Excerpt from A Descriptive Catalogue: Old Masters of the Italian School, Villa Doccia, FiesoleOf these, that of Florence is the best known, partly because the best advertised by the Florentine, Vasari, and partly because of the number and qual ity of the still surviving works by Giotto, and the Giottesque. Of the school of Siena, also, much of high quality and interest is still extant, which is now receiving its just meed of praise and study.The other schools, on the contrary, are little known, and little studied. This is to be regretted, for in the following century, the Quattrocento, they were rendered illustrious by painters whose artistic antecedents, if known, would shed a light on the early evolution of the art-cycle to which they belong, for they generally received their artistic education in their native towns, their work, therefore, is the outcome of local tradition and practice, modified and developed by the Zeitgeist, and by the temperament and capacity of the individual.It is scientifically and psychologically important, therefore, to know the quality and niveau of the artistic culture out of which the art of the Renais sance sprang. Unfortunately the necessary material is generally lacking.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.