The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty
(By Alexander Lee)
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| Author | Alexander Lee |
Tourists today flock to Italy by the millions to admire the stunning achievements of the Renaissanc—paintings, statues, and buildings that are the legacy of one of the greatest periods of cultural rebirth and artistic beauty the world has ever seen. Easily seduced by such luster and elegance, one rarely questions the lofty ideals supposedly behind these wondrous artistic innovations. But scratch the surface and one will find a very different kind of story lurking behind every major painting, fresco or sculpture—an ugly but far more titillating story of depravity and degradation of all varieties.
In this meticulously researched and lively portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the often forgotten dark cultural realities that existed alongside the enlightened spirit of the time: the corrupt bankers, greedy politicians, bloody rivalries, sex-crazed priests, murderous artists, religious conflict, simony, rampant disease, and indulgent excess without which many of the most beautiful monuments of the Renaissance would never have come into being.
The Ugly Renaissance is a delightfully debauched tour of the hidden, gritty, real world of the Renaissance that brilliantly explores the extraordinary contradictions behind some of the most celebrated artworks of all time.”
