Italian Paintings, XIV-XVI Centuries, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houton, Rice University Press-Merrell Holberton, 1996

This is the first catalogue raisonne to be published on the distinguished collection of late medieval and Renaissance Italian paintings held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. These include significant bequests from New York collector Percy Straus, Samuel H. Kress and others. The collection comprises works from major artistic centers, exemplifying major stylistic developments and characteristic genres. Included are works by Fra Angelico, Giovanni di Paolo, the Master of the Straus Madonna, Lorenzo Lotto, Veronese, and Bartolommeo Veneto. Dr Wilson's meticulously researched text is the first comprehensive and in-depth treatment of these holdings. The paintings are presented in rich art-historical contexts and recent technical studies are well illustrated, as are comparative works of art. The greater part of the collection has been examined through infrared reflectography, on which Molly Faries contributes an important essay. Also included are a history of the collection and transcripts of previously unpublished letters from Bernard Berenson and contemporary connoisseurs. An invaluable tool for Renaissance specialists and students, the book will also appeal to the general reader interested in this important period of European painting.