Lorenzo de' Medici and the art of magnificence /

Billed by its author as a "pendant study" to his projected two-volume biography of Lorenzo "The Magnificent," this concise book is pitched primarily at art historians. A leading social historian of Renaissance Florence, Kent (Monash Univ. Centre, Prato) incorporates his own archival findings into a synthetic, up-to-date account of Lorenzo's multifaceted patronage: beyond spending on art, Lorenzo was a maestro della bottega ("boss of the workshop") who coordinated artistic and architectural projects. He also excelled at managing a network of political clients. Lorenzo's "aesthetic education" began early: in his teens, he learned from guildsmen and artists, observed politics in various Italian courts, and served on opere, civic bodies entrusted with managing large-scale building projects. On later opere, he learned about military architecture and met master carpenters and builders. By the late 1480s, having developed his aesthetic, administrative, and political skills and connections, Lorenzo sponsored extensive urban construction and built country villas, but his death at age 43 prevented the realization of his grandest designs. Engaging explicitly in historiographical debates, this book will best serve the needs of specialists. It whets the appetite for what promises to be a definitive biography. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty. K. Gouwens University of Connecticut