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hen Richard Offner founded the Corpus of Florentine Painting in the late 1920's, his aim was to promote the systematic research of the pictorial production of late medieval Florence, describing, commenting and illustrating each of the works which survive from the 13th through the 15th century.

With the present volume, divided into two parts and dedicated to the painters Andrea Bonaiuti and Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci, both active during the second half of the 14th century, the Corpus offers detailed information on one particular aspect of the development of Florentine art: the introduction of gothicising tendencies and their encounter with Giottesque tradition. Andrea Bonaiuti and his younger colleague, the Camaldolese monk Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci, were united in their effort to give new impetus to Florentine painting after the Great Plague. Their fields of activity were different. Although he executed several panel paintings, Andrea Bonaiuti was primarily a specialist of works on a monumental scale, fresco cycles and stained glass windows; Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci was the most famous book illuminator of his day, he was also active in the production of altarpieces and small devotional panels. Deeply influenced by Sienese painting, both of these artists created innovative syntheses of local and foreign traditions, enriching Florentine art with a new vocabulary of forms and with hitherto unknown decorative effects of exquisite colouristic harmony. In this sense Andrea Bonaiuti and Don Silvestro Gherarducci contributed greatly to the renewal of the predominantly Giottesque trend of Andrea Orcagna and his brothers and to the creation of a foundation for the international Gothic in Florence, for the art of Agnolo Gaddi, Lorenzo Monaco, and others.

The volume has been published in two parts, both consisting of an introductory study, a catalogue and a large series of fine, black and white illustrations. The author of the first section, dedicated to Andrea Bonaiuti, is Johannes Tripps, Privatdozent of the University of Heidelberg, the author of the second, dedicated to Don Silvestro, is Gaudenz Freuler, professor of the University of Zurich.

Technical Features: cloth bound volume (size 31.8 x 24.5 cm) printed on ivory coated paper with coloured dust jacket; 288 pages, 143 black and white illustrations. The volume is priced at $US175-.