Book Review
Mar. 31st, 2005 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariPrivate Renaissance
by Maria Bellonci
This book is a first-person narrative fictional autobiography of Isabella d'Este, marchesana of Mantua and one of the most prominent, admired, and powerful women of the Italian Renaissance. Bellonci does an excellent job of bringing Isabella to life, giving vivid reality to both her inner and outer selves. Isabella is a great character - she was a very intelligent, clever woman who was well-educated and able to hold political power. She didn't see herself as simply an heir-bearer and domestic attache to her husband Francesco Gonzaga (marquis of Mantua) - she saw herself as his more or less equal partner in government. She really knew what she was doing and really understood the world and times she was living in. Reading such a well-written book about her was a delight.
by Maria Bellonci
This book is a first-person narrative fictional autobiography of Isabella d'Este, marchesana of Mantua and one of the most prominent, admired, and powerful women of the Italian Renaissance. Bellonci does an excellent job of bringing Isabella to life, giving vivid reality to both her inner and outer selves. Isabella is a great character - she was a very intelligent, clever woman who was well-educated and able to hold political power. She didn't see herself as simply an heir-bearer and domestic attache to her husband Francesco Gonzaga (marquis of Mantua) - she saw herself as his more or less equal partner in government. She really knew what she was doing and really understood the world and times she was living in. Reading such a well-written book about her was a delight.
