This collection presents eight articles by one of the most influential scholars of Florentine culture in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Originally published in French, their insights into the relationship between artistic creativity, social realities, and political intentions have had a profound effect on scholarship on Renaissance Italian literature, spectacle, and culture.

The Author

MICHEL PLAISANCE is professor emeritus from the University of Paris III - La Sorbonne Nouvelle, and is the founder of the Centre de recherche Culture et société en Italie aux xve, xvie, et xviie siècles. His recent publications include L'Académie et le Prince. Culture et politique à Florence au temps de Côme Ier et de François de Médicis (2004) and Antonfrancesco Grazzini dit Lasca (1505-1584). Écrire dans la Florence des Médicis (2005).

The Editor

NICOLE CAREW-REID received her doctorat in Italian literature from the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes-Saint Denis) under the direction of Prof. Michel Plaisance. She is the author of Les fêtes florentines au temps de Lorenzo il Magnifico (1995) and is currently researching fifteenth-century Florentine women.

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