The Altarpiece in Renaissance Venice.

Recent scholarship has focused on specialized aspects of Italian Renaissance altarpieces. The Altarpiece in Renaissance Venice is the first truly comprehensive account of the altarpiece in a primary center of Italian Renaissance art. It considers the altarpiece as a separate type, distinct from other art of the period, and presents changes in function, form and content specific to the genre. Central to its theme is the relationship between the altarpiece and the altar, the locus of the redemptive act. Peter Humfrey shows that, within this framework, the altarpiece performed a broad range of aesthetic, social and political functions. He both presents a reasoned explication of the balance between the conventions of the genre and the latitude for experimentation within it, and demonstrates the ability of altarpieces to move far beyond their function as altar decoration. Throughout, Venetian traditions, civic structure and concerns temper the whole.

Part I, entitled "Contexts", is thematic rather than chronological in approach, and explores the entire range of external circumstances that circumscribed the creation and use of Venetian altarpieces throughout the period. Humfrey begins with a discussion of the traditions of interior decoration of Venetian churches and the physical environment for which altarpieces were made. Photographs of altarpieces in situ and/or in their original frames are included, and thoughtful consideration of those prerequisites enhances understanding of the works. A chapter on purposes and uses deals with the devotional background and the range of sacred and secular functions that altarpieces were required to perform. Types of donors and the art market are analyzed, showing that patterns in the donation of altarpieces by diverse social categories are traceable, but particular types of altarpiece design are not. A chapter on business relations between Venetian artists, their employers and fellow craftsmen demonstrates that commercial practices varied considerably, although a range of likely possibilities existed, depending on certain variables.

Part II, "Objects," shifts the focus of attention from external circumstances to the works, and the manner in which the artists met the demands of specific commissions. Painted altarpieces from 1450-1516 are considered in three phases of development; within each the works are organized according to categories of format and subject rather than chronology. Several of these divisions are especially insightful, such as "The Sacra Conversazione Triumphant," which lends an analytic yet sensitive eye to the evolution of a much-discussed and over-simplified format. Sculptured altarpieces are the subject of the final chapter, with an epilogue on the altarpieces painted by Titian up to 1530.

Numerous tables are included, among them, altarpiece commissions by/for citizen families; altarpiece commissions by/for patrician families; destinations of Venetian altarpieces commissioned for export. Many of these will be useful to social historians. A chronological table of "Some Major Venetian Altarpieces (1450-1530)," by artist, title and original church, is expanded upon in a catalogue-type appendix that considers issues relevant to these one hundred works; for the most part reconstruction of the entire altarpiece, provenance, or attribution is discussed, and the entries provide a wealth of information.

Professor Humfrey's points are enhanced by the quality of the visual material. Lavishly illustrated, with many color plates, and numerous large details, this publication makes the lure of Venetian art palpable.

The Altarpiece in Renaissance Venice is not only a survey but an examination of the manifold issues that influenced the altarpiece in early Renaissance Venice. It will be indispensable for the study of any Venetian altar painting by specialist and student alike.

Patricia Meilman AMERICAN UNIVERSITY