The Intellectual Education of the Italian Renaissance Artist

"Scholars have traditionally viewed the Italian Renaissance artist as a gifted but poorly educated craftsman whose complex and demanding works were created with the assistance of a more educated advisor. These assumptions are, in part, based on research that has focused primarily on the artist's social rank and workshop training. In this volume, Angela Dressen explores the range of educational opportunities that were available to the Italian Renaissance artist. Considering artistic formation within the history of education, Dressen focuses on the training of highly skilled, average artists, revealing a general level of learning that was much more substantial than has been assumed. She emphasizes the role of mediators who had a particular interest in augmenting artists' knowledge, and highlights how artists used Latin and vernacular texts to gain additional knowledge that they avidly sought. Dressen's volume brings new insights into a topic at the intersection of early modern intellectual, educational and art history. Angela Dressen is the Andrew W. Mellon Librarian at I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies in Florence, Italy, and faculty member at the University of Dresden. She is the author of Pavimenti decorati del Quattrocento in Italia and The Library of the Badia Fiesolana: Intellectual History and Education under the Medici"-- Provided by publisher 03.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 1 04.0_pp_v_vi_Contents 5 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Illustrations 7 06.0_pp_ix_x_Preface 9 07.0_pp_1_25_Introduction 11 08.0_pp_26_69_Mechanical_Arts_versus_Liberal_Arts_and_Recommendations_for_the_Artists_Education 36 09.0_pp_70_132_Educational_Places_and_Opportunities 80 10.0_pp_133_282_The_Mediating_Texts 143 11.0_pp_283_321_Vitruvius_and_Pliny_as_Sourcebooks_Educational_Landmarks_and_Intellectual_Challenge 293 12.0_pp_322_340_Conclusion 332 13.0_pp_341_364_Appendices 351 13.1_pp_341_354_Printed_Editions_as_Editio_Princeps_and_Shortly_after_Divided_by_Editions_Translations_and_Commentar 365 13.2_pp_355_364_Oral_Lessons_in_Private_and_Public_Environments 379 14.0_pp_365_378_Selected_Bibliography 389 15.0_pp_379_386_Index 403 This book provides an overview of the history of education in the Renaissance, looks where the artist fits into it, and provides specific examples for artists and texts they used. It will appeal to scholars and advanced students of early modern Italian art, intellectual, cultural ,and social history.