Le printemps de la Renaissance, la sculpture et les arts à Florence, 1400-1460

The large exhibition the Louvre will dedicate to the first half of the XVth century in Florence, from 26 September to 6 January, already shown at Palazzo Strozzi last spring, will allow the Parisian public to admire major pieces that never travel. Here we have Ghiberti’s founding relief for the Baptistery (Isaac’s Sacrifice ), the Famous men and women by Andrea del Castagno, the terra cotta bust of Nicolò da Uzzano, the colossal Saint Louis of Toulouse and Horse head or the delicate Madonna Pazzi (by Donatello) or this vibrant Virgin and Child by Brunelleschi, recently identified at Fiesole. The catalogue is a reflection of this art that is difficult to show – sculpture – and on its fundamental importance at the beginning of the Renaissance, when the aim was to revamp the legacy from the Antiquity and celebrate the beauty of man. This is an initiation into very “in depth” knowledge, from the spiritelli (children figures) to equestrian monuments, the role of orphanages to the first private patronage, a practice that remains very familiar…

• Le printemps de la Renaissance, la sculpture et les arts à Florence, 1400-1460, directed by Marc Bormand and Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, Officina Libraria/musée du Louvre éditions, 2013, 552 p., €45.