The Renaissance in Rome

Stinger, Charles L

ISBN 10: 0253350026 / ISBN 13: 9780253350022

Published by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1985

About this Item

Large 8vo. xv (v), 444 (1) pp, illus. Not Price Clipped. 1/2" closed tear with 1" crease to top edge front panel dj, and minor edge wear to top and bottom edge spine of same, else, Pristine. No markings, binding tight, clean, white and bright. 6.75" x 9.5". Black cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Illustrated dj in acetate protector. Size: Large 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 9638

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Renaissance in Rome
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN
• Publication Date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253350026
• ISBN 13: 9780253350022
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • HISTORY

About this title

Synopsis

Charles Stinger probes the basic attitudes, underlying values, and core convictions that animated Rome's intellectuals and artists from the time of Pope Eugenius IV's return to the Eternal City in 1443 to the sacking in 1527. This is a fascinating cultural history and essential reading for all students of the Italian Renaissance. In a new Preface to this paperback reissue, Stinger identifies significant new works that have appeared since the book was first published.

Review

At the beginning of the 15th century, Rome proclaimed itself, as it had done throughout its history, caput mundi, "the head of the world." The truth, writes Charles Stinger, was less glorious: the popes had long since abandoned Rome for palaces in French Avignon, and the principal trading centers were in places such as Alexandria, Marseilles, and Constantinople. Even within Italy (which was still ununified), Florence and Venice were more important culturally. With the Renaissance, however, as European elites became interested in studying and emulating the ancient past, Rome became a great center anew: the popes returned, and travelers from around the world came to see the ruins of ancient times and to converse with intellectuals and artists. The transition, Stinger writes, was "from medieval alley and tower to Renaissance street and palace," from a closed and suspicious urban village to an open and vibrant city. With a cast of characters including Lorenzo de Medici, Michelangelo, and Lucrezia Borgia, Stinger relates a fascinating story of the city's renewal--which involved no small amount of intrigue. --Gregory McNamee