"Along with Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Donatello, Nanni di Banco (ca. 1374-1421) determined the course of Renaissance art in Florence, and yet he has received relatively little critical attention. Here Mary Bergstein brings a critical perspective to bear on the artist who created some of the most important public works of the early Renaissance period, including his life-size niche figures for Orsanmichele and the Assumption of the Virgin for the Porta della Mandorla of the cathedral of Florence.

She offers a complete study of the artist, including a much-needed social history of his sculpture. In a series of five thematic essays Bergstein interweaves biography with rich explorations of the political, historical, and cultural context in which Nanni worked, while offering new insights into several of his most famous sculptures. The book concludes with a catalogue raisonne and a register of documentary sources."--BOOK JACKET.