Through close examination of Renaissance paintings, drawings, book illustrations, and other art works, Patricia
Fortini Brown brings fourteenth and fifteenth century Venice alive. She explores the role of the guilds and the
nobility, the unique island setting, the environment of the church and the private home, the political rivalries
with other states, the taste for symbols and metaphors, the myriad qualities that made Venice distinct and its
art unique. Carefully interweaving art-historical analysis of individual works (both famous and little-known) with
rich contextual discussions, she reveals a culture of high beauty, artifice, and craftsmanship.
