| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 433 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color) |
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text file rda |
| Contents |
Introduction : Between heaven and earth -- The world of the Renaissance artist -- Michelangelo's nose -- In Peter's shadow -- What David saw -- The workshop of the world -- Michelangelo in love -- The world of the Renaissance patron -- The art of power -- The men with the Midas touch -- Mercenaries and madmen -- The unholy city -- The Renaissance and the world -- Filippo and the pirates -- Salomone's crime -- The rising crescent -- Of human bondage -- Brave new worlds. |
| Summary |
A fascinating and counterintuitive portrait of the sordid, hidden world behind the dazzling artwork of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and more Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit. In this lively and meticulously researched portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the dark and titillating contradictions that were hidden beneath the surface of the period's best-known artworks. Rife with tales of scheming bankers, greedy politicians, sex-crazed priests, bloody rivalries, vicious intolerance, rampant disease, and lives of extravagance and excess, this gripping exploration of the underbelly of Renaissance Italy shows that, far from being the product of high-minded ideals, the sublime monuments of the Renaissance were created by flawed and tormented artists who lived in an ever-expanding world of inequality, dark sexuality, bigotry, and hatred. The Ugly Renaissance is a delightfully debauched journey through the surprising contradictions of Italy's past and shows that were it not for the profusion of depravity and degradation, history's greatest masterpieces might never have come into being. From the Hardcover edition. |
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Describes the darker cultural elements that shaped the works of Renaissance-era master artists, revealing the power politics, bigotry, and corruption that overshadowed Italy at the time. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 398-414) and index. |
| System Details |
Requires Boundless App. |
| Subject |
Renaissance -- Italy.
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History.
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History. |
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Italy -- Social life and customs -- To 1500.
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Degeneration -- Social aspects -- Italy -- History -- To 1500.
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Italy -- Civilization -- 1268-1559.
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| Genre |
Electronic books. |
| Other Form: |
Electronic reproduction of (manifestation): Lee, Alexander (Historian) Ugly Renaissance New York : Doubleday, [2013] 9780385536592 (DLC) 2013015480 (OCoLC)842307505 |
| ISBN |
9780385536608 : $56.85 |
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0385536607 : $56.85 |
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