John Marciari tells the story of the monuments, artists, and patrons of
Renaissance Rome in this compelling book. In no other city is the
ancient world so palpably present, and nowhere else is the mission of
the church so evident. At the same time as the humanists sought to
preserve and recreate the ancient city, giving it a new lease on life,
the popes dispensed patronage much as any other contemporary Italian
ruler.
Rome was also the most international of the Renaissance cities with
artists and architects generally training elsewhere before arriving in
the city and introducing new trends.
By adopting a chronological structure, covering the period c.1300-1600,
Marciari is able to explore the nature of Roman patronage as it differed
from papacy to papacy. He examines the city's extraordinary works of art
in the context of the working practices, competition, and rivalries that
made Renaissance Rome so magnificent.