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The Ugly Renaissance by Alexander Lee
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The Ugly Renaissance

Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty

Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty

Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty

By Alexander Lee

By Alexander Lee

By Alexander Lee

By Alexander Lee

By Alexander Lee
Read by Arthur Morey

By Alexander Lee
Read by Arthur Morey

Best Seller

Category: World History | Art

Category: World History | Art

Category: World History | Art | Audiobooks

Paperback $23.00

Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780345802927

Ebook $10.99

Oct 07, 2014 | ISBN 9780385536608

Audiobook Download $25.00

Oct 07, 2014 | 951 Minutes

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    The Ugly Renaissance by Alexander Lee
    Paperback $23.00
    Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780345802927

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    • $23.00

      Oct 27, 2015 | ISBN 9780345802927

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    • Oct 07, 2014 | ISBN 9780385536608

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    • Oct 07, 2014 | ISBN 9780804191135

      951 Minutes

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    About The Ugly Renaissance

    The Ugly Renaissance is a delightfully debauched tour of the sordid, gritty reality behind some of the most celebrated artworks and cultural innovations of all time.

    Tourists today flock to Italy by the millions to admire the stunning achievements of the Renaissance—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. But beneath the elegant surface lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption. In this meticulously researched and lively portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the dark and titillating contradictions that existed alongside the enlightened spirit of the time: the scheming bankers, greedy politicians, bloody rivalries, murderous artists, religious conflicts, rampant disease, and indulgent excess without which many of the most beautiful monuments of the Renaissance would never have come into being.

    About The Ugly Renaissance

    A fascinating and counterintuitive portrait of the sordid, hidden world behind the dazzling artwork of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and more 

    Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit.
         In this lively and meticulously researched portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the dark and titillating contradictions that were hidden beneath the surface of the period’s best-known artworks. Rife with tales of scheming bankers, greedy politicians, sex-crazed priests, bloody rivalries, vicious intolerance, rampant disease, and lives of extravagance and excess, this gripping exploration of the underbelly of Renaissance Italy shows that, far from being the product of high-minded ideals, the sublime monuments of the Renaissance were created by flawed and tormented artists who lived in an ever-expanding world of inequality, dark sexuality, bigotry, and hatred.
         The Ugly Renaissance is a delightfully debauched journey through the surprising contradictions of Italy’s past and shows that were it not for the profusion of depravity and degradation, history’s greatest masterpieces might never have come into being. 

    About The Ugly Renaissance

    A fascinating and counterintuitive portrait of the sordid, hidden world behind the dazzling artwork of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and more 

    Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit.

    In this lively and meticulously researched portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the dark and titillating contradictions that were hidden beneath the surface of the period’s best-known artworks. Rife with tales of scheming bankers, greedy politicians, sex-crazed priests, bloody rivalries, vicious intolerance, rampant disease, and lives of extravagance and excess, this gripping exploration of the underbelly of Renaissance Italy shows that, far from being the product of high-minded ideals, the sublime monuments of the Renaissance were created by flawed and tormented artists who lived in an ever-expanding world of inequality, dark sexuality, bigotry, and hatred.

    The Ugly Renaissance     is a delightfully debauched journey through the surprising contradictions of Italy’s past and shows that were it not for the profusion of depravity and degradation, history’s greatest masterpieces might never have come into being.

    Includes a bonus PDF of art and images referenced in the audiobook

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    Read An Excerpt

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    About Alexander Lee

    Alexander Lee is a fellow in the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. A prize-winning specialist in the history of the Italian Renaissance, he holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, and… More about Alexander Lee

    About Alexander Lee

    Alexander Lee is a fellow in the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. A prize-winning specialist in the history of the Italian Renaissance, he holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, and… More about Alexander Lee

    About Alexander Lee

    Alexander Lee is a fellow in the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. A prize-winning specialist in the history of the Italian Renaissance, he holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, and… More about Alexander Lee

    Product Details

    Category: World History | Art

    Paperback | $23.00
    Published by Anchor
    Oct 27, 2015 | 448 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780345802927

    Category: World History | Art

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Anchor
    Oct 07, 2014 | 448 Pages | ISBN 9780385536608

    Category: World History | Art | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $25.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Oct 07, 2014 | 951 Minutes | ISBN 9780804191135

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    Praise

    A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year

    “Fascinating. . . . Explore[s] the dualities of creative brilliance and human baseness.” —The Spectator
     
    “An entertaining frolic buttressed by serious scholarship. . . . An illuminating look at how the flowering of human imagination celebrated in the Renaissance was fertilized by the excesses of human nature.” —Kirkus Reviews

    “Effortlessly combining scholarly depth with a highly accessible style. . . . Lee has given us a Renaissance that is . . . uglier, but infinitely more interesting.” —New Humanist

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