‎T. Shephard, S. Raninen, S. Sessini, L. Stefanescu‎
‎Music in the Art of Renaissance Italy, 1420?1540 Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History‎

‎, Brepols - Harvey Miller, 2020 Hardback IV+408 pages ., 227 colour ill., 220 x 280 mm. Languages: English. ISBN 9781912554027.‎

Reference : 53961

‎The first detailed survey of the representation of music in the art of Renaissance Italy, opening up new vistas within the social and culture history of Italian music and art in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Visual representations of music were ubiquitous in Renaissance Italy. Church interiors were enlivened by altarpieces representing biblical and heavenly musicians, placed in conjunction with the ritual song of the liturgy. The interior spaces of palaces and private houses, in which musical recreations were routine, were adorned with paintings depicting musical characters and myths of the ancient world, and with scenes of contemporary festivity in which music played a central role. Musical luminaries and dilettantes commissioned portraits symbolising their personal and social investment in musical expertise and skill. Such visual representations of music both reflected and sustained a musical culture. The strategies adopted by visual artists when depicting music in any guise betray period understandings of music shared by artists and their clients. At the same time, Renaissance Italians experienced music within a visual environment that prompted them to think about music in particular ways. This book offers the first detailed survey of the representation of music in the art of Renaissance Italy, and in the process opens up new vistas within the social and cultural history of Italian Renaissance music and art. The authors formed the team for the three-year project 'Music in the Art of Renaissance Italy, c.1420-1540' at the University of Sheffield, funded by The Leverhulme Trust. Tim Shephard is Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Sheffield and a specialist in music, art and identity at the Italian Renaissance courts. Sanna Raninen is a musicologist interested in the visual and material culture of music in Renaissance Europe. Serenella Sessini is an art historian specialising in Italian domestic art. Laura Stefanescu is an art historian working on Italian Renaissance art from the perspective of sensory perception and religious experience. Table of Contents Preface 0. Introduction 1. Convergence 1.1 Sister Arts? 1.2 Corporeal and Spiritual Senses 1.3 Perspectiva, Harmony, and Beauty 1.4 Istoria, Ethics, and Imitation 1.5 Leonardo and the Paragone 2. Divine Harmonies 2.1 Angels as Musicians2.2 Heaven on Earth 2.3 Returning to Heaven2.4 Angels in the Home 2.5 David and Christ3. Classicisms3.1 Music Among the Liberal Arts3.2 Apollo and the Muses 3.3 Orpheus the Orator3.4 Marsyas and Midas3.5 Bacchus and the Art of Noise4. People 4.1 In the Garden of Venus4.2 Harmonious Marriage4.3 Singing Shepherds4.4 Musica Triumphans 4.5 Portraits 4.6 Ensembles Epilogue Bibliography Review The fruit of a sustained and cutting-edge interdisciplinary collaboration among musicologists and art historians, this book reopens unresolved issues regarding the relationship between music and the visual arts, from both sides. The authors astute analysis and ability to connect a vast array of materials and concepts." Giovanni Zanovello, Indiana University "This richly detailed, wide-ranging book provides a valuable and evocative account of the relationships between musical and visual cultures in Renaissance Italy." Flora Dennis, University of Sussex ‎