Books by Charles Dempsey

The putto (often portrayed as a mischievous baby) appears frequently in the art and literature of Renaissance Italy. The ""spiritelli"" embody a minor species of demon, neither good not bad. This book discusses the manifestations of the putto-spiritello in 15th-century art and literature.

Offers fascinating insights into the tussle between the maniera moderna and the maniera devota in the first half of the sixteenth century, when the unity between the elegance and beauty of art and its religious significance came under debate.

Why do the paintings and poetry of the Italian Renaissance-a celebration of classical antiquity-also depict the Florentine countryside populated with figures dressed in contemporary silk robes and fleur-de-lys crowns? Charles Dempsey argues that a fusion of classical form with contemporary content was the defining characteristic of the period.