The Italian Renaissance The Essential Readings

Thirteen of the most important critical essays on the Italian Renaissance are brought together in this volume. Designed to introduce readers to both recent and classical interpretations, the collection provides an ideal starting point for study of this period.Topics covered include the structures of power, urban life and values, gender, family and society, the power of knowledge, and patronage and art. Taken together, the readings illuminate the origins, course and outcome of the Italian Renaissance.Editorial introductions and annotations to each essay provide a helpful framework for students engaging with critical aspects of the subject for the first time. An overall introduction discusses the themes and approaches that have dominated the recent historiography of the Renaissance, as well as the debates about how to define the Renaissance and its relationship to Italy; it also considers different approaches to the 'end' of the Renaissance.

Paula Findlen is Professor of Italian History at Stanford University. She has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Nelson Prize from the Renaissance Society of America. Her previous publications include Possessing Nature: Museums, Collecting, and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy (1994), for which she was awarded the 1995 Marraro Prize and the 1996 Pfizer Prize; Merchants and Marvels (2001) with Pamela Smith; and Beyond Florence (2003) with Michelle Fontaine and Duane Osheim. Her most recent book, A Fragmentary Past: The Making of Museums and the Making of the Renaissance, will appear shortly.