The Painter's Practice in Renaissance Tuscany

This unique and fully illustrated study of the painter's practice in Renaissance Tuscany focuses on paintings not only as art but also as products of a process of manufacture.

Anabel Thomas presents a complete picture of the commissioning, production and marketing of paintings, examining such aspects as the way in which the painter and his business functioned from day to day, how the subjects and their style were decided, the constraints on cost and design, and the division of labour within and between workshops.

Her study is based on material which has hitherto not been generally accessible, and draws in particular on the detailed workshop account book of the painter Neri di Bicci, little known now but highly regarded at the time, much of whose work survives and is closely documented.

The result is a new perspective on the construction of Italian Renaissance art.