Language and Images of Renaissance Italy

Language and Images of Renaissance Italy
ISBN-10
0198203187
ISBN-13
9780198203186
Category
History / Social History
Pages
338
Language
English
Published
1995
Publisher
Clarendon Press
Author
Alison Brown

Description

The Italian Renaissance has traditionally been regarded as a critical turning point in the history of Europe, the vital stepping stone between the Age of Faith and the Age of Reason. This classical view of the Renaissance as the birth of individualism and modernity, as formulated by the famous Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, is challenged and reassessed in this intriguing and diverse group of essays. Leading scholars from different disciplines use a variety of approaches - textual and literary criticism, social anthropology, and gender studies - to re-evaluate the period as a whole. The book is divided into three sections, which discuss the model of death and rebirth and its political function; the social context of revival in terms of corporate and individual patronage; and the renaissance body as a political metaphor and social gesture. What emerges is an account of a mixed and lively culture which avoids the old generalizations and gives a fresh view of this most creative and fascinating period of European history.

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