This compelling account of a wronged woman in Renaissance Florence, first published in 1986, is a fascinating view of Florentine society and its attitudes on love, marriage, class, and gender. Lusanna was a beautiful woman from a middle-class background who, in 1455, brought suit against Giovanni, her aristocratic lover, when she learned he had contracted to marry a woman of his own class. Blending scholarship with insightful narrative, the book portrays an extraordinary woman who challenged the unwritten codes and barriers of the social hierarchy and dared to seek a measure of personal independence in a male-dominated world.

About the Author
Gene Brucker is Shepard Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.He is the author of Renaissance Florence (California, 1983), Florence: The Golden Age (California, 1998), and Living on the Edge in Leonardo's Florence: Selected Essays (California, 2005).

Reviews
"Set against the grindstone of social class, this story of Lusanna versus Giovanni, gleaned from the archives of Renaissance Florence, throws a floodlight on relations between the sexes. Gene Brucker's wonderful account has remarkable resonance." - Lauro Martines, author of April Blood "In the years since it first appeared, Gene Brucker's Giovanni and Lusanna has attracted a large and loyal readership. There is no better introduction to the complex realities of life (and love) in Florence during the Renaissance." - William J. Connell, Professor of History and La Motta Chair in Italian Studies, Seton Hall University"



Book Information
ISBN 9780520244955
Author Gene A. Brucker
Format Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press