Princes of the Renaissance: The Hidden Power Behind an Artistic Revolution
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-13 08:51:44
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Mary Hollingsworth
- ISBN：1643135465
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A vivid history of the lives and times of the aristocratic elite whose patronage created the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance。
The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was an era of dramatic political， religious， and cultural change in the Italian peninsula， witnessing major innovations in the visual arts， literature， music， and science。
Princes of the Renaissance charts these developments in a sequence of eleven chapters， each of which is devoted to two or three princely characters with a cast of minor ones—from Federigo da Montefeltro， Duke of Urbino， to Cosimo I de' Medici， Duke of Florence， and from Isabella d'Este of Mantua to Lucrezia Borgia。 Many of these princes were related by blood or marriage， creating a web of alliances that held Renaissance society together—but whose tensions could spark feuds that threatened to tear it apart。
A vivid depiction of the lives and times of the aristocratic elite whose patronage created the art and architecture of the Renaissance， Princes of the Renaissance is a narrative that is as rigorous and definitively researched as it is accessible and entertaining。 Perhaps most importantly， Mary Hollingsworth sets the aesthetic achievements of these aristocratic patrons in the context of the volatile， ever-shifting politics of an age of change and innovation。
The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was an era of dramatic political， religious， and cultural change in the Italian peninsula， witnessing major innovations in the visual arts， literature， music， and science。
Princes of the Renaissance charts these developments in a sequence of eleven chapters， each of which is devoted to two or three princely characters with a cast of minor ones—from Federigo da Montefeltro， Duke of Urbino， to Cosimo I de' Medici， Duke of Florence， and from Isabella d'Este of Mantua to Lucrezia Borgia。 Many of these princes were related by blood or marriage， creating a web of alliances that held Renaissance society together—but whose tensions could spark feuds that threatened to tear it apart。
A vivid depiction of the lives and times of the aristocratic elite whose patronage created the art and architecture of the Renaissance， Princes of the Renaissance is a narrative that is as rigorous and definitively researched as it is accessible and entertaining。 Perhaps most importantly， Mary Hollingsworth sets the aesthetic achievements of these aristocratic patrons in the context of the volatile， ever-shifting politics of an age of change and innovation。
Reviews
Henrietta Penelope
，
This is a beautiful book， the way the images are interspersed with the text makes it a joy to read and helps you to understand and appreciate how important art and image were to the Italian princes。 I found the book to be well structured so that each chapter had clear protagonists and the chronology was easy to follow。 There was a nice mix of specific， character building detail about each Prince and state balanced with an overarching narrative of what was happening across the peninsula。However， This is a beautiful book， the way the images are interspersed with the text makes it a joy to read and helps you to understand and appreciate how important art and image were to the Italian princes。 I found the book to be well structured so that each chapter had clear protagonists and the chronology was easy to follow。 There was a nice mix of specific， character building detail about each Prince and state balanced with an overarching narrative of what was happening across the peninsula。However， at some points it felt a bit light， events and their consequences were brushed over or hurried to a conclusion which could be frustrating。 This was especially evident in the final chapter， it was more of a brief look at the impact of the Renaissance outside Italy rather than an actual conclusion to the book。 It felt like it came to a very abrupt end。（My particular copy also contained a large number of typos and， in one case， a sentence that was never finished， which was a disappointing。） 。。。more
Kiwi Begs2Differ ✎
，
A very interesting book for readers wanting to learn about the history of lesser known Italian dynasties （Sforza， Este， Gonzaga， Della Rovere， etc） through the twist and turns of the highly complex political landscape of the Reinassance period。 The earliest chapters with its many fascinating historical figures and family drama， were the most satisfying IMO， while later on the author goes to great lengths to describe the patronage of the arts by the many noble families， in particular the architec A very interesting book for readers wanting to learn about the history of lesser known Italian dynasties （Sforza， Este， Gonzaga， Della Rovere， etc） through the twist and turns of the highly complex political landscape of the Reinassance period。 The earliest chapters with its many fascinating historical figures and family drama， were the most satisfying IMO， while later on the author goes to great lengths to describe the patronage of the arts by the many noble families， in particular the architectural styles， rather than their political dynamics。 Unfortunately， I found the chapter on the Venice republic very disappointing。 Despite a few slip-ups and the occasional misspelling of people and places names （e。g。 Cerosa （sic） di Pavia）， I enjoyed this read。Regarding the audio version， generally speaking， the narrator does a good job with the pronunciation of Italian and Latin words and names， still， the few mispronunciations are annoying。3。5 stars rounded up 。。。more
Amy
，
I imagined reading this as someone with little to no knowledge of the persons/time and honestly would have been lost should that have been the case。 For a book that is a general overview I think more time should have been spent giving more background， even if it was through the use of footnotes。
Edward
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