A Renaissance Woman

In this episode I discuss the biography of Isabella d'Este, the Marchesa of Mantua. We will discuss topics including epistolary etiquette, warfare on the Italian peninsula, the Borgias, Leonardo da Vinci, and the rule of a woman consort during the Renaissance. Thank you for listening to this new episode!

In this first content-based episode of A Renaissance Woman we will be discussing the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's first portrait commission- Ginevra de'Benci. We will discuss what is known (or unknown) in scholarship on the life of this Renaissance woman who described herself as a "mountain tiger" in the single surviving line of her poetry. Within this episode I also talk about topics such as the Medici humanist circle, women's education, and the concept of platonic love in Renaissance society. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you for listening!

Todays episode is a brief introduction to my new podcast called A Renaissance Woman. A Renaissance Woman is a show focused on untangling the complicated and often constricted lives of women during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. There will be discussions about important, yet understudied, women who helped mold the Renaissance into the golden age of art, culture, commerce, and politics in Europe. This show will have a focus on feminism and uncovering and understanding the restrictive aspects of a woman's lifestyle whether she be a noblewoman, a nun, or a commoner. When one reads about the Renaissance in textbooks we often follow a timeline of only men – male leaders, male nobles, male artists, male traders. This focus on Renaissance Men in scholarship has led some female scholars such as Joan Kelly-Gadol to wonder “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” and why were there no Renaissance Women during this period of history? What with the strict mannerisms and beauty ideals, compiled with women's exclusion from government roles and property ownership, the question makes sense to ask, hence why I was motivated to create this show with the goal of shedding light on the important lives of women that history has unjustly deemed worthy to overlook. For often behind these famous male figures are their female counterparts who found ways to wield their own power behind the doors of their palazzos, convents, and husband's businesses. While studying the Renaissance in my university classes I have come across many admirable women who I believe are not given the enough spotlight. I want to look closer at the everyday lives of Renaissance women and how this patriarchal culture affected their lifestyle and freedoms.