Depth of Field

Revolutionized by the sophisticated and refined works of Donatello and his contemporaries, relief sculpture acquired an unprecedented status during the Italian Renaissance. This volume has its origins in Depth of Field: Relief in the Time of Donatello, a unique collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, and the first exhibition to focus specifically on this phenomenon. The exhibition and accompanying lectures reassessed relief sculpture as one of the most innovative and experimental visual genres of fifteenth-century Italy.

In this volume, leading scholars in the field respond to the challenges of the Leeds exhibition. The papers, selected from the conference and talks that accompanied Depth of Field, present new research on Donatello, Ghiberti, Agostino di Duccio and other sculptors. They also address the use of fictive relief by painters like Carlo Crivelli and Titian. Renaissance relief sculpture emerges as a uniquely adaptable medium, suited to invention and reproduction, but also loaded with cultural significance and ancient resonance.