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The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy, 3rd Edition

ISBN: 978-0-745-64825-5

December 2013

Polity

312 pages

Description
In this brilliant and widely acclaimed work, Peter Burke presents a social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance. He discusses the social and political institutions which existed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and analyses the ways of thinking and seeing which characterized this period of extraordinary artistic creativity. Developing a distinctive sociological approach, Peter Burke is concerned with not only the finished works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and others, but also with the social background, patterns of recruitment and means of subsistence of this ‘cultural elite’. New to this edition is a fully revised introduction focusing on what Burke terms ‘the domestic turn’ in Renaissance studies and discussing the relation of the Renaissance to global trends. He thus makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Italian Renaissance, and to our comprehension of the complex relations between culture and society.

This thoroughly revised and updated third edition is richly illustrated throughout. It will have a wide appeal among historians, sociologists and anyone interested in one of the most creative periods of European history.
About the Author
Peter Burke is Professor Emeritus of Cultural History and a Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
New to Edition

- Fully-revised introductory chapter and updates throughout to encompass the latest research
- New material on the ‘domestic turn’ in Renaissance studies
- Added contextual consideration of the relationship between the Italian Renaissance and wider global trends

Features
  • New edition of a brilliant and widely acclaimed social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance - a classic text in the field
  • Highly readable and richly illustrated, bringing the relations between culture and society vividly to life
  • Thoroughly revised and updated for this third edition, combining key figures and events with new interpretations
  • Written by a leading figure in social and cultural history and, in particular, an expert on the Renaissance