The age of Giotto, Dante, and Boccaccio, the fourteenth century in Italy, known as the trecento, was a pivotal moment in art history and in European culture. The studies in this volume present new approaches to art in this important but often neglected period of the early Renaissance.

The primary aim of this catalogue of scientific instruments in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France is to make them available, through detailed descriptions and ample photographs, to all who concern themselves with the development of mathematical instrumentation.

The papers collected in this volume tackle this complex historical phase from a number of perspectives (from Church history and theology to political and juridical history), following a strongly multidisciplinary approach.