Street Life In Renaissance Rome Book Review

History usually depicts Renaissance Rome as an era of classical and artistic achievements created by the most talented artists, scholars and architects of their time period. Although true, this part of Renaissance history is only a snippet of what street life in Renaissance Rome was about. The book, “Street Life in Renaissance Rome” by Rudolph M. Bell, speaks primarily about the unexplored side of Renaissance history, emphasizing the “daily lives of ordinary citizens, the plight of social outcasts, and the dangers of urban life” (2). According to Bell, this book will “not only give a more balanced portrait of the Renaissance as experienced by the vast majority of Romans at the time, but it also invites a new understanding of the Renaissance in northern Italy and throughout Europe as more than a florescence of high culture” (2). For readers who are only aware of the

The text stated,“The she-wolf sculpture and the violent story behind it radiate with ambiguities, innuendos, and contradictions that may serve as a provocative way to introduce Renaissance Rome: maternal nurture; familial assassinations; vigilant predators; bloodthirsty men; nature tamed, but also exposed and inscrutable” (3). In other words, the violence, tragedies and complexity behind the story of the she-wolf could in turn be used to describe what the normal lives in Renaissance Rome was about. This characterization serves as a sharp-contrast to many books and sources that tends to focus specifically on the commencement of art accomplishments in Rome. As the author stated, “Nothing in Renaissance Rome was as it appeared from a single angle or upon first glance, a truth nicely embodied in the sculpture of the she-wolf” (4). Simply speaking, Rome history is far more elaborated and complicated behind the artistic image that it was mainly depicted to