Evelyn S. Welch examines issues of Renaissance court patronage and power in this impressive study of three key architectural and artistic monuments in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Milan—the cathedral, the castle, and the hospital. She focuses on the way that the Visconti and Sforza ducal regimes used art and architecture to express the legitimacy and benevolence of their rule, and how they were alternately aligned with and hostile to civic elements in Milan. A vivid depiction of ambition, the pursuit of power, and the interplay between city and court, the book reveals much that is unexpected about the roles of patrons, the motivation behind artistic choices, and what buildings disguise as well as reveal about their patrons' interests.

The author presents a broadly inclusive cultural history, showing the impact of the social, political, economic, and religious character of the city on the patrons of the great buildings. We discover, for example, that although art historians have considered the Cathedral of Milan a Visconti commission, in actuality civic groups funded its construction; that the hospital was more an expression of political allegiance to the new Sforza regime than an innovative vision of social policy; that the design and decoration of the cathedral showed the influence of merchants who were determined to include a local Lombard idiom and ensure that their city was not forgotten in the expanding Visconti empire; and that Leonardo and Bramante's paintings in the Castello Sforzesco reflected an understanding of important points of court etiquette, clothing, and behavior. With precision and subtlety, this book reconstructs a time when patrons and artists formed a network of friendships, alliances, and economic partnerships to define the creation of art in Milan.

Evelyn S. Welch is lecturer, School of European Studies, at the University of Sussex.