Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance
By Meredith K. Ray
Routledge
ISBN: 978-0-367-53399-1
Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Italian women left a clear imprint as rulers, writers, artists, and intellectuals. This book profiles 25 of them, tracing their lives, work, and the worlds they moved through.
Excerpt:
In presenting the stories of twenty-five women, however, I have had – inevitably – to undergo a process of categorization of my own. Which twenty-five women to include? On what criteria? How to organize them, when so many Renaissance women were active in myriad spheres, and the lines between Renaissance disciplines – literature, science, philosophy, art – were hazy and permeable? It is impossible to be exhaustive. The stories presented here are a selection – my selection – and the presentation in five parts merely a suggestion, meant to help orient the reader to the many arenas in which women left their mark. I have chosen as my own chronological parameters the period spanning roughly the years from 1450 to 1650 – allowing for the emergence of print on the one hand (with its significant impact on women, literacy, and publication activity), and running through the Counter-Reformation and the end of the wars of religion on the other.
Who is this book for?
Although each biography runs only 10–12 pages, the entries are impressively detailed, making the book worthwhile even for academic readers. Many will return to it for the individual lives—especially when researching Italian politics, literature, art, music, or philosophy.
“With these short, readable biographies, Ray expands on her significant body of previous scholarship on women writers and scientific thinkers to include female politicians, activists, religious reformers, artists, and musicians.” ~ review by Holly S. Hurlburt in Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal
The Author
Meredith Ray is Professor of Italian Studies at John Hopkins University, where her research focuses on the country’s early modern literature and culture.
Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance
By Meredith K. Ray
Routledge
ISBN: 978-0-367-53399-1
Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Italian women left a clear imprint as rulers, writers, artists, and intellectuals. This book profiles 25 of them, tracing their lives, work, and the worlds they moved through.
Excerpt:
In presenting the stories of twenty-five women, however, I have had – inevitably – to undergo a process of categorization of my own. Which twenty-five women to include? On what criteria? How to organize them, when so many Renaissance women were active in myriad spheres, and the lines between Renaissance disciplines – literature, science, philosophy, art – were hazy and permeable? It is impossible to be exhaustive. The stories presented here are a selection – my selection – and the presentation in five parts merely a suggestion, meant to help orient the reader to the many arenas in which women left their mark. I have chosen as my own chronological parameters the period spanning roughly the years from 1450 to 1650 – allowing for the emergence of print on the one hand (with its significant impact on women, literacy, and publication activity), and running through the Counter-Reformation and the end of the wars of religion on the other.
Who is this book for?
Although each biography runs only 10–12 pages, the entries are impressively detailed, making the book worthwhile even for academic readers. Many will return to it for the individual lives—especially when researching Italian politics, literature, art, music, or philosophy.
“With these short, readable biographies, Ray expands on her significant body of previous scholarship on women writers and scientific thinkers to include female politicians, activists, religious reformers, artists, and musicians.” ~ review by Holly S. Hurlburt in Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal
The Author
Meredith Ray is Professor of Italian Studies at John Hopkins University, where her research focuses on the country’s early modern literature and culture.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
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