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What did early modern European audiences make of the iridescent surfaces of colonial Mexican featherwork? While much previous scholarship relates their appeal to brightness, they also exhibit chromatic instability activated by alterations in the angle of illumination or view. This plurality of viewing experiences mirrored those provided by a range of other popular forms of contingent media such as anamorphic and ambiguous images. In ways both similar and distinct, featherwork exposed conventions of pictorial representation and the limitations of the sense of sight itself, embodying an epistemological dilemma that was especially important to the intellectual culture of seventeenth-century Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores a double-sided portrait painting known as "Portrait of the Dwarf Morgante," painted by Agnolo Bronzino between 1547 and 1553. Particular focus is given to Bronzino's contributions to Florentine portraiture. Additional topics discussed include Bronzio's depictions of animals and wildlife in his works, depictions of dwarfs and dwarfism throughout art history and the artist's association with the Accademia Fiorentina, the literary institution under the ducal control of the Medici family in Italy.

The article explores instrument prints, including woodblocks made by the artists Johannes Stabius with Albrecht Dürer in the 16th century. Particular focus is given to a print known as the "Imperial Astrolabe." Additional topics discussed include comparisons of the prints to works by artists including Bridget Riley and Lucas Cranach the Elder, functional objects and authorship and topics depicted in the prints including astrology and timekeeping.

Evaluates the painting 'The Butcher Shop,' by Annibale Carracci. Description; Interpretations; Comparison to other 16th century paintings.

Evaluates the 16th century painting 'Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple,' by Titian. Site where the canvas was painted; Interpretations of the painting; Format of the pictorial fields.

Evaluates the 16th century painting 'Last Judgement,' by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Description of the painting; Interpretations of the painting; Comparison to other 16th century paintings.