Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance - Hardcover

Jardine, Lisa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385476841 ISBN 13: 9780385476843

Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group, 1996

Synopsis

A historical tour through the Renaissance states that the creation of culture during the period was tied to the creation of wealth, identifying the significant business dealings between artist and patron. Tour.

About this title

Review:

Drawing from her earlier and more academic studies, Lisa Jardine approaches the challenge of creating a new history of the Renaissance with remarkable bravura and all the boldness required to deliver a fresh and highly readable story of an age we think we know so well. In Worldly Goods, Jardine argues that while the Renaissance was indeed marked by a flourishing cultural identity, it was the material and commercial spirit of the 15th and 16th centuries that set the tone. Commerce and international trade provided the enormous fortunes that funded artistic production, and luxury goods, including great works of art, became important as means of displaying newly acquired wealth and status. It was an urge to own, a ceaseless quest for new horizons and exotic treasures, that fueled the cultural output of the Renaissance, according to Jardine, and that taste for conspicuous displays of opulence characterizes the Western experience of the arts and culture to this day.

That Worldly Goods succeeds in telling a captivating new story of the Renaissance is testimony to Jardine's literary and scholarly success at a difficult task. That her book, richly illustrated and well written, makes contemplation of its subject a thrill is testimony of a very good read.

From the Publisher:

What the reviews said:
'With this book, Lisa Jardine has surely established herself as one of the most engaging, most exciting and most radical interpreters of the Renaissance ... A marvellous book.' Peter Bradshaw, Evening Standard 'A notable achievement' New York Times 'Fascinating' Alan Massie, Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0385476841
• ISBN 13: 9780385476843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 470