Luxury Arts of the Renaissance (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum)

Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005. — 288 p. — ISBN 978-0-89236-785-6. [Белозерская М.] Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.
Today we associate Renaissance arts with painting, sculpture, and architecture. Yet gem-studded goldwork and richly embellished armor; splendid tapestries, embroideries, and textiles; ephemeral multimedia spectacles; and other opulent creations were consistently more celebrated by contemporaries. Thus, Isabella d'Este, Marchesa of Mantua, bequeathed to her children vases of semiprecious stones mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, antique bronzes, and marbles. Her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings! This distribution underscores Renaissance aesthetic preferences and cultural values: finely-wrought luxury artifacts were extolled for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components, while paintings and sculptures in modest materials were considered of lesser consequence.
Luxury Arts of the Renaissance endeavors to return to the mainstream materials long overlooked due to historical and ideological biases. The author traces luxury arts from their status as markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to their subsequent marginalization as extravagant trinkets unworthy of the status of art. By re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, Belozerskaya demonstrates how sumptuous creations constructed both the world and taste of Renaissance elites. Without these art forms the study of Renaissance arts is impoverished and history misrepresented. "Today we consider painting, sculpture, and architecture the major arts of the Renaissance. To contemporaries, however, it was more often finely wrought goldwork, embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, and gems that were much more prized. The exquisite craftsmanship and the precious materials of these opulent creations were signs of their owners' rank and privilege. By contrast, the modest materials of paintings and sculptures relegated them to a lower status." "Luxury Arts of the Renaissance traces what we now consider "minor arts" from their status as markers of elevated position and wealth in the Renaissance to their present reputation as objects unworthy of serious consideration as Art. Re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, the author demonstrates how these sumptuous creations constructed both the world and the taste of the Renaissance."--Jacket