From Library Journal
Accompanying a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, this book is the first on the theme of female portraiture during the Renaissance. Curator Brown and fellow experts on the Renaissance use examples from the work of Leonardo, Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and others to conclude that most of the portraits of women during this period were expressions of the wealth of the sitter's husband. The wife's elaborate jewelry and dress symbolized the honor of her husband's social standing rather than her own vanity. At the same time, the portrait of a beautiful woman during the Renaissance also was associated with the Neoplatonic ideal of beauty and its equation to virtue. It is noted, however, that while Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Mona Lisa upheld this ideal of virtue and beauty, they departed from the tradition of depicting women in elaborate dress that reflected social status in favor of a more personal, humanist interpretation of female portraiture. Illustrated with beautiful color reproductions, this highly readable volume is recommended for all libraries with art collections. Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lilian H. Zirpolo, Woman's Art Journal
The beautiful illustrations . . . are a treat for the scholar and casual observer alike.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This beautifully illustrated and exquisitely designed volume of paintings, sculpture, medals, and drawings celebrates the extraordinary flowering of female portraiture, mainly in Florence, beginning in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Included are many of the finest portraits of women (and a few of men) by Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Antonio Pollaiuolo, Botticelli, Verrocchio, and Leonardo da Vinci--whose remarkable double-sided portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, which departs notably from tradition, is the focus of special attention.

It was in Florence during this period that portraiture expanded beyond the realm of rulers and their consorts to encompass women of the merchant class. This phenomenon, long known to scholars, is here presented to a larger audience for the first time. The catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, traces how the humanist praise of women influenced and enlivened their depiction. It also considers how meaningful costumes and settings were chosen. Works from outside Florence by such masters as Pisanello, Rogier van der Weyden, and Ercole Roberti shed additional light on the evolution of female portraiture during the century from c. 1440 to c. 1540.