What are the best novels about renaissance art?

Baxandall's work was incredibly important in the 1970s, because he developed our understanding of Renaissance art from simply connoisseurship. You would look at Leonardo and, through your innate connoisseurship, you would somehow have a connection to the painting. read more

Not exactly Renaissance (not Italian Renaissance, at least), but abou the Late Gothic (just after Renaissance and shortle before Barroque) in Flandres, Holand, Germany and Deutschland. It is about the life, judgement (by the Holy Inquisition) and impriosionement of the alchemist Zeno. read more

Best Books on the Renaissance Best history books and biographies about the Renaissance. It also includes the events leading up to and influencing the Renaissance, as well as the impact the Renaissance had on the world. read more

All in all, although his writing (in this context) is rarely astonishing or controversial, it succeeds in providing a comprehensive, informative look at Italian Renaissance art. A great virtue of Hartt's book is the copiousness and quality of the illustrations. read more

My answer: A famous one is The Agony and the Ecstasy, a biographical novel about Michelangelo Buonarroti by Irving Stone. read more