Focusing on Rome, the paradigmatic centre of the High Renaissance narrative, this title features essays that present a case study of a particular aspect of the culture of the city in the early sixteenth century, including new analyses of Raphael's "stanze", Michelangelo's "Sistine Ceiling" and the architectural designs of Bramante.

Exploring how we can reconceptualise the High Renaissance in a way that reflects how we research and teach today, this volume proposes new approaches to the art of the period. Contributors focus on Rome, the paradigmatic centre of the High Renaissance narrative, as they question notions of periodisation, reconsider the Renaissance relationship with classical antiquity, and ultimately reconfigure our understanding of 'high Renaissance style'.

'The volume deserves to be commended for its graceful approach to the High Renaissance, conveying the hazards but also the value of employing such a concept. By acknowledging the High Renaissance as a construct of extraordinary enduring power, and also by linking it to sixteenth-century practice and experience, this book encourages new ways of thinking for specialists and a broad interested public alike.' Sixteenth Century Journal