The Lies of the Artists

Luminous essays on artists of the Italian Renaissance by one of our most inspired writers on the history and making of art.


In the three centuries from 1450 to 1750 painters, sculptors, and architects emerged from the medieval craft guilds of Italy to claim a new social status as creators, whose gorgeous handiwork, now called “art,” expressed lofty inspiration as much as manual skill. In The Lies of the Artists, Ingrid Rowland takes us into the world of these artists, and into their seemingly miraculous ways of transforming transcendent ideas into tangible works of art that challenged and redefined reality, “lies” with the power to reveal a deeper truth.

As the great art patron Daniele Barbaro wrote: “bisogna aprire gli occhi,” or “you have to open your eyes.” And this is precisely what Rowland does in these essays, bringing her knowledge, keen perception, and singular wit to bear on the art and lives of Renaissance masters, including Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael, Titian, and El Greco, as well as some overlooked artists of phenomenal talent, such as Antonello da Messina, Andrea del Sarto, and Bertoldo di Giovanni. In dazzling prose, as luminous and versatile as the painterly effects she describes, she shows us the work of these artists in eye-opening, thought-provoking ways, recreating the delight and insight that the discovery of great art evokes.Additional Selling Points
Introduction: The Lies of the Artists
1. Bronzes for the Ages (Bertoldo di Giovanni)
2. "A Painter Not Human" (Antonello da Messina)
3. The Gentle Genius (Raphael)
4. Roman Rivalries (Sebastiano del Piombo and Michelangelo)
5. Sublime, Exhilarating Andrea del Sarto
6. He Made Stone Speak (Michelangelo)
7. The Local, Universal Master (Titian)
8. The Fantastical Little Dyer (Tintoretto)
9. Irresistible El Greco
10. Radiant, Angry Caravaggio
11. Women Artists and the Boundaries of Art
12. Brutality and Brilliance (Artemisia Gentileschi)
13. He Had The Touch (Gianlorenzo Bernini)
14. Eros, Mystery, Menace (Giambattista Tiepolo
15. Giorgio Vasari’s Passionate Gamble
Acknowledgments“Rowland’s prose is clever and tone humorous, as she brings fresh observations to this often over-studied art period and resuscitates the reputation of others overlooked by history.”
—OBSERVER“A luxurious read, brimming with marvelous observations, bringing art and artists to life in a prose that is just as vibrant and resplendent as the artworks it describes.”
—Victor Plahte Tschudi, Professor, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, author of Piranesi and the Modern Age
 
“Rowland is one of the best writers on the visual arts at work today. In the range and depth of her knowledge she is unrivaled and her prose is always fresh and lively.”
—Andrew Butterfield, author of The Sculptures of Andrea del VerrocchioIngrid D. Rowland is Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of numerous books, including Giordano Bruno and From Pompeii, and was the inaugural winner of the Grace Dudley Prize for Arts Writing in 2021. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books.