Donatello and the Dawn of Renaissance Art. A. Victor Coonin. Renaissance Lives. London: Reaktion Books, 2019. 288 pp. $22.50.
city. The most important relic paraded in Perugia was the betrothal ring of the Virgin. Relics, banners, icons, incense, and statues were used as strategies of purification, while the city highlighted the “praying agents”: the clergy, confraternities, and flagellants (172). Chapter 6, “The Extraordinary Relic-Transfer of 1609,” examines the triple translation of Perugian saints whose impresario was Bishop Comitoli. Visual focus was on the clergy, since legates, magistrates, guilds, students, seminarians, and women were missing from the procession. Only the canopy was carried by lay elite. Unsurprisingly, Rihouet notes that the bishops’ interests were at odds with secular authorities. I recommend this book for its high-quality research, well-documented argument, and beautiful color illustrations. Scholars interested in the Italian Renaissance, art history, anthropology and rituals, and European history in general will find it enlightening.