Privately Commissioned Paintings in Florence and Venice during the Renaissance – A System of Patronage and Art Collecting

The relationship between artist and patron is examined alongside the dynamics of the open art market, second-hand trade, auctions, and the circulation of inexpensive prints sold by street vendors. A formal and stylistic analysis of images displayed in private homes reveals their multiple layers of meaning. Although Renaissance images displayed in museums today are often interpreted as either devotional or decorative, this thesis argues that their original significance was more ambiguous.

By addressing the sphere of private patronage, the role of the second-hand market, and the tendency to view luxury items only through the lens of function, this study challenges longstanding distortions and misinterpretations of sixteenth-century domestic imagery. In doing so, it offers a new perspective and helps to fill significant gaps in the existing scholarship. </p>