Italian Paintings Before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Collection

The first in a projected series of scholarly catalogues on the permanent collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, this volume focuses on one of the finest and least published collections of early Italian paintings in the United States. The catalogue contains comprehensive entries on nearly 100 paintings, ranging from an outstanding thirteenth-century panel by the Master of the Bigallo Crucifix to a recently rediscovered portrait of Alessandro de' Medici by Pontormo. Also featured are a splendid group of early Sienese paintings (including six panels from one of Giovanni di Paolo's most important ensembles), a rare group of Florentine cassone panels, an early masterpiece by Correggio, and major works by Taddeo di Bartolo, Jacopo Bassano, Botticelli, Moretto, Moroni, Perugino, and Jacopo Tintoretto. In an introductory essay, Martha Wolff, the general editor of the catalogue and the Art Institute's Curator of European Painting before 1750, discusses the central role played by Martin A. Ryerson (1856-1932), one of the museum's founders, in forming this collection. Each painting in the catalogue is accompanied by complete and up-to-date documentation, including a detailed description of physical condition, a fully documented provenance, and a critical discussion of attribution, date, subject, and function, as well as a summary of earlier scholarship.Lloyd, Christopher is the author of 'Italian Paintings Before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Collection' with ISBN 9780691033518 and ISBN 069103351X.