
The Italian Renaissance
A Cultural History
Virginia Cox(Author)
Cambridge University Press
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 31. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
294 pages
978-1-009-47425-2 (ISBN)
Description
The extraordinary creative energy of Renaissance Italy lies at the root of modern Western culture. In this magisterial study, Virginia Cox offers a fresh vision of this iconic moment in cultural history. Her lucid and absorbing book explores key artistic, literary and intellectual developments, as well as histories of food and fashion, map-making, exploration and anatomy. Alongside towering figures from Petrarch and Boccaccio to Leonardo, Machiavelli, and Isabella d'Este, Cox unveils lesser-known Renaissance protagonists including printers, travel writers, actresses, courtesans, explorers-even celebrity chefs. This extensively revised and expanded edition includes an incisive overview of Italy's relationship with the European and non-European worlds, embracing ethnic and religious diversity within Italy, the global dissemination and hybridization of Italian Renaissance culture, and Italian global encounters, including Jesuit missions to Asia. Pulling together the latest scholarship with original research and insight, Cox's book speaks both to general readers and specialists in the field.
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
553 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-47425-2 (9781009474252)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
approx. 12/2025
2nd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€106.50
Not yet published
Person
Virginia Cox is Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge and Honorary Professor of Early Modern Italian Literature and Culture. A fellow of the British Academy, she is a three-time recipient of the Renaissance Society of America's William Nelson Prize. Her five monographs include The Renaissance Dialogue and Women's Writing in Italy, 1400 - 1650.
Content
List of illustrations; Foreword and acknowledgements; Introduction: 1. What? Where? When? Whose?; 2. The Renaissance and the Ancient; 3. The Renaissance and the Modern; 4. Identity and the Self; 5. Renaissance Man; 6. Renaissance Woman; 7. The Renaissance Beyond Italy; Conclusion: Reintegrating the Renaissance; Bibliography.