Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010336466 | N8079.5 D69 2014 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
On Order
Summary
Summary
Focusing on artists and architectural complexes which until now have eluded scholarly attention in English-language publications, Apostolic Iconography and Florentine Confraternities in the Age of Reform examines through their art programs three different confraternal organizations in Florence at a crucial moment in their histories. Each of the organizations that forms the basis for this study oversaw renovations that included decorative programs centered on the apostles. At the complex of Gesù Pellegrino a fresco cycle represents the apostles in their roles as Christ's disciples and proselytizers. At the oratory of the company of Santissima Annunziata a series of frescoes shows their martyrdoms, the terrible price the apostles paid for their mission and their faith. At the oratory of San Giovanni Battista detta dello Scalzo a sculptural program of the apostles stood as an example to each confratello of how Christian piety had its roots in collective effort. Douglas Dow shows that the emphasis on the apostles within these corporate groups demonstrates how the organizations adapted existing iconography to their own purposes. He argues that their willful engagement with apostolic themes reveals the complex interaction between these organizations and the church's program of reform.
Author Notes
Douglas N. Dow is Associate Professor of Art History at Kansas State University, USA.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
This impressive volume by Dow (Kansas State Univ.) helps fill a scholarly void in books on religious painting in the last quarter of the 16th century in Florence. Dow's study focuses on three roughly contemporary decorative programs at respective Florentine confraternities, each centered on the theme of the apostles. The spaces are largely inaccessible and traditionally understudied. Giovanni Balducci's fresco cycle in the Church of Gesù Pellegrino was commissioned by the Archbishop of Florence, Alessandro de' Medici. The paintings, for a confraternity of priests, depict the apostles in their roles as disciples and proselytizers. The Oratory of San Giovanni Battista detta dello Scalzo features an unusual sculptural program by Valerio Cioli, Giovanni Caccini, Andrea Ferrucci, and others--many of whom were members of this flagellant company. Lastly, frescoes in the atrium of the Oratory of Santissima Annunziata, by five different painters, show the martyrdoms of the Apostles. Dow concentrates his discussion on the meaning of these decorations in the context of religious reform. The text is meticulous and scholarly, supported by copious notes, bibliography, and original illustrations appropriate to such an ambitious and groundbreaking study. --A. Victor Coonin, Rhodes College
