Courts, Patrons and Poets: The Renaissance in Europe: A Cultural Enquiry, Volume 2 (Renaissance in Europe series)

After a general introduction to 15th-century court patronage, the phenomenon is examined in detail in case studies of artists and musicians working in Milan under the Sforza and in Florence under the Medici. The ideas came to Britain and shaped Tudor and Stuart poetry and drama.

The princely courts of fifteenth-century Italy played a central role in the development of Renaissance art and culture. After a general introduction to the notion of court patronage, this book examines the phenomenon in detail through case studies of artists and musicians working in Milan under the Sforza (Leonardo, Filarete, and Josquin Desprez) and in Florence under the Medici.Later chapters show how humanist ideas were imported from the Continent to Britain, where they were absorbed and ultimately metamorphosed into the glories of Tudor and Stuart poetry and drama. The result is a stimulating study of the position of artists in society and of their changing relation to, and interaction with, their patrons.This volume is the second in a series of three texts designed for the Open University course The Renaissance in Europe: A Cultural Enquiry.