The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512-1570

this book made me wonder if the medicis would be The Medicis without the many self-aggrandizing portraits they paid to have carved and painted - case in point is that some of the relatively minor medicis were only identified through the tireless work of the art historian. the guy on the cover for example was thought to be a Medici - would his portrait have been so well cared for, indeed kept if it was known that he wasn't? would his much more interesting story be so compelling with out his totally complimentary portrait? anyway, maybe it's a silly thing to say and you'll have plenty of information to decide for yourself in this unexpected page-tuner of an exhibition catalogue which is NOT just about the paintings, but indeed about the megalomaniacal medicis, but mind, their chroniclers in pigment, marble, and metal are given full shrift. by the way, the studly hunk on the cover would put Hollywood posers to shame; a brawler, lover, duelist, excommunicated, re-communicated, a dandy [with class and style], respected, and a loyal devotee of Cosimo after he finally hounded the guy into letting him marry the woman he had stollen away from his buddy [but only after the buddy'd been decapitated for warring against cosimo!]. Ludovico caponni - probably one of the few men of the period who earned the right to wear his cod piece. worth every freaking penny - you might read it more than once, and certain sections/analyses more than that. tour de force.

June/2021: This is an exhibit that will be discussed for years --- and this catalog is far more than just an accompanying coffee table book full of lavish reproductions. True, the optics are top-drawer; but this is a book full of historical insights, costume details and vocabulary, accounts of the social and political influence of the Medici, and a behind-the-brocade-curtain look at their family dynamics as well as telling us what was on their bookshelves. (think: Petrarch and Dante) I love an exhibition catalog that tells me EVERY thing; plus delivers with a wealth of large, clear reproductions. Insights about the artists and the sitters abound -- as well as a full-bodied treatise about that singular time and place.Advice to museum goers: Read this volume FIRST, and you will feel like a Medici ninja, as you enjoy the exhibit.

Lavishly executed and very rich in details book. There is more info than available at actual Met exhibition itself. Note also that as of July 25 the Met museum did not have any copies left for sale in the museum shop.

It was spectacular.

Really well done

Academic quality.