Grotesques: sixteenth-century frescoes in Rome, Florence, and northern Italy

Abstract

"When the term, Grotesques, first arose around the year 1500 in Italy, it referred specifically to ornamental frescoes featuring exceptionally inventive, noteworthy, humorous, or monstrous motifs. These paintings became a preferred decoration in the period's exquisite villas, palaces, and churches of Rome, Florence and Northern Italy. Lavishly illustrated, this book is an art historical introduction and guide to grotesques and decorative frescoes of the sixteenth-century, and offers a new perspective on the visual culture of an era in which art was rooted in ancient and medieval worldviews yet also on a trajectory toward Modernity." -- Publisher's description.

Contents

Fantasies of grottoes. Ancient "grottoes" ; Monstrous novelties ; Tradition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages -- Grotesques in sixteenth-century visual culture. Grotesques in their spatial context ; Transformation and ambiguity ; Artificial nature ; Prints and books ; Grotesques in Europe -- Ingenuities. Painted sculptures ; Artist signatures and self-portraits ; Artistic licence -- Grotesques in a historical perspective -- Places and works. Rome ; In the Neighbourhood of Rome: Bagnaia, Caprarola, Tivoli ; Florence ; Tuscany and Umbria: Arezzo, Citta di Castello, Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Orvieto, Perugia, Siena, Spello ; Northern Italy: Ferrara, Genova, Lagnasco, Mantova, Parma, In the Neighbourhood of Parma, Varallo, Venice.