After Raphael

After Raphael is the first comprehensive overview of sixteenth-century Italian painting to be published in over 30 years. Reevaluating the paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, Pontormo, Rosso, Bronzino, the Caracci and their followers in the light of recent research, Marcia Hall offers a new interpretation for the stylistic shifts that occurred after 1520. By taking into account the social, cultural, political, theological, and patronage issues that affected taste and stylistic developments, she demonstrates how the revival of interest in antique Roman sculpture relief affected Mannerist painters. She also examines the repercussions of the Protestant Reformation, which changed forever the Church's view of the function of images. Finally, Hall explores the new syntax and vocabulary of ornament in the realm of public and private decoration that provided a legacy that would be used for the next three centuries.