The Material World
Site Visits
Seminar Questions
- How did the economy of Venice evolve during the Renaissance?
- What was the relationship between economics and politics in Renaissance Venice?
- What role did guilds play in the economy and society of Venice?
- How did attitudes to and/or practices of consumption change in this period?
Core Reading
You should each read three of the following items:
- Chambers, David, and Brian Pullan (eds), Venice: A Documentary History 1450-1630 (Oxford, 1992; rept. Toronto, 2001), pp. 133-82.
- Fortini Brown, Patricia, ‘Behind the Walls: The Material Culture of Venetian Elites’, in Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297-1797Link opens in a new window, ed. John Martin and Dennis Romano (Baltimore, 2000), pp. 295-338. NetLibrary
- EITHER Lane, Frederic C., Venice: A Maritime RepublicLink opens in a new window (Baltimore, MD, 1973), Chapters 10-12, 20-23 [Still the best introduction to the economic history of Venice. The chapters are short]
- OR Pezzolo, Luciano, 'The Venetian Economy', in Eric A. Dursteler, A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797 (Leiden, 2013), pp. 255-89.
Documents
Sanudo, Marin, Venice, cità excelentissima: selections from the Renaissance diaries of Marin Sanudo, ed. and trans. Patricia H. Labalme and Laura Sanguineti White (Baltimore, 2008), pp. 227-84.
Indications for Further Reading
- Prosperity or hard times?
- Venice in an age of global trade
- The Terraferma
- Guilds, technology and innovation
- Material Culture and Consumerism
E-resource
Palladio and the VenetoLink opens in a new window. Descriptions and images of all Palladio's buildings (with English translations).
