St. Petersburg art historian Alexander Viktorovich Stepanov's books on Renaissance art are consistently popular. By placing the works of celebrated Renaissance masters within a broad historical and cultural context, the author finds new, unexpected perspectives on each, allowing works that have been considered iconic for centuries to suddenly gain a chance to be seen and reinterpreted. Written in a lively, vibrant style, this first of three books on the Renaissance examines the heroic period of the Italian Quattrocento and the work of its titans: Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Verrocchio, Botticelli, Perugino, and many others. A. V. Stepanov's book possesses universality in the best sense of the word: while the dynamic, captivating narrative will be of interest to the widest readership, the academic depth of the research places it on a par with the works of the world's leading experts in the field of Renaissance art.