Renaissance Women Patrons: Wives and Widows in Italy C. 1300-1550

by Catherine King

This is a pioneering study of the commissioning powers of a large group of Italian laywomen. In a sequence of case-studies, Catherine E. King surveys the kinds of art and architecture which these laywomen could commission; and by probing how far female patrons could express any non-conformist views or play unexpected roles in their art, she builds up a picture of a legal, financial and spiritual factors which made it possible for women to act as patrons in this society. In considering the long time span from the fourteen to the mid-sixteenth century, King contributes to the larger debate surrounding the Renaissance that Italian women could create and enjoy.

272 pages, Hardcover

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