All art reference books are located on the second floor and they do not circulate.
A good place to begin research on any topic.
Dictionary of Art. (34 vols.) Edited by Jane Turner. NY: Grove Dictionaries, 1996.
Ref.N31 .D5 1996
Encyclopedia of World Art. (17vols.) NY: McGraw-Hill, 1959-1987
Ref. N31. E533
Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist Art. (2 vols.) Edited by Jane Turner. NY: Grove Dictionaries, 2000.
Ref. N6370 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. (6 vols.) Edited by Paul Grendler. NY: Scribners, 1999.
CB361.E52 1999
Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. Edited by David Rundle. Boulder,CO: Westview Press, 1999.
CB361.H88 1999
Dugento Painting: an annotated bibliography. James Stubblebine. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983
Ref-ND613.S8 1983 (Italian painting of the Middle Ages)
Central Italian Painting: an annotated bibliography. Martha Dunkelman. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1986.
Ref. N6919.C46 D86 1986
Fifteenth-Century North Italian Painting : an annotated bibliography. Charles Rosenberg. Boston: G.K. Hall,1986.
Ref. N6919.N67 R67 1986
Fifteenth-Century Central Italian Sculpture:an annotated bibliography. Sarah Wilk. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1986.
Ref. NB619.C44 W54 1986
Note: for lists of standard monographs on individual artists see:
Freitag, Wolfgang. Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists. NY: Garland, 1997.
Ref. N40.F73 1997
Provide clearly compiled information with easy-to-find facts.
The Handbook of Italian Renaissance Painters. Karl Gallwitz. NY: Prestel, 1999.
Ref. ND615.G3313 1999
How to Read Italian Renaissance Painting. Zuffi, Stefano. NY Abrams, 2010.
ND615.Z8313 2010
Good overviews of the subject.
Art in Renaissance Italy. (2nd ed.)John Paoletti & Gary Radke. NY: Abrams, 2002.
N6915 .P26 2002
History of Italian Renaissance Art: painting, sculpture, architecture. (5th ed.) Frederick Hartt and David Wilkins. NY: Abrams, 2003.
N6915 .H37 2003
Guides to the meaning of symbols in art, with an emphasis upon Christian and Classical themes.
General:
Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism. NY: Facts on File, 1992.
AZ108.B5313 1992
Cirlot, Juan Edouard. A Dictionary of Symbols. 2nd ed. NY: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1972.
BF1623.S9C513
Cooper, J.C. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols. London: Thames & Hudson, 1987
BL603.C66
Hall, James. Dictionary of Symbols in Art. NY: Harper & Row, 1974.
N7560.H34
---------------. Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art. London: John Murray, 1994.
N7440.H34 1994
Classical:
Preston, Percy. Dictionary of Pictorial Subjects from Classical Literature: A Guide to their Identification in Works of Art. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
N7760.P68 1983
Reid, Jane. The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300-1990s. NY: Oxford University Press, 1993.
NX650.M9 R45 1993
Christian:
Butler's Lives of the Saints. rev. ed. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, Inc., 1956.
BX4654.B8 1956
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. NY: Oxford University Press, 1954.
N7830.F37
Jacobus de Varagine. The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints. NY: AMS Press, Inc., 1973.
BX4654.J313 1973
Kirschbaum, Englebert. Lexikon der Christlichen Ikonographie. Rome: Harder, 1968.
BV150.L4