Knots, or the Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence

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"This book is about hair," begins Emanuele Lugli in his cultural history of hair in Lorenzo il Magnifico's Florence. He explores how writers and artists perpetuated religious biases, social norms, and gender and class oppression through art, medical texts, and poetry. Lugli questions why figures like Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci focused so intently on hair, particularly in their portrayals of women. He examines the cultural significance of hair during this pivotal period, analyzing how artists, poets, philosophers, doctors, politicians, and theologians conceptualized and represented it. Drawing from a diverse range of sources, Lugli uncovers insights from various disciplines as Renaissance humanists sought to define humanity. He challenges the long-held view of hair as a trivial subject, often dismissed as mere female preoccupation or fashion. Instead, he argues that this perspective is a modern bias, overlooking the crucial role hair played in shaping ideas about gender, morality, nature, and power dynamics. By revealing hundreds of fifteenth-century sources that engage with hair as a vital element of cultural identity, Lugli offers a fresh understanding of its systemic and creative influence, providing a captivating read for scholars and anyone intrigued by the deeper significance of this often-overlooked topic.