A review by cultural_detritus
Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction by Geraldine A. Johnson

4.0

I have enjoyed several books from this series, but this one is my favorite. The author treats Renaissance art with respect, but doesn't elevate it as the greatest artistic achievements ever, as many commentaries do. In fact, the author explicitly examines the idea of the artist-as-rockstar, which we take for granted today, but didn't really exist before the Renaissance. Instead, she tells a story of power and civic rivalry--the contexts that produced much of what we consider high renaissance art. My only real critiques of this book is that it didn't spend that much time discussing the Northern Renaissance, and the book lack footnotes and other forms of marginalia that would have helped to substantiate its claims.