A richly illustrated, up-to-date presentation of the early Renaissance period in Italian art, which looks not only at Florence, the traditional focus of such studies, but at several other Italian cities significant in their own right. The social, cultural and political context and significance of works of art are given their proper prominence, and many insights provided into issues such as patronage and production. A vivid and exciting recreation of one of the most important periods in the development of Western art, at an extremely reasonable price.

Despite the recent interests of economic and art historians in the workings of the market, we still know remarkably little about the everyday context for the exchange of objects and the meaning of demand in the lives of individuals in the Renaissance. Nor do we have much sense of the relationship between the creation and purchase of works of art and the production, buying and selling of other types of objects in Italy during this period. The material Renaissance addresses these issues of economic and social life. It develops the analysis of demand, supply and exchange first proposed by...

What did you do when you fell ill in fifteenth-century Florence? How did you get the medicines that you needed at a price you could afford? What would you find when you entered an apothecary's shop? This richly detailed study of the Speziale al Giglio in Florence provides surprising answers, demonstrating the continued importance of highly personalised medical practice late into the fifteenth century. Drawing on extensive archival research, it shows how personal relationships and mutual trust, rather than market forces, made payment possible even for those with limited incomes. Examining the...