulio Romano, Correggio and Rubens, all of whom were championed by the illustrious Gonzaga family, who ruled the city for nearly four centuries (1328-1708). The city is also closely identified with the painter Andrea Mantegna, whose technical mastery revolutionized painting in the 15th century, but the full range of Mantua's art and architecture also embraces early Gothic masterpieces and the exuberance of the Baroque. The vital cultural legacy of Mantua lives on in its beautifully restored frescoes and in the collections of the world's greatest museums. These priceless works of art appear together with fresh impetus in the pages of this important volume.