Giovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence by Gene Brucker provides a unique look into the life of commoners in the 15th century. This book follows the 1455 court case surrounding the alleged marriage between Giovanni della Casa and Lusanna, the daughter of Maestro Benedetto di Girolamo. Throughout this trial testimonies, from witnesses with a vast array of socioeconomic backgrounds are presented. These were people whose voices would likely have never been heard if not for this case. This particular cross-section of people creates a very clear picture of the hierarchical system in place during the renaissance. Throughout this book, it becomes clear that each person had his or her place within society.
While Machiavelli’s work focuses on the ideal qualities of a leader, Castiglione’s most important work, The Courtier, highlights his ideal version of a Renaissance woman. Castiglione describes a woman who is elegant, educated, and pleasing. With this he believes a women of the court should be of modest
This book described the “ideal renaissance gentleman” through advice given by the courtier. Throughout the book are conversations between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino, discussing the vision of a perfect court. It is an example of a dialogue, which is a popular renaissance literary structure, composed of drama and conversation. Castiglione’s work had a large impact on the aristocratic idea of the perfect English gentlemen and was thought to be an interpretation of Renaissance court life. The Book of the Courtier was a representation of the ideas and values of Renaissance Humanism, as it emphasized the growth of individual thought and character. This relates to one of the concepts of the Renaissance, “exaltation of human capacities and potential”. The value of the individual is believed to be important in the humanistic way of life. Society was starting to become more concerned with human potential and achievements. Focus was turning away from spiritual matter, and turning towards more worldly matter. This book epitomized the “universal man”, or the “renaissance man”, which is a man that excels in everything. This brings us to an important renaissance term mentioned by Castiglione, known as sprezzatura. Sprezzatura means to preform well, without appearing to have put in much effort or thought about the matter and is mentioned
A critical point in European history was the Renaissance period, which took place between 1300-1700. The term Renaissance stands for ‘rebirth’, and in this context refers to the increased interest that was taken in learning from Greek and Roman classical writing. Recent exploration by historians into the Renaissance period has seen a fixation on the discussion of the role of gender during the Renaissance. A variety of historians, such as Joan Kelly and Merry E. Weisner, believe that women didn’t experience any form of a Renaissance during this period. It can be widely acknowledged that during this period society did experience a ‘rebirth’, especially in terms of the role of the men in Europe. Women, on the other hand, weren’t as fortunate.
In the next paragraph Alessandra mentions that she saw Mona Lucrezia di Piero had sent him a nice letter for thanking him for the flax that he sent to her. Alessandra then says she should reward him with kind words about Filippo to Piero. This is basically saying that Alessandra thinks Mona should put in a good word for Filippo. This shows us just how much power the Medici family had during this period. In the last paragraph, Alessandra mentions that two
Giovanni and Lusanna by Gene Brucker is an organized depiction of the two Florentine lovers, Giovanni della Casa and his lover Lusanna. The story of these two lovers begin on their secret 12 year affair, but ends in calamity when Lusanna’s brother Benedetto Girolamo files a lawsuit against Giovanni claiming he had broken his marriage vows by marrying an aristocratic woman Marietta. The book goes into full detail with notaries, archbishops, deceiving witnesses, and slut shaming. A scandal that breaks social norms in 15th century Florence, this book was written with expressiveness, intellect and interest that is surely able to keep the reader intrigued.
Italy can be looked at as the home of the renaissance and consequently the immergence of great art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Raphael are some of the greats and are looked at for standards. But what about the artists whose lives are mysteries, and their works that were influenced by the greats? These artists hold just as much importance in the history of art as do the artist’s whose names can be recalled off the top of an average person’s head. During the sixteenth century things began to change in the art world, and that change was the Baroque. This new style of art brought a revolution to how subject matter was painted, it brought upon “… a radical reconsideration of art and its purposes…” (249) and how artists of all ranks could learn to paint the up and coming style of Baroque.
Through the study of the records of courts, both secular and ecclesiastical, which exists in thousands of European and American archives and libraries, a patient and careful researcher can reconstruct particular images of “the world we have lost” and of the people who inhabited that world. From this vast, largely untapped repository of judicial records, Gene Brucker uses the notarial protocols of Ser Filippo Mazzei, which contains the transcripts of the litigation in the archiepiscopal court and the catasto records, which provides information about Florentine households, to piece together the dossier of Giovanni and Lusanna. The story of Giovanni and Lusanna explores the love and marriage in renaissance Florence and uncovers the gradation of the city’s social hierarchy and the role of women in society.
The early Renaissance created an ideal environment for the response of these compositions and the ideas they expressed. As mentioned earlier, the early Renaissance in Italy lead to an insurgence in humanist philosophy. Following the Middle Ages, a period of intellectual stagnation, the Renaissance provided an outlet for intellectuals to freely think. Marinella and Cereta intentionally targeted their audience by using the letter format. Letters were popularized at the time of the Renaissance by dominant male writers and allowed for ideas to be easily dispersed to a receptive audience. The Nobility and Defense of Liberal Instruction for Women manipulate the stylistic strategies of letters as rhetorical device that plays off the works of men at the time; a feminist stand within itself, utilizing letters elevated the works of Marinella and Cereta to their male counterparts (Ross, 8-16). Because the authors used letters, their works were widely circulated and
Other accessories for this special occasion might be: flower bouquet, cake decoration, cake server set, champagne glasses, the last doll, guest book, photo album, invitations/ reception cards, ceremony pillows, and guest favors.
The renaissance is a time of reform, change, and enlightenment. Artist, poets, and writer, prosper in this time period. Everything seems to being going so well until politics and the Catholic Church is brought into the mix. Both heavily mix, especially in Italy, were the Rome which the capital of the Catholic Church is located. Corrupt families come into power. With these families come murder and scandal. Two very prominent families of the time are the Borgia’s and Medici’s. Both families are notorious of their murders, and scandals.
Women had to remain with their husbands because they were forced to marriage by their fathers, society also didn’t allow them to have a higher education than men leaving women to have to suffer for how their lives are. In this city the family was the basic unit and so were blood ties as the most powerful cause of marriage. Many fathers had their daughters marry certain men that would help strengthen their position in the community. Marrying into my family had been an honor because we were the wealthiest and most respected citizens. Women who had lived here in Florence were the most educated women in Europe at the time even though they were not allowed to work for the government, they also could not teach at universities, or to make books on their view of
I found this book very interesting and well written because the author did a good job of incorporating pervious events and background information with main events and interesting facts about Brunelleschi. This book restated how serious the arts were in the Renaissance, how people lived then, how much changed took place, and the Florence was a main place in the Renaissance. Another thing I noticed was that the author supported the subject of the book very well, he didn't only state facts strictly about Brunelleschi, but also about the different sides and how life was during that time. Because of that I found the book to be very interesting and enjoyable because it made me want to keep on reading to find out what Brunelleschi had to go through and what his inspirations were to do this. I also think that the author incorporated a lot of
The purpose of the book Women of the Renaissance by Margaret King is to explain the various roles of that women occupied during the renaissance. She mainly focusses on women of western Europe between 1350 and 1650. In the chapter titled “Daughters of Eve: Women in the Family” King writes about the positions of women in the family. In the part of the chapter that we were assigned, she depicts the role of mother. She explains the importance having children, the differences between healthy and lower class mothers, and the relationship between these mothers and their children. During the renaissance, motherhood was an extremely important job, and many women were defined by it.
The focus of this investigation will be “The Medici family supported the artists of the Renaissance era by providing them financial support, throughout mentorship and because of the prevailing philosophy and humanism.” This investigation will focus on the background of the Medici family and how they supported artists of the Renaissances era. This investigation will use a primary source from an artist's work and a secondary source relating to the Medici family uprising.San Lorenzo (church). Medici chapel. Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici which held Sculptures by Michelangelo and Adrien, De Roover Raymond. The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494. Norton Library, 2012.Both sources provide background to the Renaissance time period and how the Medic family treated artists with their power. The two sources are examples of how the Medicis changed the renaissance era through their money and power to pursue artists for their own benefit and for the time periods.