Renaissance Lives: Portraits Of An Age [Paperback]

Theodore Rabb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

With Renaissance Lives, Theodore K. Rabb revives a tradition of writing that was often practiced by the historians of that astounding era: to tell the story of an age by examining the lives of those who lived it. Rabb’s subjects are all people who felt change gather speed around them: from Titian and Galileo to Catherine de’ Medici and John Milton. In their stories we see, above all, the powers of ideas to liberate, to enthrall, to provoke, and to resolve conflict.Renaissance Lives shows us the struggle - with its grave disappointments but also its extraordinary achievementsÑthat accompanied the creation of the world we recognize as our own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A companion volume to a PBS TV series, this collection of biographies examines the lives of 15 Renaissance personages and their accomplishments in relation to the enormous social upheavals that took place from the mid-1300s to the mid-1600s. Rabb ( The Struggle for Stability in Early Modern Europe ) has combined excellent scholarly research with splendidly crafted writing to provide accounts of both well-known and obscure Renaissance figures. Each life story highlights one facet of the transformations in religion, philosophy, the arts and the sciences that took place during this era. Theologian Jan Hus (1370?-1415) represents religious dissent; painter Titian (1487?-1576) and astronomer and physicist Galileo (1564-1642) were symbolic of the changing views of art and science; and the life of Gluckel of Hameln (1646-1724), a female Jewish merchant, reflects the economic revolution taking place. Enlightening and accessible. Illustrated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA-A companion to the television series, this book's immediacy and readability make these stories of Renaissance men and women accessible to modern readers. Each of the 15 lives examined here exemplifies the enormous diversity of that era. The book focuses on representatives of social types to show the age in a microcosm, and yet each of the individuals profiled is larger than life. They include not only the expected "Renaissance Man" Sir Walter Raleigh, but also less well-known individuals such as Ralph Josselin, a Protestant minister whose diaries give a detailed account of life as a country vicar. Gluckel of Hamlin typifies the limited role allowed to women and to Jews at the time; Artemisia Gentileschi exemplifies the courage and determination required of female artists; and Catherine de'Medici represents the rulers whose patronage of the arts is most often associated with this great age. The text is accompanied by black-and-white and full-color plates that depict the works of the great masters of the times, portraits of the subjects, and examples of the subjects' work. Educators who wish to show how economics, science, art, philosophy, and religion are interrelated will find this volume especially insightful.
Jackie Gropman, Richard Byrd Library, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465068006
• ISBN-13: 978-0465068005
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #477,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars get to know the Renaissance & the people, April 11, 2003

By 

I X Key "burningfield" (tomorrow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renaissance Lives: Portraits Of An Age (Paperback)

Rabb picked a great selection of people to write about in this book and presents them all in such a way -- erudite, smart -- that changes in European society are detailed very well. This great book gives in-depth information about these people who characterize aspects of the changing Renaissance society & gives a very workable outline of major changes that happened among the people throughout the Renaissance centuries, from Petrarch who lived through the 1256 Plague to 17th Century poet & academic John Milton. He uses letters from the people & incidents from their lives that tell more not only about who they were as people but also describe changes in the society that he uses these people as a portal to.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a nicely done book, January 29, 2001

By 

icbleu "icbleu" (Lemon grove, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renaissance Lives: Portraits Of An Age (Paperback)

Renaissance Lives: Portraits of an Age by Theodore K Rabb. This nicely done book, based on the PBS Series, is an excellent reference for the understanding the important people during the renaissance. It gives the reader a clear picture of the famous folk (and some not so famous) that an educated person living during the sixteenth century would be familiar with. Renaissance Lives: Portraits of an Age gives a synopsis of the lives of 15 men and women from Galileo Galilee to a merchant named Gluckel of Hameln. Covering England and Western Europe, the living history aficionado is provided with yet another great aid for the performance of their art.