Florentine Villas in the Fifteenth Century: An Architectural and Social History

Amanda Lillie challenges the urban bias in Renaissance art and architectural history by investigating the architecture and patronage strategies in the Florentine countryside during the fifteenth century. Based entirely on unpublished archival material, her book examines a number of villas from this period. The villa emerges as a functional, utilitarian farming unit upon whose success families depended, and where dynastic and patrimonial values could be nurtured.