Site Visit

Mantua

Seminar Question

• What factors shaped cultural patronage at the central and northern Italian princely courts?

Core Reading

• Cole, Alison, Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure and PowerLink opens in a new window (London, 2016) [The Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, and 6, and the Epilogue]

Recommended Further Reading

• Brown, Alison, ‘Rethinking the Renaissance in the Aftermath of Italy’s Crisis’, in John Najemy, ed., Italy in the Age of the Renaissance (Oxford, 2004), pp. 246-65.
• Castiglione, Baldesar, The Book of the CourtierLink opens in a new window, trans. George Bull (Harmondsworth, 1976)
• Chambers, David, Patrons and Artists in the Italian Renaissance (London, 1970)
• Dean, Trevor, ‘The Courts’Link opens in a new window, The Journal of Modern History 67, Supplement: The Origins of the State in Italy, 1300-1600 (1995), S136-51.
• Dean, Trevor, 'Ferrara and Mantua', in The Italian Renaissance StateLink opens in a new window, ed. Andrea Gamberini and Isabella Lazzarini (Cambridge, 2012), pp. 112-131.
• Fantoni, Marcello, Italian Courts and European CultureLink opens in a new window (Amsterdam, 2022)
• Hollingsworth, Mary, Princes of the RenaissanceLink opens in a new window (London, 2021)
• Saccone, Eduardo, ‘The Portrait of the Courtier in CastiglioneLink opens in a new window’, Italica 64.1 (1987), 1-18
• Tredici, Federico Del, 'Lombardy under the Visconti and the Sforza' in The Italian Renaissance StateLink opens in a new window, ed. Andrea Gamberini and Isabella Lazzarini (Cambridge, 2012), pp. 156–77.

Indications for Further Reading

• The courts as centres of cultural patronage
• The Book of the Courtier and its context

E-resources

Isabella d'Este CollectsLink opens in a new window

If you want to get a sense of court life and of warfare in the Italian states at the start of the 16th century, watch the film Il mestiere delle armi which was filmed on location, including in Mantua. It is available on youtube hereLink opens in a new window. It is in Italian but has English subtitles. For a summary of what it is about, please see hereLink opens in a new window.