Painting for Profit : The Economic Lives of Seventeenth-Century Italian Painters

In this highly original book five leading art historians team up with two distinguished economic and social historians to investigate the financial worlds of painters in Baroque Italy. Exploring the many variables that determined the prices asked or received by paintersincluding the status of their patrons, the size of works and time spent making them, their subject matter, and their number of figuresthe authors offer major insights into the social lives, psychological disposition, and economic circumstances of a wide range of major and minor artists.

Richard Spear is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Oberlin College and Affiliate Research Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. Philip Sohm is University Professor at the University of Toronto.