Apostolic Iconography and Florentine Confraternities in the Age of Reform

Douglas N. Dow is Associate Professor of Art History at Kansas State University, USA.

• Contents: Introduction; Alessandro de’ Medici and the Florentine archdiocese at the end of the cinquecento; ’Maledictus enim homo, qui opus Dei facit negligenter’: Giovanni Balducci’s frescoes of the Risen Christ and the Apostles in the church of Gesù Pellegrino; ’Essere amorevole della casa’: the sculptures of the Apostles in the oratory of San Giovanni Battista detta dello Scalzo; ’Far bene per i vivi, e morti’: the frescoes of the martyrdoms of the Apostles in the atrium of the oratory of Santissima Annunziata; Conclusion; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

'This impressive volume by Dow ... helps fill a scholarly void in books on religious painting in the last quarter of the 16th century in Florence. ... The text is meticulous and scholarly, supported by copious notes, bibliography, and original illustrations appropriate to such an ambitious and groundbreaking study. ... Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.’ Choice 'Dow's book uses a rich quantity of illustrations to make his point, both plans and reproductions of the frescoes and some of the statues ... Dow brings to light much detail regarding the confraternities' organisation and motivation in commissioning new works of art both as embellishment of the oratories and as education material for the confratelli.' Sehepunkte 'More than just a window onto a neglected field, it is a thorough, meticulous study based on archival research and stylistic analysis, in one case including a methodical reconstruction of a long-lost interior. It represents the kind of scholarship that has too often fallen by the wayside in an era when detail (and often accuracy) are neglected in favour of the big, interdisciplinary picture. Contributions such as Dow's are especially needed in places like post-Tridentine Florence, where the literature simply has not yet done the groundwork: we will not be able to see the big picture until we get our facts straight.' Burlington Magazine '... Dow focuses new attention on Florentine confraternal identification with the apostles at a time when the Church was asserting its own claims as a purified paleo- Christian institution. This exemplifies yet another dynamic way in which sodalities responded to and shaped the prevailing religious culture.' Renaissance Quarterly'This important, lucid, and elegantly written book is in part a product of the spatial and sensory turn that has driven much recent research. It will be of interest not only to art historians but also to scholars in other disciplines who are concerned with the process by which traditional forms of devotion, and the desired ends of Church reformers, converged and mingled with the city’s artisan culture and patronage relations. In a wider sense, Dow’s evocation of the resulting mélange, and his explication of how urban culture took visual and spatial form, teaches us more about how citizens, including non-elites, inhabited and negotiated the early modern European city.' CAA Reviews