Renaissance Florence
A Social History

This book examines the social history of Florence from the fourteenth through to sixteenth centuries.

Roger J. Crum (Edited by), John T. Paoletti (Edited by)

9780521846936, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 April 2006

696 pages, 70 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 4.3 cm, 1.22 kg

'More than a social history of Renaissance Florence, this is an innovative and riveting examination of how space defined and regulated life in early modern Florence. As such, it goes a long way in helping us to reassess urban life in an early modern city.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History

This book examines the social history of Florence during the critical period of its growth and development in the early modern period, from the fourteenth through to sixteenth centuries. Treating the city, its art, and its rituals, the contributors to this volume consider well-known objects, monuments, sites, and events in the vivifying context of a variety of spaces, which are here understood as a dimension of physical, psychological, religious, and political perceptions for the city of Florence during the Renaissance. The volume provides a multi-dimensional view of Florence as it evolved into an economic powerhouse and dynamic center of artistic achievement, as well as the setting for political and religious struggles. It also demonstrates how permeable boundaries between the disciplines of history and art history have become.

Introducion Roger J. Crum and John T. Paoletti
Part I. The Theatre of Florence: 1. Florentine politics and urban spaces John M. Najemy
2. Theatres of everyday life Sharon T. Strocchia
Part II. The Public Realm: 3. The Piazza della Signoria as practiced place Stephen J. Milner
4. Structuring communal history through repeated metaphors of rule Sarah Blake McHam
5. Corporate beneficence and historical narratives of communal well-being Philip Gavitt
6. The spaces of plebian ritual and the boundaries of transgression David Rosenthal
7. Ritual trading at the Florentine wool cloth botteghe Adrienne Atwell
Part III. Relatives, Friends, and Neighbors: 8. Neighborhood as microcosm Nicholas Eckstein
9. The palace and villa as spaces of patrician self-definition Michael Lingohr
10. '… full of people of every sort': the domestic interior Roger J. Crum and John T. Paoletti
Part IV. Men and Women: 11. Mean streets, familiar streets, or the fat woodcarver and the masculine spaces of renaissance Florence Guido Ruggiero
12. Did women have a space? Natalie Thomas
Part V. The Spaces of the Spiritual: 13. Sacred place and liturgical space: Florence's renaissance churches Robert W. Gaston
14. Memorial chapels in churches: The privatization and transformation of sacred spaces Jonathan Katz Nelson
15. The aural space of the sacred in renaissance Florence Peter Howard
16. Identity and alliance: urban presence, spatial privilege, and Florentine renaissance convents Saundra Weddle
Part VI. Across Space and Time: 17. The workshop as the space of collaborative artisitic production Anabel Thomas
18. The replicated image in Florence, 1300–1600 Patricia Emison
19. From the workshop to the academy: the emergence of the artist in renaissance Florence Andrea Bolland.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD], Renaissance art [ACND], History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600 [ACN]