Laurence Kanter – författare

A comprehensive presentation of the Yale University Art Gallery’s collection of Italian paintings from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century  The collection of Italian paintings at the Yale University Art Gallery is one of the largest and richest in the world. The first of four volumes on the collection, this sumptuously illustrated book features over seventy-five works dating from 1230 to 1420 by artists such as Taddeo Gaddi, Andrea di Cione (better known as Orcagna), Lippo Memmi, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Lorenzo Monaco. In addition to discussions of each painting’s meaning, function, and significance, entries provide published references, provenance, full technical notes, and detailed conservation histories. An introduction by Laurence Kanter chronicles the history of the collection, from the James Jackson Jarves Collection that was assembled in the nineteenth century—the earliest formed collection of Italian paintings in any American museum—to more recent gifts by Louis and Hannah Rabinowitz and Richard Feigen. While many of the works are from Florence and Siena, the volume also includes examples from Bologna, Rimini, Venice, and more. Through its wide-ranging holdings, the Gallery’s collection provides a remarkable sense of the diverse visual culture of the time.  Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery

A first look at a newly discovered work by one of the great artists of the Renaissance  In January 2020, a previously unrecognized masterpiece by Luca Signorelli (ca. 1445–1523) was discovered by Yale University Art Gallery curators and conservators and freed from multiple layers of grime, regilding, and repainting. The composition—a tondo of the Virgin and Child with saints—was previously known only through two contemporary replicas, one of which was thought to be the original. The discovery of the Gallery’s tondo sheds new light on what is considered the climax of Signorelli’s career at the turn of the sixteenth century, a defining moment in the evolution of Italian painting from the Early to the High Renaissance.  Presenting the conserved tondo and its original frame for the first time, this volume investigates the work’s style and dating, the meaning of its enigmatic combination of figures, its probable Sienese patronage, and the implications of its repetition in a second and third version. Laurence Kanter discusses the work in relation to Signorelli’s groundbreaking fresco cycles at the cathedral of Orvieto and the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, near Siena, and considers the possibility that the alla grottesca decoration of the frame may have been designed, and possibly painted, by Signorelli himself and that this may be the first tondo—a class of object popular in Florence but less common elsewhere—ever painted in Siena.  Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery

Volume 2 of the comprehensive catalogue of the Yale University Art Gallery’s renowned collection of Italian paintingsThe Yale University Art Gallery is home to one of the largest and most distinguished collections of Italian paintings in the world. The second of four volumes covering this vast collection, this beautifully illustrated and expertly researched publication features more than seventy-five works dating from 1420 to 1490 by artists such as Gentile da Fabriano, Fra Angelico, Sassetta, Botticelli, and Neroccio de’ Landi. The book is particularly rich in Sienese and Florentine paintings, including one of the best-known Renaissance paintings in America: Antonio Pollaiuolo’s Hercules and Deianira. Also featured are an exceptional group of stucco reliefs that pair the efforts of major Florentine sculptors, including Donatello, with contemporary painters, and a rare, intact painted cassone by Paolo Uccello. Complete with detailed entries on each work—including technical notes, provenance, conservation history, questions of date and attribution, and wider cultural importance—this volume offers a nuanced picture of a fascinating period of Italian art and points to areas of future research in the field.  Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery