Body and soul

The catalogue presents great masterpieces of Italian renaissance and baroque sculpture. It was supervised by Andrew Butterfield and Fabrizio Moretti, two of the world's most representative experts of antique trade. The sculptures which the book deeply analyzes all have something in common: they combine ideality and naturalism of form with intensity and depth of expression, so that both the outer appearance and the inner life of the character represented manage to emerge. In short, not even one of these sculptures submitted to the strict academic rules which have always been influencing art and sometimes keep affecting it today. They were selected since they celebrate life in every single aspect, both physical and spiritual. Among the artists whose works are here described we find Andrea Del Verrocchio, Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea Riccio, Alessandro Algardi, Domenico Pieratti, Giambattista Foggini, Pierre Le Gros, Giuseppe Mazzuoli, Giuseppe Piamontini and Giovachino Fortini. The book includes introductions by Andrew Butterfield, Fabrizio Moretti and Marc Fumaroli as well as in-depth essays by Andrea Bacchi, Andrew Butterfield, C.D. Dickerson, Marc Fumaroli, Giancarlo Gentilini, Tomaso Montanari and Riccardo Spinelli, providing historical and technical information. The volume is rich in colour images and each essay is accompanied by a detailed bibliography.