This is a pioneering study of the commissioning powers of a large group of Italian laywomen. In a sequence of case-studies, Catherine E. King surveys the kinds of art and architecture which these laywomen could commission- and by probing how farMoreThis is a pioneering study of the commissioning powers of a large group of Italian laywomen. In a sequence of case-studies, Catherine E. King surveys the kinds of art and architecture which these laywomen could commission- and by probing how far female patrons could express any non-conformist views or play unexpected roles in their art, she builds up a picture of a legal, financial and spiritual factors which made it possible for women to act as patrons in this society.
In considering the long time span from the fourteen to the mid-sixteenth century, King contributes to the larger debate surrounding the Renaissance that Italian women could create and enjoy.