The Alana Collection

Italian Paintings from the 13th to 15th century

by Miklos Boskovits

Fondo Oro Magazine:

To build a private collection that rivals the great museums of the world requires a particular, almost spiritual, intensity. We have watched the Alana Collection with profound admiration; it represents not just an accumulation of panels, but a decades-long pilgrimage toward the very heart of the Italian tradition. This volume is the luminous fruit of that labor, capturing the sublime transition from the Gothic to the High Renaissance with the exact reverence these masterpieces demand.
What makes this publication indispensable is the peerless scholarship of Miklos Boskovits. He does not merely catalogue the works; he honors them with a rigorous technical clarity that mirrors our own devotion to the alchemy of the bottega. By providing exhaustive provenance and scientific analysis alongside magnificent reproductions, this book allows us to see the "minor" masters not as footnotes, but as essential voices in the grand, golden dialogue of the Florentine and Sienese schools.
For the connoisseur who seeks to understand how the sacred took form on wood and gold, this book is an absolute beacon.

Edizioni Polistampa, 2010, 272 pages, Hardcover, ISBN: 9788859605294

This book represents the culmination of years of hard work and intense passion. It celebrates the love of beauty as it is manifested in the art collection introduced in the volume. The works catalogued encompass around one fifth of Alanas entire Italian Old Master collection. It is the product of work and research, of numerous visits to different countries and cities in order to see the original works of art, visit art fairs, and seek the advice of a variety of specialists. The collection covers the period that goes from Italian Gothic to Italian High Renaissance art. Alanas aim has always been to build a collection that considers not only the great masters, but also those who followed in their footsteps and added their personal contributions alongside the achievements of the major figures. Alanas ambition has been to chart the history and evolution of the different Italian schools, the ways in which they inspired one another, and ultimately created so many distinctively beautiful works of art. In order to do this, this collection has been conceived as a living one, which continues to improve, evolve and welcome new works. A private and artistic history of each master is given, as well as rich visual reproductions, basic information, and a thorough technical explanation of both the most important masterpieces (those in color) and the ones that are relevant to the style or period (those in black and white). The volume concludes with a table noting the names and locations of the works mentioned in the book, as well as an extensive bibliography.