The Dictionary of Artists' Models is the first extensive reference work to identify and contextualize the lives and art history of individual artist's models. It provides a much-needed body of research to serve both as a reference tool and as a springboard for further study of this frequently neglected subject. The Dictionary provides information on some 200 artists' models, from the Renaissance to the present day. Most entries are illustrated and consist of a short biography, a selected list of works in which the model appears, suggestions for further reading, and a signed interpretive essay. Each essay includes information about the model's life and the artists for whom they sat, and discusses their specific contribution to the artist's work. Written by experts in their field, these essays, on models as diverse as Costanza della Sommaia Doni, Andr? Utter, and Elizabeth Hollander, will give the reader a richer understanding of the model's relevance to art history. Introductory essays focus on themes such as the experience of modeling, the model in literature, and the model as artist.
The Dictionary includes an Appendix that gives brief biographical details of lesser-kn models and an extensive index of artists and works. The Dictionary of Artists' Models will prove an invaluable reference work for art historians, librarians, museum and gallery curators, as well as students and researchers.