Leo Steinberg was one of the most original art historians of the
twentieth century, known for taking interpretive risks that challenged
the profession by overturning reigning orthodoxies. In essays and
lectures ranging from old masters to contemporary art, he combined
scholarly erudition with an eloquent prose that illuminated his subject
and a credo that privileged the visual evidence of the image over the
literature written about it. His writings, sometimes provocative and
controversial, remain vital and influential reading. Steinberg's
perceptions evolved from long, hard looking at his objects of study.
Almost everything he wrote included passages of formal analysis, but
always put into the service of interpretation.
This volume begins and ends with thematic essays on two fundamental
precepts of Steinberg's art history: how dependence on textual authority
mutes the visual truths of images and why artists routinely copy or
adapt earlier artworks. In between are fourteen chapters on masterpieces
of renaissance and baroque art, with bold and enlightening
interpretations of works by Mantegna, Filippo Lippi, Pontormo, El Greco,
Caravaggio, Steen and, finally, Velázquez. Four chapters are devoted to
some of Velázquez's best-known paintings, ending with the famously
enigmatic Las Meninas.
Renaissance and Baroque Art is the third volume in a series that
presents Steinberg's writings, selected and edited by his longtime
associate Sheila Schwartz.
