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Art Patronage in Renaissance Florence
Online Catalog
Use the Online Catalog to locate books, microforms, films, and other materials in the Reynolds Library. Search by Author or Title in the Basic search or by keywords or phrases in the Guided Keyword search.
Art materials have N call numbers and are concentrated on Reynolds 6. This section is divided by medium:
- N - Visual Arts
- NA - Architecture
- NB - Sculpture
- NC - Drawing, Design, Illustration
- ND - Painting
- NE - Print Media
- NK - Decorative Arts
- NX - Arts in General
These broad categories are broken down further by time period, movement, subject or artist:
- N5273-N5273.2 - Art Patronage, Collectors
- N6915 - Art History-Renaissance Italy
- N6921 F7 - Art History-Renaissance Florence
- N7952 - Christian Art-Italian Renaissance
- NA1115-1123 - Italian Architecture
- NB611-623 - Sculpture-Italian Renaissance
- ND611-623 - Painting-Italian Renaissance
- ND623 R2 - Raphael
- NX440-632 - History of the Arts
Each book record in the online catalog also contains Library of Congress Subject Headings, which can help you locate books on a similar topic. Click on the subject heading in the online catalog to go to a list of books that share that subject heading. Some examples are:
- Aesthetics
- Art and society
- Art patronage Italy Florence
- Art, Renaissance Italy Florence Exhibitions
- Artists and patrons-Italy-Florence
- Donatello, 1386?-1466
- Florence (Italy) social life and custom
- Medici, House of- Art patronage
- Renaissance Italy
- Strozzi family
You may also need to look at resources outside of the Art section. The History (D), Political Science (J), Social Sciences (H) and Religious Studies (B) sections will have titles related to your topics.
- BX808.5 I8 - Italian Confraternities
- BX1544 - Church History-Italy
- DG 731-759.3 - History-Italy-Tuscany and Florence
- DG737.4-737.9 - House of the Medici
- HF416 - Economics-Renaissance Florence
- HG3090 - Banking History
- HN488 F56 - Renaissance Florence-Society and Customs
Reference Resources
Use Reference Resources to get background information on an artist, work of art or concept. Many of these sources include bibliographies which list additional books and journal articles that would be useful for further research on the topic. All Reference materials are shelved on Wilson 4. These are a few selections from the available resources:
- Dictionary of Christian Art Ref BV150 A66 1994
- The Papacy: An Encyclopedia(3 vols.) Ref BX955.2 D53 2002
- Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance Ref CB361 C27 2003
- Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (6 vols.) Ref CB361 E52 1999
- Longman Companion to Renaissance Europe Ref D203 F58 2000
- The Dictionary of Art (34 vols.) Ref N31 D5 1996 and online (Oxford Art Online)
- Dictionary of Art Terms Ref N33 L75 2004
- Dictionnaire Critique et Documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs de tous les Temps et de tous les Pays (Benezit) (14 vols.) Ref N40 B47 1999
- Artwords Ref N71 P32 1997
- Renaissance Art and Architecture Ref N6370 C32 2004
- European Art of the Fifteenth Century Ref N6371 Z8413 2005
- European Art of the Sixteenth Century Ref N6374 Z8413 2006
- International Dictionary of Art and Artists (2 vols.) Ref N7425 I67 1990
- Artists' Techniques and Materials Ref N7430 F8413 2006
- Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography (2 vols.) Ref N7560 E53 1998
- Nature and Its Symbols Ref N7680 I4713 2004
- Symbols and Allegories in Art Ref N7740 B2913 2005
- Macmillian Encyclopedia of Architects (4 vols.) Ref NA40 M25 1982
- The World's Master Paintings Ref ND40 W75 1992
Online Databases
Use electronic databases to find journal articles, book chapters and reviews. The library has over 200 databases for finding journal articles. In the left sidebar, expand the Subject List under Arts and Humanities to find databases relevent to Art History.
Remember, these databases include articles from scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers. If your professor requires that you use scholarly journal articles for your project, take a look at this checklist to see if your articles are appropriate! Many databases also allow you to limit to scholarly or peer-reviewed journals. Use this option when it is available! When in doubt, ASK your professor or a librarian!
Note: The three main art databases (Art Index, BHA, RILA) can be searched simultaneously. When you first access the Art Index database, check the boxes to also select BHA and RILA, and then hit the "Start Searching" button in the top right corner. If you do search these databases simultaneously, remember that the results are grouped by database, i.e., all of the results from Art Index will be listed first, in chronological order, then the results from BHA, then RILA.
Arts Databases
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Art Index
"Provides citations from over 250 publications such as periodicals, yearbooks, museum bulletins, exhibition listings, interviews, and film reviews. Also indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals. Subjects covered include: advertising art, antiques, archaeology, architecture and architectural history, art history, crafts, decorative arts, folk art, graphic arts, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, motion pictures and film, museology, non-western art, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, television, and textiles."
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Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
"Indexes journal articles, book and website reviews, exhibition reviews, and obituaries for architecture, architectural history, design, archaeology, interior design, landscape architecture, historic preservation, and urban planning. Includes "physical details" field, noting such items as photos, plans, drawings, and sections. International in scope."
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Bibliography of the History of Art-BHA
"Covers the current international literature on the history of art in Europe and the New World from late antiquity to the present. Includes both the fine arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing and prints) and decorative and applied arts (popular art, folk art). Indexes and abstracts journals, books, conference proceedings, essays, exhibition catalogues, selected art dealers' catalogues, doctoral dissertations and microform publications."
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Oxford Art Online (Online version of The Dictionary of Art)
"Covers art and culture from prehistory to the 1990s. Its multicultural approach offers detailed analyses of civilizations from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific. Provides a guide to the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, drawing, and printmaking, as well as the decorative arts."
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International Index of the Performing Arts-IIPA
"Indexes and abstracts over 130 international performing arts periodicals from 9 countries, as well as performing arts articles and obituaries appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Covers nearly all aspects of the world of the performing arts, from the most scholarly studies to the latest crazes."
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International Repertory of the Literature of Art-RILA
"The International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA) is the predecessor of BHA. BHA and RILA together cover literature published since 1973. RILA includes abstracts and indexes on all aspects of European and American art and architecture. European art is covered from late Antiquity (4th c.) to 1989. American art is covered from the European discoveries (16th c.) to 1989. Art reflecting the Western tradition in other parts of the world is also included. All types of publication are covered: books, periodical articles, reviews, conference proceedings, Festschriften, collected essays, exhibition catalogues, museum publications, and doctoral dissertations."
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Web of Science (Arts and Humanities Citation Index)
"Contains three ISI Citation Databases (Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences), which together index over 8,000 peer-reviewed journals. It provides bibliographic data, author abstracts, and cited references. Useful for searching databases for articles that cite a known author or work. Citation searching also allows a researcher to use a given work as a subject term in order to identify more recent articles about the same topic."
Full-text, Multi-subject Databases
(index journal, magazine, and newspaper articles)
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Academic Search Premier
"Provides abstracts, indexing, and full-text for journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education, and more."
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JSTOR
"A full-text database of archived issues of academic journals. Since JSTOR is a backfiles project, a typical coverage range is the beginning of a journal until three or five years ago."
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Project MUSE
"Provides access to the full text of over 100 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities and social sciences."
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ProQuest
"Contains articles covering the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and business. Databases include Research Library, Ethnic NewsWatch, and ProQuest Religion."
Historical Databases
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ATLA Religion Database
"Indexes and abstracts journal articles, essays in multi-author books, and book reviews, covering nearly all areas of international religious research."
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Historical Abstracts (history other than the U.S. and Canada)
"Historical Abstracts provides indexing and abstracts for journal articles, books, and dissertations covering the history of the world from 1450 -- except the U.S. and Canada. For similar coverage of the U.S. and Canada, use America History and Life."
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ITER-Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
"Indexes books and over 500 periodicals concerning Europe and the Middle East from 400-1700. Includes history, literature, art, politics and government, etc. The separate book database covers books, materials published in books, and collected essays."
Locating a Journal
Find out if the Library subscribes to the journal you need through the Journals page. If we subscribe to the journal, the catalog will display information regarding print and/or electronic versions of the journal. You can also use the "subject browse" feature to view journals by subject area (selected journals only).
Remember, if the Reynolds Library does not have the journal (or book) that you need, request it via Interlibrary Loan. The newest issues of the Art periodicals are located in Current Periodicals.
Back to topCiting Your Sources
The latest editions of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian) are available in exchange for an ID at the Reference Desk in the Library.
Back to topWebsites
After you have consulted books and journal articles, you may also want to use web resources. Take a look at Evaluating Web Resources as you critique the websites you find. These sites contain reliable information:
- artdaily.com (First Art Newspaper on the Net)
- Art History Resources on the Web
- Artlex Art Dictionary
- Great Buildings Collection
- Infomine (Search within Visual & Performing Arts)
- Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum
- Medici-Godfathers of the Renaissance (PBS)
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
- National Gallery of Art: Italian Painting of the 15th Century
- National Gallery of Art: Italian Painting of the 16th Century
- Raphael
- Revelations from Reproductions: Fifteenth Century Paintings in the National Gallery of Art
- Uffizi Gallery
- Vatican Museums
- Voice of the Shuttle
- Web Gallery of Art
- World Wide Web Virtual Library: History of Art
Need Help?
Good luck in your search! If you are not finding enough information, ASK:
- Kaeley McMahan, Reference, 758-4661, AIM: kaeleymc
- Request a Personal Research Session
- call the Reference Desk for help at ext. 5475