![]() ![]() Renaissance shopping 'was a key moment that brought people of different status, religion and sex together' (p. This wide-ranging interest requires the use of varied methods, from micro-historical approaches to art historical analyses. Consequently, different aspects of shopping are taken into consideration: cultural and social meanings, political implications, and, obviously, economic significance. Focusing on diverse aspects of these practices – the people and the institutions involved, the time and the place of shopping, the different types of sale and shopping – Evelyn Welch offers a wide and lively picture of urban communities in Renaissance Italy.Īs the author argues, 'Renaissance buying practices were a multiplicity of interconnected events and acts, dependent as much on time, trust, social relations and networks as on the seemingly impersonal issues of price, production and demand' (p. It could be defined as a social history of Italy seen from the angle of shopping practices during a period of transition, between the Middle Ages and the early modern era. This attractively illustrated volume is far more than a monograph on shopping activities in Renaissance Italy. The author's ability to employ different historical approaches at the same time confirms that cultural, social, economic and art history can enhance each other. Consumer Cultures in Italy 1400–1600 is a fascinating study which turns a common social practice into a compelling subject of research. Evelyn Welch's Shopping in the Renaissance. ![]()
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