The Italian Renaissance Nude

"Given the centrality of the male and female nude in the teaching and scholarship of Renaissance art, it is about time this book appeared. Burke (Univ. of Edinburgh, UK) makes a major contribution to the literature by presenting the nuanced reactions, in both textual and visual form, of viewers of the nude between about 1400 and 1530 in the Italian peninsula."—A. Golahny, Choice

Selected for Choice's 2019 Outstanding Academic Titles List

“If you thought you knew what you were looking at when looking at Renaissance nudes, look again with Jill Burke.”—Alexander Nagel, Professor of Fine Arts, New York University

“The question of ‘Why the Renaissance nude?’ is so central to the very idea of Renaissance art – and at the same time so fascinating – that it is incomprehensible that it evaded treatment in book form until now. In The Italian Renaissance Nude, Jill Burke sets aside art history’s unexamined assumptions and casts a fresh eye on artworks we thought we knew, all the while carefully reading ancient, medieval and Renaissance texts to glean important historical insights.”—Rebecca Zorach, Mary Jane Crowe Professor of Art History, Northwestern University