An Earthly Paradise

The Medici, Their Collection and the Foundations of Modern Art

• Author(s): Christopher B. Fulton,
• Publisher: L.S. Olschki
• Pages: 329
• ISBN_10: 8822255267
  ISBN_13: 9788822255266
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Antiques & Collectibles / Art , Art / Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions / Permanent Collections , Art / European , Art / History / Renaissance ,

Description:... This study explores the collecting activity of the Medici family from its rise to prominence in the early fifteenth century to its expulsion from Florence in 1494. By drawing on original documents and a wide range of secondary literature, the book describes the means by which the Medici assembled their art, and places the collection within the broader context of the family's social commitments and dynastic aspirations. The book takes measure of the consequences of the Medici's activity on the history of art by suggesting that their initiatives stimulated the production of independent works of art and forested a new form of critical reception. A catalogue raisonné further documents the many extraordinary works collected by the family.