Description
By Amy Steedman. Color edition. Discover the lives and works of the Italian masters in this engaging introduction to the art of the Renaissance.
In Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters, Amy Steedman recounts the lives of eighteen celebrated Italian painters, presenting the history of Renaissance art through stories written especially for younger readers. Drawing upon Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Painters, she portrays the artists not merely as famous names, but as men whose talents developed through years of study, work, difficulty, and perseverance.
Beginning with Giotto and continuing through Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, and other masters, the book traces the development of Italian painting across several centuries. Steedman describes the artists’ childhoods, training, patrons, friendships, and achievements, while introducing many of the paintings and frescoes for which they became known.
Along the way, readers encounter the workshops, churches, and cities of Renaissance Italy and learn how artists studied the world around them, experimented with new methods, and developed their distinctive styles. Steedman’s warm and engaging accounts encourage young readers not only to learn about the great painters but also to look more thoughtfully at their work.
Both a collection of artists’ lives and an introduction to art appreciation, Knights of Art offers children an inviting path into the history of Italian painting.
This carefully restored edition presents Amy Steedman’s classic text together with twenty-four drawings by Mary Steedman based upon works by the great artists.
About the author: Amy Steedman was a writer of books for children, particularly works on art, history, religion, biography, and traditional tales. Her books were written in a warm and engaging style intended to introduce younger readers to important figures, stories, and works of art.
