Brucker: Introduction...the Renaissance City

1. On the setting: Some images:
   1. General: Renaissance Italy; Italian seapower; the city then and another; Florence now; details;
   2. Landscape of Tuscany: alley; landscape1; landscape2; landscape3; landscape4. in the fall
   3. Urban scenes; hilltown and Orvieto. Fantasy? with walls ; Ardisosso; village; the good city
   4. Florence: the city ; the river and bridges and more bridges
      1. Buildings: tenement; urban palace, bargello; towers - San Gimingiano and a gate; in Bologna; street and another; at the Uffizi ; quiet street ; busy street
      2. hospital; and a painting of one; Medici palace ; houses ; and again
      3. the walls; another view ; map ;
      4. Shops: workshop1, workshop2, shop1, shop2 ; and in Florence ; loggia ; a florin ; shop on the ponte vecchio ; market
      5. transportation: carts and stands; cart. Agriculture ; the harness; village ; the loom ; clothes
      6. kitchen; food ; family ; at the market; a piazza; at Ipsa; dining; and again
      7. blackdeath; and again; Savonarola; original, Pazzi conspiracy.
      8. Feast days: one; two
      9. Some Florentines: Cosimo, Lorenzo, Guiliano; Dante; a woman and another; group scene
   5. Love and marriage; villa Medici; our residence
2. Chapter 1
   1. Intro
      1. note the significance of water in many contexts. Consider in how many ways water contributed to the success of the city...note the downside...
      2. Town and country...note the interdependency of urban and rural; how do you account for the emigration from the later to the former? Who moved and why?
      3. What conclusion do you come to when you consider the skyline of the city? What was important?
   2. Buildings, streets neighborhoods
      1. How does the layout of Florence differ from modern American cities in respect to these terms?
      2. Note the organization of a household; we don't have much information about the lower orders, but what conclusions do you come to based on the physical descriptions?
      3. Note how patronage functioned in the neighborhoods. "social and economic hetrogeneity" whatever does he mean?
   3. Changing face
      1. We will learn more about the "guild regime" later but what do you think it can refer to?
      2. Competing demands for capital for what purposes?
      3. Bruckner writes at length about urban renewal...what was the problem and what was the goal?
      4. Why would concerns of simplicity and symmetry dominate (n.b. p.34 on this point). What was the attraction of the classical model?
   4. People
      1. How was the day regulated? and the year? Two primary forces, climate and religion. Religion in ameliorating life?
      2. What was the function of holidays...consider what the word means?
      3. What kinds of crises faced the Florentines? from outside? from inside? human and natural disasters?