The court artist

This book presents the first detailed study of the ancestry of the modern artist and the ideological transformation by which the artist emerged from his position as a craftsman, acquiring a status comparable to that enjoyed by representatives of the liberal arts and engaging like them in an intellectual activity. Central to the book is an analysis of the court and the artist's role within it. In the first part the author examines the rise of organized court culture and its relations with the cultural life of the cities during the Renaissance, and goes on to explore the emancipation of the…