Luxury and the Ethics of Greed in Early Modern Italy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kovesi, Catherine.

Contributor:

Kovesi, Catherine, editor.

Series:

Early European Research

Early European Research ; v.14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Italy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (338 pages)

Place of Publication:

Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols Publishers, 2019.

Summary:

A new, scholarly, and lively appraisal of the twin paradigms of Luxury and Greed as they were debated, disseminated, enacted, and feigned in early modern Italy. This book unravels the complex interaction of the paradigms of luxury and greed which lie at the origins of modern consumption practices. In the Western world, the phenomenon of luxury and the ethical dilemmas it raised appeared, for the first time since antiquity, in early modern Italy. Here, luxury emerged as a core idea in the conceptualization of consumption. Simultaneously, greed--which manifested in new and unrestrained consumption practices--came under close ethical scrutiny. As the buying power of new classes gained pace, these paradigms evolved as they continued both to influence, and be influenced by, other emerging global cultures through the early modern period. After defining luxury and greed in their historical contexts, the volume's chapters elucidate new consumptive goods, from chocolate to official robes of state; they examine how ideas about, and objects of, luxury and greed were disseminated through print, diplomacy, and gift-giving; and they reveal how even the most elite of consumers could fake their luxury objects. A group of international scholars from a range of disciplines thereby provide a new appraisal and vision of luxury and the ethics of greed in early modern Italy.--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Title page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Luxury and the Ethics of Greed in Early Modern Italy: An Introduction

Section One Luxury and Greed: Defining the Terms

Luxus: How Luxury Acquired its Lustre

Dante's She-Wolf: Luxury and Greed in the 'Divine Comedy'

The Language of Luxury in Renaissance Florence

Section Two Consuming Luxury

'Taste of Luxury' in Renaissance Italy: In Practice and in the Literary Imagination

Chocolate in the Historical Imagination

Vesti bollate: The Italian Fashion Gazette of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (Shapes,Colours, Decorations)

The Pressures of Magnificence: Senatorial Dress in Sixteenth-Century Venice

Section Three Disseminating Luxury

Disseminating Luxury on the Streetsof Italian Renaissance Cities

Italian Maiolica and Gift-Giving between Women c. 1480-1600

Luxury, Technology,and the Diplomatic Gift

Section Four Faking It: The Pretence of Luxury

Material Fictions of Luxury in Sforza Milan

Cheap Magnificence? Imitation and Low-Cost Luxuries in Renaissance Italy

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

2-503-58012-2

OCLC:

1089586417