Overview

Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance takes readers on a journey through early modern Italy that places women at the heart of the artistic and cultural developments of this transformative era. Highlighted here are figures like Caterina Sforza, who defended her city against an invading army; Veronica Franco, the Venetian courtesan whose erotic verse enthralled Europe; Sofonisba Anguissola, acclaimed for her arresting portraits; Isabella Andreini, the original ""prima donna"" of Italian theater; and Margherita Sarrocchi, the epic poet and mathematics prodigy who corresponded with Galileo Galilei. Though many of their names have been neglected by history, the artists, writers, performers, leaders, and feminists of Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance overcame daunting obstacles to find their own voices. Excluded from the educational opportunities granted to men, often compelled into arranged marriages or confined to the convent, and subject to ingrained hostility toward female sexuality, each dared to challenge entrenched ideas about what a woman should or could do or be. Springing from a range of backgrounds and circumstances, these women defied conventions about the ""proper"" place of their sex to make their own mark on the Renaissance. The perfect resource for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of the Renaissance and early modern women.

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Reviews

"""I, though female, have abandoned female things."" So says one of the fascinating twenty-five Italian Renaissance women brought to life thanks to Meredith Ray’s authoritative research. Nobles, writers, painters, musicians, religious rebels, even courtesans, many of whom were relegated to the cracks of history, are now revealed as extraordinary players in their own right. What they share is intelligence, creativity, determination and a certain stealth with which they negotiate a path through a powerful male culture. Brought together in one book, the history of the Italian Renaissance is infinitely richer for their place in it.” Sarah Dunant, Novelist, broadcaster, and critic. “This is a rich and compelling introduction to the extraordinary women in Italy who lived and fought and loved and wrote during the Italian Renaissance, and whose voices have so often been neglected. In her lucid introduction and twenty-five varied and engaging short biographies, Meredith Ray widens our perspective on one of the most important periods in European history. "" Ramie Targoff, Brandeis University, USA “This pithy and thoroughly engaging volume belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in early-modern European history and culture – full stop, no exceptions. Meredith Ray’s expertise in early-modern Italian literature across genres as well as in women’s writing enriches every chapter, as does her careful attention to historical context for each of these twenty-five riveting protagonists. Yet all the author's erudition remains in service to her gripping narratives and larger arguments, making the book as appropriate for students as for researchers.” Sarah Ross, Boston College, USA “Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance provides a marvellously accessible introduction to the versatile and talented women of Renaissance Italy. Female painters, musicians, actresses, poets, philosophers, nuns, Jews, and heretics all come to life in Ray’s account of their lives.” Paula Findlen, Stanford University, USA"

Author Information

Meredith K. Ray is the Elias Ahuja Professor of Italian in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Delaware, USA. Her books include Writing Gender in Women’s Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance (2009), Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy (2015), and Margherita Sarrocchi’s Letters to Galileo: Astronomy, Astrology, and Poetics in Seventeenth-Century Italy (2016).

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