With detailed interpretations of works by pivotal figures in the Italian Renaissance, this enlightening volume offers a new interpretation of this period, during which some artists emerged as thoughtful intellectuals devoted to experimentation (the avant-garde) while others repeat older themes again and again (the conservatives). Guided by one of the world's leading art history scholars, readers embark on a journey of discovery that will transform their understanding of this important period in the history of civilization. Eschewing jargon and lengthy footnotes, the author frames the aesthetics of the Renaissance as a struggle between irrational, intuitive perception and rational, proto-scientific tendencies, showing how these diverging imperatives form a leitmotif that profoundly deepens our understanding of the Renaissance and why Italy was preeminent in this [...] richly illustrated work teaches its readers a visual method for 'reading' and making sense of works of art in order to understand their development and fully appreciate their visual significance. The events that occurred in the world of Italian art in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries reveal the breathtaking modernity of Renaissance art and debunk the old-fashioned idea that Renaissance art is 'old fashioned'. It will even transform our understanding of today's art world.