This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1889 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter iii. tainting in italy, from the beginning of the renaissance to the present century. he reawakening of Art in Italy which followed the dark-I-ness of the Middle Ages, dates from about the beginning of the fifteenth century and is called the Renaissance. The Italians have a method of reckoning the centuries which differs from ours. Thus we call 1800 the first year of the nineteenth century, but they call it the first of the eighteenth; so the painters of what was to us the fifteenth century are called by Italians the " quattrocentistt'," or men of the fourteenth century, and while to us the term " cinquecento" means the style of the sixteenth century, to the Italians the same century, which begins with 1500, is the fifteenth century. I shall use our own method of reckoning in my writing; but this fact should be known to all who read or study art. The first painter of whom I shall now speak is known to us as fra angelico. His name was Guido, the son of Pietro, and he was born at Vicchio in the province of Mugello, in the year 1387. We know that his family was in such circumstances that the young Guido could have led a life of ease; but he early determined to become a preaching friar. Meantime, even as a boy, he showed his taste for art, and there are six years in his life, from the age of fourteen to twenty, of which no one can tell the story. However, from what followed it is plain that during this time he must somewhere have devoted himself to the study of painting and to preparation for his life