Renaissance features paintings by some of the greatest artists in Renaissance Italy. Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini and Titian, among others, form an amazing array of talent and creative splendor.

The book focuses on exquisite paintings, made between 1400 and 1600, from centers of Renaissance high culture in Florence, Venice, Siena, Padua, Perugia, Urbino, Ferrara, Verona, Mantua, Milan, Bergamo and Rome. The works are from the collection of one of ItalyÕs finest art museums, the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. Subjects range from touching depictions of the Madonna and Child to episodes from the lives of saints, and moving renditions of the Crucifixion to portraits of men and women in elaborate costume.

This beautiful book reflects the genius and creativity of the two centuries of Italian Renaissance art that are the foundation of the grand tradition of European painting. It includes essays by Italian and Australian scholars, descriptions of the paintings, and biographies of the artists.

Ron Radford is director of the National Gallery of Australia. Other contributors include Giovanni Valagussa, Jaynie Anderson, Attilio Pizzagoni, and David Wise, among others.

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