Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance: The Patron's Oeuvre
By Dale Kent
Why this book?
The best books to understand the art and culture of Renaissance Florence
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Browse the best books on Italian Renaissance as recommended by authors, experts, and creators. Along with notes on why they recommend those books.
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By Dale Kent
The best books to understand the art and culture of Renaissance Florence
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By Eve Borsook
The best books to understand the art and culture of Renaissance Florence
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By Guido Ruggiero
This book is a fantastic, broad overview of the Italian Renaissance (or rinascimento, the term Ruggiero prefers and which his subjects would have recognized). The Italian Rinascimento was a period, according to Ruggiero, of vibrant cities, social change, and cultural expression, in which intellectuals, politicians, and artists both looked back to an idealized classical past and forward to uncharted territory.
I love the way this book focuses on issues that preoccupied the people he studies and incorporates topics often absent from works on the Renaissance, including women, sexuality, economics, disease and death, and religion, among others. Even more important,…
The best books on Renaissance Italy
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By Paula Findlen
This is an excellent and fascinating book on the scientific culture of Renaissance Italy, where intellectuals and the wealthy elite began collecting and cataloging curiosities long before their northern European counterparts. Findlen demonstrates a key way in which Renaissance intellectuals could look back to an idealized ancient past while also creating new knowledge and institutions – namely the museum. This book is beautifully written, full of engaging stories, and shows a side of early modern science often ignored.
The best books on Renaissance Italy
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