The Italian Renaissance: The Origins of Intellectual and Artistic Change Before the Reformation.

By John Stephens. Pp. XVIII + 248 incl. 8 plates and I 3 figs. London-New York: Longman, 1990. 22-50[pounds] (cloth), 10.95[pounds] (paper). 0582 o6425 2; 0 582 49337 4

This promisingly titled book aims to confront many of the historiographical prejudices and unacknowledged assumptions implicit in Renaissance studies. The author sees the need to redefine the cultural achievements of the period through a |connecting theme' of |the power of ancient ideas to shape and interpret (rather than reflect) contemporary experience'. To this end, his study is composed of three inter-related and subdivided parts: |Humanism', |The artist, the patron and the sources of artistic …