The joint ideas of imagery and ingenuity are meant to represent the variety of topics and questions explored by Jeffrey Chipps Smith throughout his career. The term ingenuity, in particular, encompasses the creative genius of the artist and the resourcefulness of acquirers in the use and display of art objects. This collection of essays brings together new scholarship on European art from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries by a range of artists such as Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Backoffen, Hans Baldung Grien, Sebald Beham, Gerard David, Albrecht Durer, Juan de Flandes, Hans Holbein the Elder, Hans Schwarz, Joos van Cleve, Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt van Rijn, Benedetto da Rovezzano, Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostzanen, and Nicolaus Gerhaert von Leyden. Topics include the training of artists and the practices of making; the communicative importance of particular subjects, iconographies, and artistic processes; the shifting meanings of objects due to re-use; and the importance of location and tradition in the creation and reception of artworks.
Imagery and Ingenuity
is an innovative and instructional collection for students and scholars of Early Modern art.