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The Economics of Renaissance Art

Author

Listed:
  • Etro, Federico

Abstract

I analyzed the market of paintings in Florence and Italy (1285–1550). Hedonic regressions on real prices allowed me to advance evidence that the market was competitive and that an important determinant of artistic innovation was driven by economic incentives. Price differentials reflected quality differentials between painters as perceived at the time (whose proxy is the length of the biography of Vasari) and did not depend on regional destinations, as expected under monopolistic competition with free entry. An inverse-U relation between prices and age of execution is consistent with reputational theories of artistic effort, and prices increased since the 1420s.

Suggested Citation

  • Etro, Federico, 2018. "The Economics of Renaissance Art," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(2), pages 500-538, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:78:y:2018:i:02:p:500-538_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Ennio E. Piano & Tanner Hardy, 2022. "Rent seeking and the decline of the Florentine school," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 59-78, July.
    2. Etro, Federico & Marchesi, Silvia & Stepanova, Elena, 2020. "Liberalizing art. Evidence on the Impressionists at the end of the Paris Salon," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Ennio E. Piano, 2022. "Specialization and the firm in Renaissance Italian art," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(4), pages 659-697, December.
    4. Etro, Federico & Stepanova, Elena, 2018. "Power-laws in art," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 506(C), pages 217-220.
    5. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2018. "Power-Laws in Art. From Renaissance to Contemporary Art," Working Papers - Economics wp2018_20.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    6. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2024. "A Century of Art Dealing in New York," Working Papers - Economics wp2024_21.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    7. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2017. "Art collections and taste in the Spanish Siglo de Oro," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(3), pages 309-335, August.
    8. Ennio E. Piano & Rania Al-Bawwab, 2023. "The artist as entrepreneur," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 23-41, March.
    9. Ennio E. Piano, 2023. "Risky business? A review of Jonathan Nelson & Richard Zeckhauser’s Risk in Renaissance Art: Production, Purchase and Reception," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 47(3), pages 547-554, September.
    10. Etro, Federico & Stepanova, Elena, 2021. "Art return rates from old master paintings to contemporary art," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 94-116.
    11. Damian Clarke & Manuel Llorca Jaña & Daniel Pailañir, 2023. "The use of quantile methods in economic history," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 115-132, April.
    12. Etro, Federico, 2024. "Art and Markets in the Greco-Roman World," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 432-478, June.
    13. Piano, Ennio Emanuele & Piano, Clara E., 2021. "Bargaining over beauty: The economics of contracts in Renaissance art markets," SocArXiv 9b6c5, Center for Open Science.
    14. Ennio E. Piano, 2021. "Organizing high-end restaurants," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 165-192, June.
    15. Anne-Sophie Radermecker & Koenraad Brosens, 2023. "Valuing European tapestry: from riches to rags," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/371370, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Anne-Sophie V. Radermecker & Koenraad Brosens, 2023. "Valuing European tapestry: from riches to rags," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 47(3), pages 359-406, September.
    17. Paker, Meredith & Stephenson, Judy & Wallis, Patrick, 2025. "Predictive modeling the past," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128852, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2017. "Art Auctions and Art Investment in the Golden Age of British Painting," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(2), pages 191-225, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N8 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance

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