Synthesizing traditional interpretations and fresh insights, the author arranges her study in four sections relating to marriage furniture, portraiture, the nude, and depictions of female saints. In each section, she provides close analyses of paintings and works of art, integrating information about artistic problems and theory to the social history of the period. Her discussion encompasses the social and cultural context of the paintings, the intentions of the patrons, and the changes in types and forms of representation from the first half of the 15th century to the second half of the 16th. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.