mind's eye, sensual pride, a pointy wit—these features have been drastically prized in sixteenth-century Ferrara, the place probably the most cultured and strong courts of the excessive Renaissance held sway. Dosso Dossi used to be the idiosyncratic, fantastic painter such a lot answerable for turning these values right into a excellent creative fact. Dosso's wealthy colour schemes are equivalent to these of his fellow North Italian Titian; he realized anything approximately leading edge composition from Raphael and concerning the strength of the physique from Michelangelo, yet his work have a truly person attraction. In leafy average atmosphere containing an array of animals and heavenly our bodies, occasions spread which are usually enigmatic, enacted via characters whose interrelationships elude definition. Dosso's painted international stocks the spirit of contemporaneous epic poetry - similar to Ariosto's Orlando Furioso - imbued because it is with secret and transformation, strength and invention.

together with his predecessor Giorgione, Dosso was once one of many first painters to improvise at the canvas. instead of following cautious preparatory drawings, he composed and recomposed as he painted - a remarkably unfastened strategy that's essentially printed in new x-ray and infrared images. Dosso's virtuosic portray functionality used to be therefore itself one of those magical invention. The play of his mind's eye is clear not just within the many images representing mythological or literary matters but additionally in his non secular work, that are lyrical and unique, jam-packed with fabulous visible results and touches of humor.

while Ferrara's fortunes replaced, on the finish of the 16th century, such a lot of Dosso's work have been taken to Rome and finally dispersed. For this exhibition, just about all the surviving work were introduced jointly; within the catalogue entries each gets a clean and accomplished scholarly dialogue. additionally comprises essays that describe Dosso's inventive occupation and the hugely charged global of the courtroom at Ferrara and that probe the visible poetry and refined wit of his paintings. The illuminating result of an intensive crusade of technical exam, undertaken in reference to the exhibition, are mentioned and illustrated in more essays and in observations that accompany entries all through. The ebook encompasses a complete evaluation of the scholarly literature, colour reproductions of the work, many comparative illustrations, a chronology, and an entire bibliography.  [This ebook used to be initially released in 1998 and has long past out of print. This version is a print-on-demand model of the unique book.]