At first sight David Hemsoll's claim that Emulating Antiquity is “the first [book] in any language to be devoted to the unfolding of Renaissance architecture's engagement with antiquity” (13) seems startling. Surely examining that engagement is what most of us in the field do all the time. But, on reflection, it becomes apparent that, although this issue is addressed piecemeal in much Renaissance architectural history, often it is only one aspect among others or is merely taken for granted and not foregrounded. In this book Hemsoll does not attempt a comprehensive overview but instead engages with and challenges Giorgio Vasari's quasi-canonical narrative of the development of Renaissance architecture. Focusing on five key architects—Filippo Brunelleschi, Giuliano da Sangallo, Donato Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo—he relegates figures such as Francesco di Giorgio, Baldassare Peruzzi, and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger to incidental roles. However, what the book may lack in breadth is more...

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