Antonio Manetti, a Florentine Humanist and holder of several high offices in Florence, was the author of the delightful novella known as the Fat Woodworker. This novella, first published in its final refined form in the 1470’s, tells the story of a rather complex and slightly malicious trick created by a genius architect known as Filippo Brunelleschi. While the trick is mean at times, the reader tends to not notice because of the comedic way that the fat woodworker reacts. The prank that unfolds can in some ways closely parallel the many tricks that occur in Boccaccio’s Decameron, though there are some large differences. This novella begins with a group of noblemen getting together for dinner. They notice that one man, Manetto the woodworker, …show more content…
The trick played on Manetto is much more complex and drawn out than the small pranks in Decameron. It consisted of many steps, many people and quite a bit of planning and wit. The pranks in Decameron were mainly thought out quickly and more one-dimensional, capable of being carried out on the scale of a few minutes to, at the longest, one day. Another large difference is the depth of characterization. The reader gets to know Manetto much more throughout the novella than one gets to know the characters in Boccaccio’s short tricks. The reader also gets to see the viewpoint of the tricked, Manetto, in The Fat Woodworker, which does not occur in Boccaccio’s pranks. You get to see how Manetto feels throughout the whole prank and how he is reacting and reasoning through his predicament at a given time. This gives the novella a psychological side that is not seen in Decameron. The last main difference is how the prank affects the one who is tricked. In the Boccaccio pranks, the victims are either not affected or get over it rather quickly. Contrastingly, in The Fat Woodworker, Manetto is incredibly hurt and travels to Hungary to fully heal the wound. It takes time and distance to help him fully come to terms with what had
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Fortunato is a man with stature who is “rich, respected, admired” (Baym). Yet, Fortunato decides to wear a “tight- fitting parti-striped dress, and his head [is] surmounted by the conical cap and bells” for the carnival season (Baym ). In comparison, Montresor is darkly dressed as if a priest giving a funeral
In the traditional political history of Italy the people outside of the ruling class of the society were rarely studied. Only with the use of social history did the issues of class and gender begin to be debated by scholars. Numerous recent articles have done a great job of analysing particularly men of high status. In this paper I will look at the lower classes of Renaissance Florence. More specifically, I will center my focus on the lives of women during this era, how they were treated and viewed by people of other classes and how women were viewed and treated by men.
Although the ‘Legend’ of the Wicked Italian Queen is limited by its personal malicious nature, it is credible in its demonstration of Catherine’s ambition f...
Lorenzo De Medici can be considered as one of the most influential men of the 13th century. His work in political affairs and administration were renowned in all Italy and his family could count on him in every aspect. Lorenzo was also a promoter of a new period called Renaissance. He was one of the first “mecenate” to explore this new way of art. In this project, I will concentrate how he developed art in Florence, giving a clear example through an Artist of that period that was working for him: Sandro Botticelli. His work “The Spring” is a well-defined example of what we can call “art in the Renaissance”, in particular for the Italian Renaissance.
In his Earlier Rule, Francis encouraged the friars to preach through their actions rather than their words (Let all the brothers, however preach by their deeds). For Francis, gestures and symbols were as important as the words themselves. In the Franciscan sources, Francis depended as much on dramatic gestures and images as he did upon words he spoke (or didn’t speak) to preach his message. The meal at the Greccio provides an excellent example of how Francis used both of these elements, as well as words to make manifest “sermon”. This paper will examine this Greccio meal through the lens of two sources, the earlier Assisi Compilation and the later work, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano. The Greccio meal will be compared and contrasted in these two sources, especially with regards to the significance of Francis unspoken actions within these writings. For Francis, actions did indeed speak louder than words.
Decameron is a "fictional record of the stories that ten Florentine men and women told to entertain
Baxandall, M., Giotto and the Orators: Humanist Observers of Painting in Italy and the Discovery of Pictorial Composition, 1350-1450, Oxford, 1971. Bellori, G.P., Le vite detpittori, scultori et architetti modern), Rome, 1672. ed. E. Borea, intro. G. Previtali, Turin, 1976.
- Partridge, Loren. Art of Renaissance Florence: 1400-1600. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California, 2009. Print
In his book Gargantua and Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais uses satire to address the dislocation felt by Renaissance Humanists. By providing an exaggerated fable, comical in nature, Rabelais poses a serious introspection into the extremes of both the Medieval and the Renaissance man. More importantly, however, he brings into question his own ideals of Humanism. Through an analysis of Rabelais’ satirical technique and by examining his social parody of the Medieval and the Renaissance man, we are able to better understand Rabelais’ introspection into the ideals of his own generation and to accept his argument that learning is transitory and often a necessary, yet futile, attempt to understand our world.
It would be a lie to say that Giovanni de’ Medici was the first in his f...
In this brief monograph, we shall be hunting down and examining various creatures from the bestiary of Medieval/Renaissance thought. Among these are the fierce lion of imperious, egotistical power, a pair of fantastic peacocks, one of vanity, one of preening social status, and the docile lamb of humility. The lion and the peacocks are of the species known as pride, while the lamb is of an entirely different, in fact antithetical race, that of humility and forgiveness. The textual regions we shall be exploring include the diverse expanses, from palace to heath, of William Shakespeare, the dark, sinister Italy of John Webster, and the perfumed lady's chambers of Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Translated from the Italian by Camilo P. Merlino, Charles W. Arbuthnot, editor. Torino, Italy: Claudiana Editrice, 1980.Fs