In this vivid account Scott Nethersole examines the remarkable period of cultural, artistic and intellectual blossoming in Florence from ca.1400 to 1520 - the period traditionally known as the Early and High Renaissance.He looks at the city and its art with fresh eyes, presenting the well-known within a wider context of cultural reference.Key works of art - from painting, sculpture and architecture to illuminated manuscripts - by artists such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Botticelli and Brunelleschi are showcased alongside the unexpected and less familiar.