The culture wars of the late Renaissance : skeptics, libertines, and opera / Edward Muir.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Muir, Edward, 1946-

Series:

Bernard Berenson lectures on the Italian Renaissance

The Bernard Berenson lectures on the Italian Renaissance

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Renaissance.

Venice (Italy)--History--1508-1797.

Venice (Italy).

Venice (Italy)--Intellectual life--16th century.

Padua (Italy)--History--16th century.

Padua (Italy).

Padua (Italy)--Intellectual life--16th century.

Renaissance--Italy--Venice.

Italy--Venice.

Renaissance--Italy--Padua.

Italy--Padua.

Physical Description:

xiii, 175 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2007.

Summary:

What makes the culture wars of the late Renaissance significant is the wide range of ideas the skeptics, libertines, and librettists explored under the protection of Venice's relatively tolerant government ... In several respects this moment in the late Renaissance can be seen as a kind of proto-Enlightenment, a foreshadowing of the cultural concerns of the eighteenth century. The Venetians and their allies defended religious skepticism (even atheism), scientific experimentation, sexual liberty (even pederasty), women's rights to an education and freedom from parental tyranny, the presence of women on the stage, and the seductive power of the female voice in opera.

Contents:

1 The Skeptics: Galileo's Telescope and Cremonini's Headache 13

2 The Libertines: The Celestial Divorce 61

3 The Librettists: Poppea in the Opera Box 109.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-167) and index.

ISBN:

0674024818

9780674024816

OCLC:

73743940