in dit boek levert Burke een belangrijke bijdrage aan een nieuwe interpretatie van de renaissance en legt hij de complexe relatie tussen kunst en samenleving bloot

In this brilliant and widely acclaimed work, Peter Burke presents a social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance. He discusses the social and political institutions which existed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and analyses the ways of thinking and seeing which characterized this period of extraordinary artistic creativity

Publication Date: April 26, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0691006784 | ISBN-13: 978-0691006789 | Edition: 2
In this newly revised edition of his widely acclaimed work, Peter Burke presents a social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance. He discusses the social and political institutions that existed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and he analyzes the ways of thinking and seeing that characterized this period of extraordinary artistic creativity. Developing a distinctive approach, the author is concerned not only with the finished works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and others, but also with the social background, patterns of recruitment, and means of subsistence of this "cultural elite." He thus makes a major contribution both to our understanding of the Italian Renaissance and to our comprehension of the complex relations between culture and society.

This is a good and fairly readable introduction to the Italian Renaissance; for those interested in the topic, it seems like a decent introduction -- it worked for me. That said, it's got more than its share of problems as well. First, a minor complaint: the art in the book should have been printed in full color, not black and white. Black and white reproductions of Renaissance art are about as worthless as three-dollar bills; the viewer completely misses the beauty of the art and so the inclusion of it at all is a waste of time. My major complaint: The constant need to reference Marxist and feminist historiography was obnoxious. Hegel, through Marx, has severely damaged the history of Western culture, and this book is evidence of that. Viewing the Renaissance in the 21st century through the lens of 19th century movements like Marxism and feminism produces anachronism, inaccuracy, and projection -- in other words, it makes for bad history. If you can get past that, it's not a bad book. ( )

Dwarsdoorsnede van het onderwerp.
Focust op de sociale achtergrond van de nieuwe ontwikkelingen in de kunsten: want de bewuste bedoelingen van kunstenaars en schrijvers zijn niet voldoende; ingaand tegen Geistesgeschichte (ideeën) en marxistische visie.
Deel II is interessanter dan I, maar slot is nogal warrig en plots formuleert hij heel andere thesen. ( )