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Plague and Pleasure

Renaissance Escapism in the Life of Pope Pius II [Paperback]

by Arthur White

    • Author

      Arthur White

    • Book Format

      Paperback

    • Publisher

      The Catholic University of America Press

    • Published

      November 2014

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    £34.73

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    Plague and Pleasure

    Today's Price £34.73



    Product Description

    Plague and Pleasure is a lively popular history that introduces a new hypothesis about the impetus behind the cultural change in Renaissance Italy. The Renaissance coincided with a period of chronic, constantly recurring plague, unremitting warfare and pervasive insecurity. Consequently, people felt a need for mental escape to alternative, idealized realities, distant in time or space from the unendurable present but made vivid to the imagination through literature, art, and spectacle. Pope Pius II experienced both plague and war during his reign and he exhibited many escapist behaviors typical of his period: the building of his "Shangri-La" at Pienza, his constant sight-seeing travels, his passion for natural scenery or Roman remains, his public spectacles, andthe humanism that immersed him in an idealized Roman past. This see-saw mentality of the period could plunge into melancholy when facing harsh realities and then propel them into ecstasies of makebelieve to counter their dispair.
    Plague and Pleasure uses the life and times of Pope Pius II as the framework for presenting a view of the Renaissance that the public can understand and appreciate and which may at least narrow the gap between the past known to scholars and that known to the public they ultimately serve.

    Specification

    • Author

      Arthur White

    • Book Format

      Paperback

    • Publisher

      The Catholic University of America Press

    • Published

      November 2014

    • Weight

      681g

    • Page Count

      277

    • Dimensions

      84 x 282 x 28 mm

    • ISBN

      9780813226811

    • ISBN-10

      0813226813

    • Eden Code

      4296800

    More Information

    • Author/Creator: Arthur White

    • ISBN: 9780813226811

    • Publisher: The Catholic University of America Press

    • Release Date: November 2014

    • Weight: 681g

    • Dimensions: 84 x 282 x 28 mm

    • Eden Code: 4296800


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