The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance

Once in every generation comes a scholar who is a master of both the documentary evidence and the buildings themselves. Such a man is Christoph Luitpold Frommel who, after winning a world-wide reputation, here distils his learning into a new synthesis that is both up-to-date and securely based on primary sources. Architecture of the Italian Renaissance is the definitive introduction to one of the great epochs in the history of architecture. Focusing on buildings of the period between 1418 and 1580, and the 35 key architects who designed them, it gives equal weight to social context, technical innovation and aesthetic judgement. Generously illustrated throughout with photographs, drawings, plans and reconstructions, it brings into vivid relief the extraordinary flowering of architectural genius between the birth of Brunelleschi and the death of Michelangelo. It is sure to be the recognized textbook for the forseeable future, but will also give pleasure to the interested layman.