One of Julian Gardner’s most significant contributions to the study of late medieval Italian art has been to move the focus of discussion away from style and attribution to context and patronage, and readers expecting such a treatment of Giotto will not be disappointed… It examines the reciprocal relationship between painter and patron, and how the ingenuity of the former satisfied the intellectual, religious and social needs of the latter… It represents a sort of summa, building on the author’s research over some forty years, each word chosen carefully for maximum impact, and each sentence concise yet pregnant with meaning. The text is accompanied by an exceptionally rich scholarly apparatus.
-- John Osborne Burlington Magazine

The expertise of distinguished scholar Gardner reveals itself in every page of this small volume… Gardner has numerous insights about content, patronage, and historical background, and he is especially sensitive to the artistic expression of Franciscan values and concerns. His characterization of the absence of minoritas, or Franciscan humility, in the paintings in Assisi and Florence seems particularly apt. His essays lead readers to look at the paintings anew—both the familiar images, such as the Bardi Chapel frescoes, and the often-overlooked Assisi allegories.
-- J. I. Miller Choice