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The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty Audiobook
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A fascinating and counterintuitive portrait of the sordid, hidden world behind the dazzling artwork of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, and more Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit. In this lively and meticulously researched portrait, Renaissance scholar Alexander Lee illuminates the dark and titillating contradictions that were hidden beneath the surface of the period’s best-known artworks. Rife with tales of scheming bankers, greedy politicians, sex-crazed priests, bloody rivalries, vicious intolerance, rampant disease, and lives of extravagance and excess, this gripping exploration of the underbelly of Renaissance Italy shows that, far from being the product of high-minded ideals, the sublime monuments of the Renaissance were created by flawed and tormented artists who lived in an ever-expanding world of inequality, dark sexuality, bigotry, and hatred. The Ugly Renaissance is a delightfully debauched journey through the surprising contradictions of Italy’s past and shows that were it not for the profusion of depravity and degradation, history’s greatest masterpieces might never have come into being. Includes a bonus PDF of art and images referenced in the audiobook
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“Arthur Morey conveys anintelligent affability throughout, focusing the listener’s attention on thetext rather than his performance. His pronunciation of the frequent Italian isaccurate, if not graceful. His skill in pacing and in matching voice to senseis impressive. At times, his pauses or emphases help clarify difficultsentences. Overall, his nuanced, clear reading is actually somewhat superior tothe book being read and makes the experience of it more pleasant than it mightotherwise have been.”
— AudioFile
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“Alexander Lee’s The Ugly Renaissance is here to remind us that not far beneath the surface of those brilliant works is a world teeming with dissonance, excess, and greed. With vivid detail, this respected Renaissance scholar exposes the intrigues and sexual escapades of rulers, priests, and bankers, some of whom are remembered best today as benefactors of artists we all revere. The sordid underpinnings of an artistic golden age.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review -
“In this fascinating study, Lee…states that patrons influenced and set terms for desired artwork; art was the window dressing they used to hide or atone for a variety of sins including avarice, duplicity, nepotism, murder, and sexual assault…In this well-argued, lively, scholarly work…art emerges as a means for ‘dressing up reality in more socially acceptable terms.’ Verdict: This highly inviting history should appeal widely to both scholars and casual readers.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“Lee provides an entertaining frolic buttressed by serious scholarship…An illuminating look at how the flowering of human imagination celebrated in the Renaissance was fertilized by the excesses of human nature.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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About Alexander Lee
Alexander Lee is a stipendiary lecturer in early modern history at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. A prize-winning specialist in the history of the Italian Renaissance, he holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, and is the author of numerous academic works on the Renaissance.
About Arthur Morey
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.