Walking In 16th Century Venice Summary

The emphasis accorded these contingencies of physiognomy and the resolute refusal of any concession to our - or, so it would appear, antiquity’s - ideas of desirable physical appearance lead one easily to the conclusion that those portraits are uncompromising attempts to transcribe into plastic form the reality of what is seen, innocent of any “idealization” or programmatic bias. These are the portraits of the conservative nobility (and of their middle-class emulators) (luring the death-agonies of the Roman republic. There is no need to doubt that much of their character refers to quite real qualities of their subjects. These are men in later life because the carefully prescribed ladder of public office normally allowed those who followed it to attain only gradually and after many years to such eminence as would allow the signal honor of a public statue. One may well suppose that these hard-bitten and rather unimaginative faces closely reflect the prevailing temperament of the class and society to which they belong, and the twisted and

Brucker uses these individuals and their story to analyze renaissance society as a whole. Throughout the book, he emphasizes the strict social hierarchy and expectations of each class. He argues that although theoretically the same rules applied to every stratum of renaissance society, the standards to which each person were held and limitations they faced greatly depended on their class and gender.

Therefore, this introduction and analysis of fifteenth-century Italian painting arises from looking at social relations. Through the institutional authorization, Baxandall examines the integration of social, cultural and visual evaluations. The author explores visual art not only from a social construction, but also looks at the major role it plays in social orders such as interactions between individuals or between larger social groups.

“Crocicchio” by Ardengo Soffici is a poem written in the era of the historic avant-garde in which Italy was facing a technological revolution; railways, cars and trams were all being transformed and as such the country saw a rise in the Italian Futurist movement. This movement praised all things modern by exploring new forms and technologies, treating them as a spectacle to be revered. The influence of these futuristic ideologies is clear in Crocicchio as Soffici paints a series of pictures of city life characterised by the chaos and activity which he experiences in his passing.

The diaries of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati have shown the multiple masculinities that are present for Renaissance Florentine merchant elites. Each of these men have led a different lifestyle, during a different frame of time, but each of them has written a diary that they knew their families will read. In these diaries, the men told stories about their lives from their own perspective and reflect the values and expectations from that age. Even though their stories may differ, a common theme in both diaries is masculinity and its features that are essential to merchant elites. The ideal man in the Renaissance Florence has honor, bravery and nobility, values their family and the importance of lineage and upholds a reputation in business and relationships with others.

This “visual metaphor” shows the influences and growth of the Renaissance,depicting it through a plant's’ growth. At the base, the larger root is labeled classical, and the smaller roots are labeled medieval. These show that the classical style of art was more influential to the Renaissance than the medieval art. In the top portion of the illustration there are three elements assisting the growth of the Renaissance plant, travel and commerce, the growth of city-states, and humanism. To the left someone is watering the Renaissance plant, the water is labeled as travel and commerce, which helped to grow the renaissance by initiating trade with the east, and with the new economy leading bankers to become wealthy. To the right someone is pouring

First of all, one should point out that the author pays her attention to the role that social construction played lives of the people at that time. Thus, many lives according to the rules that were determined for them and felt

There are numerous arts and architecture that celebrate the medieval and the Renaissance history of Florence. Florence has a past not known to many, you could say it’s the untold history that dates back to the Roman empire. Before the Medici’s rise to power, the books of Machiavelli and Dante, and the David’s sculpted by Michelangelo and Donatello Florence was a Roman republic. Their influence on the city is overlooked and forgotten in books. The intention of this research paper is to shed some light on that forgotten past, to uncover the traces of Roman empire in Florence and the thrilling stories of some of the games in the Colosseum.

She does so using Victor Tuner’s concept of liminality and communitas and Pierre Bourdieu’s habitas to” examine how the liminality go urban mobilities relates to specifyc socioeconomic inequalities, particularly gender and class.”(791) She explains that as a child Zaki had the freedom to go where he pleased and do what he pleased. This mobility he was granted in his youth aided in the strenghting of bonds between his male friends similar to feelings of communitas and allowed him freedom to explore the city free from the obligations required in their own lower-class neighbordhood. This mobility however also taughtt him about class and gender inequalities in his discipline by the police. He and his friends often times found themselves assaulted by the police which in turn taught the boys about “importance of specific bodily hexis in their interactions with police officers”.(794)

Italo Calvino’s extraordinary story, Invisible Cities is a literary accomplishment. Invisible Cities contains of an impressive display of discussions between Marco Polo, the legendary Venetian explorer, and Kublai Khan, the famous Conqueror. The two settled in Kublai Khan’s garden and Marco Polo details, or for all one knows invents, depictions of several wonderful cities. Considering these cities are not ever actually seen, yet only recounted, they are unnoticeable to the emperor. In consideration of the fact that they might not actually exist, they may be truly obscure to all but the reader, who is captivated by the dazzling, foreboding input of Marco Polo. “If I tell you that the city toward which my journey tends is discontinuous in space and time now scattered, now more condensed, you must not believe the search for it can stop. Perhaps while we speak, it is rising, scattered, within the confines of your empire…” (164). The main topic is Marco Polo and the cities he has traveled, or one city in several structures. These expeditions involve cities of memory, trading cities, cities of desire, thin cities, continuous cities and of the sky. The outcome is an intensely intriguing achievement of literature that urges surpassing the borders of the fictional book. Between these enlightening depictions of unfamiliar settings, Calvino allows his readers to indulge in the discussion between two men, one in the middle of his career, the other in

This illusory book entitled “invisible cities” was published in Italy in 1972, written by a very famous Italian prose writer of the postwar era, Italo Calvino. This book highlights a historical memoir of a well-known Venetian explorer named Marco Polo but focuses around a specific dialogue and a series of stories shared between Kublai Khan, emperor of Mongolia, and his right-hand man Polo in the late 1200’s. This concept of writing emphasizes the aspects of humanity and social consequences in generic city makeup and the way we become trapped in the metaphorical “inferno of living”.

In his tales of the Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio created a comedic image of early Renaissance urban life. It would be easy to dismiss these tales entirely from the historical record, but, even though they may be fiction, these tales were fabricated from the world that Boccaccio knew. If the author drew the details of his stories from the reality around him, should it not be possible to use these details to reconstruct an image of Boccaccio’s world? This is especially useful in discerning the role of people who are systematically excluded from positions of authority which give their words and actions a greater likelihood of being preserved for historical record.

Looking back on history men’s and women’s roles haven’t always been divided; both genders were needed to work and provide and until the fourteen hundreds, they wore the same clothing. Men’s fashion developed to show the reality of their bodies with apparel such as tights, while women’s bodies were accentuated in tight bodices. Bordo shows us that as men’s clothing became more comfortable and utilitarian their role in society followed suit. Men today are supposed to be active; they are workers, the penetrators, the ones in control. Advertisements in the essay show us men continually portrayed as “rocks,” aggressively facing the camera or actively working. When women appear, they are simply to be gazed at and admired for their beauty. The images of men acting coincide with society’s standard of men being the

?Venice is one of the most fascinating places to travel in Europe.? Its intrigue lies in its unique beginnings, its dominant past, and its remarkable people and their buildings.? Its foundation is unique because of the need for protection that drove the early Venetians to their new home and the location of this new dwelling-place:? ?Rarely in human history has a vigorous and progressive civilization arisen in a less likely place than the mud flats of the Venetian lagoon.?1? Venice rose to power by its domination of the sea and reached its climax during the years of the Renaissance.? It is during this time period that it truly became ?the bride of the Adriatic and the unchallenged

The manners, ideals, and values of an individual can express a great deal about the society in which they inhabit. These aspects represent society’s guiding principles, showing our motivations, influences, and attitudes that we hold and act with. During the Counter-Reformation period, the very foundations of the world began to collapse. Italy was thrashed by Barbarians and the church structure was challenged, creating difficulty in keeping certain manners, ideals, and values unchanged. In an attempt to codify these aspects of society, Giovanni Della Casa wrote Galateo. The lessons of Galateo offered comfort and useful advice to each man, allowing him to improve himself. Although little in Galateo is absolute, it reflects the personal experience and wisdom of Della Casa, along with fundamental values of society. It gives a historiography of the time period by offering guidance in achieving virtue and everything that comes along with it. Historians even compare the work of Della Casa to works of Machiavelli, stating that he is the product of the same traditions and that he provides formulas for success in a world based on his experiences. Translated with an introduction and notes by Konrad Eisenbichler and Kenneth R. Bartlett in 1990, the document’s translation offers insight into Della Casa’s society. By examining Della Casa’s belief in the importance of having good manners and virtue through specific examples, the imperative manners, ideals, and values of his