(I) Michael Levey's recently-published book Florence; A portrait is a masterly survey of Renaissance and post- Renaissance Florence. (II) His portrayal of this magnificent city is that of an eminent art historian elegantly at home in painting, sculpture and architecture. (III) As one visits this princely city, a dilemma characteristic of postwar Europe is unavoidably insistent. (IV) He is at his best especially when he is analysing particular masters and sites. (V) Indeed, it is fascinating to read his learned account of the achievements of the great Florentines like Botticelli, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo and the others.