Ficino and Fantasy
Imagination in Renaissance Art and Theory from Botticelli to Michelangelo
Published on 9. December 2021
Book
Hardback
392 pages
978-90-04-45967-0 (ISBN)
Description
Did the Florentine philosopher Marsilio Ficino (1433-99) influence the art of his time? Art historians have been fiercely debating this question for decades. This book starts with Ficino's views on the imagination as a faculty of the soul, and shows how these ideas were part of a long philosophical tradition and inspired fresh insights.
This approach, combined with little known historical material, offers a new understanding of whether, how and why Ficino's Platonic conceptions of the imagination may have been received in the art of the Italian Renaissance. The discussion explores Ficino's possible influence on the work of Botticelli and Michelangelo, and examines the appropriation of Ficino's ideas by early modern art theorists.
This approach, combined with little known historical material, offers a new understanding of whether, how and why Ficino's Platonic conceptions of the imagination may have been received in the art of the Italian Renaissance. The discussion explores Ficino's possible influence on the work of Botticelli and Michelangelo, and examines the appropriation of Ficino's ideas by early modern art theorists.
Reviews / Votes
"[This book] is beautifully designed and stunningly illustrated with 103 high-quality color images. Its merit resides in bringing a revered topic of Renaissance culture back to the forefront of scholarship and suggesting new possible ways to interpret it, alongside the reinterpretation of famous works."-Francesca Fiorani, University of Virginia, USA, in Renaissance Quarterly 78.3
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
717 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-45967-0 (9789004459670)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Marieke J.E. van den Doel is Assistant Professor of History of Humanism at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht. Previously, she was Director of Studies in Art History at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR) and Curator of Exhibitions at Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam.