An informative but light-hearted look at the popularity of the Renaissance today, this book was written by a Renaissance scholar intrigued with the way his subject continues to resonate outside the scholarly community. His purpose is to uncover and describe the many manifestations of America's love of the Renaissance. Why do millions don costumes to attend Renaissance Faires? Why do novels and films about the period enjoy continued popularity, as do Renaissance icons such as Elizabeth I, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and the Mona Lisa? How is it that American politicians and business leaders still look to Machiavelli as a symbol of wisdom-or of evil? Grendler posits that Americans embrace the Renaissance as a model of culture and sophistication, seeing it as confirmation that the individual can achieve greatness against long odds, a belief at the core of our own society.
After an examination of The Real Renaissance (1400-1620), the book looks at ways in which Americans relive the experience (including Faires and Living Last Suppers), ways in which we re-create the Renaissance in our own world, and finally, ways in which the Renaissance is portrayed, for better or worse, in fiction and film.
- ISBN10 0313038481
- ISBN13 9780313038488
- Publish Date December 2006 (first published 30 March 2006)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher ABC-CLIO
- Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
- Format eBook
- Language English