In the sixteenth century the humanist values and admiration for classical antiquity that marked the early Renaissance spread from Italy throughout the rest of the continent, resulting in the development of a number of local artistic styles in other countries. Artists were highly valued and richly compensated during this period, with many receiving lucrative commissions from papal, royal, and private patrons. Among the sixty artists whose works are presented in this volume are towering figures of Western art such as Michelangelo, Raphael, El Greco, and Titian. Venetian painters led the way, as oil on canvas supplanted fresco as the most popular medium. Italian Mannerists, such as Pontormo, deviated from classical forms, creating figures with elongated proportions and exaggerated poses. In countries that experienced the Protestant Reformation, such as England, many artists turned to portraiture and other secular subjects. This second volume in the Art through the Centuries series is divided into three sections that discuss the important people, concepts, and artistic centers of this innovative period. Important facts are summarized in the margins of each entry, and key facets of the illustrations are identified and discussed.

Born in 1452 to a peasant woman and a country gentleman, Leonardo da Vinci possessed one of the most astonishing minds the world has ever known. He traveled all of Italy in search of patronage. He found a rival in Michelangelo and a friend in a wily young diplomat named Machiavelli. He served both the ruthless Cesare Borgia and the brilliant young king of France, who sheltered the aged Leonardo and desired only his conversation in return.In this magnificent addition to a distinguished series, award-winning author-artist Diane Stanley blends lively and informative storytelling with exquisite illustrations to convey the wondrous purity of Leonardo's genius. "Stanley produces her most stunning pictorial biography to date. Drawing from a range of sources, including her subject's extensive notebooks, Stanley's conversational narrative describes Leonardo da Vinci's astoundingly far-reaching and varied achievements. Young readers will come to appreciate both da Vinci's universally renowned accomplishments as a painter and the breadth of his scientific experimentation and research....A virtuosic work."--Publishers Weekly.00-01 Land of Enchantment Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 3-6)