This author delves into the contributions of women to Renaissance literature and culture, exploring their experiences in the early modern period. Her work examines the performative aspects of published letter collections and women's engagement with scientific culture, including alchemy and astronomy. She investigates the interplay between scientific and literary circles and between men and women during the Scientific Revolution. Particular attention is given to the life and work of abbess Arcangela Tarabotti, whose radical writings denounced the oppression of women.
Organized as a series of engaging, thoroughly contextualized biographies, Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance takes readers on a journey through early modern Italy that places women at the heart of the artistic and cultural developments of this transformative era.