Books by St. Petersburg art historian Alexander Viktorovich Stepanov, dedicated to Renaissance art, are consistently popular with readers. Placing the work of renowned Renaissance masters within a broad historical and cultural context, the author finds new, unexpected perspectives for each of them, thanks to which works that have been considered textbook for many centuries suddenly gain the chance to be seen and reinterpreted.
Dedicated to the art of 16th-century Italy, this book examines the work of true titans of the Renaissance—Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, and others—as well as the history of its perception up to the 20th century.
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 most general reader, 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.