Florence: A Portrait

• Paperback - November, 1998 - Harvard University Press
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• By: Michael Levey and Michael Levey
• ISBN: 0674306589

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About this book

The usual tourist group's stay in Florence begins with the Duomo, runs through the paintings in the Uffizi, includes a visit to Michaelangelo's "David" and ends with a parade through a handful of churches. But the visitor who first reads Sir Michael Levey's portrait of the city will find rewards off that well-worn track. The city, a self-styled "new Athens" supported a wealth of artists, sculptors, humanists, and scholars, not to mention more than its share of wealthy individuals, who taken together, helped turn Florence into one of the world's great provincial outposts. Layering telling details, little-known facts and carefully explained social and intellectual history, Levey weaves a dense tale of this charming city, from the Middle Ages to the Quattrocento, through the Renaissance and on up to the early years of this century.

Other books you may find interesting

• Streetwise Florence
• The City of Florence: Historical Vistas and Personal Sightings
• A Traveller's Companion to Florence (The Traveller's Companion Series)
• The Food Lover's Guide to Florence: With Culinary Excursions in Tuscany
• Let's Go Map Guide Florence

Reviews by readers

Much More Than a Parlor Table Book

This book is a wonderful, "behind-the-scenes" history of Art and Life in Florence during its Golden Period. Levey has synthesized historical and personal accounts of the period and it results in a Historical text which is very readable. He gives life to the great artists of the time and some of the 'dirt' too. Levey not only discusses the achievements of the Masters with authority, but also provides interesting background information, including motives, jealousies, intrigue and favoritism. Despite its weight, this is THE travelogue on Florence I will take with me.

Florence at its best

This book gives the reader a history of Florence through its art. Naturally, the Florence in the time of the Renaissance is covered at length, but Levey doesn't stop there. He gives lots of insight into the patronage of art in succeeding periods. Levey's portrait of Florence is also a portrait of the Medici family and their artistic legacy to the city.

While this book might be too hefty and too heady for the casual italophile, it should be in the library of every hard-core Italy lover.

Well written and challenging

The book is wonderfully written, but reading it presents the same challenges as following a university lecture on the subject. Mr. Levey does not dumb down his subject or choose words he thinks most people will understand. You must keep up with him, and it would be helpful to keep handy a dictionary and a book on art history (or at least be near the internet).
This is a fascinating and insightful work, but not one you'll want to read a couple of pages of while your spouse watches Letterman before bed. You'll want to be paying strict attention as you read. If you do so, you'll find yourself well prepared for a visit to this amazing city. Rather than questioning your tour guide, you may well be able to teach her a thing or two on the subject.

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