THE RENAISSANCE BAZAAR Dr Jerry Brotton is a Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, Uni- versity of London. He is the author of Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World (Reaktion, London, 1997 and Cornell University Press, 1998), and with Lisa Jardine, Global Interests: Renaissance Art between East and West (Reaktion, London, 2000). This page intentionally left blank THE RENAISSANCE BAZAAR From the Silk Road to Michelangelo WWW Jerry Brotton OXJORD UNIVERSITY PRESS This book has been printed digitally and produced in a standard specification in order to ensure its continuing availability OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan South Korea Poland Portugal Singapore Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jeremy Brotton 2002 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) Reprinted 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover And you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ISBN 978-0-19-280265-1 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne CONTENTS Preface vii List of plates ix List of illustrations x Introduction i 1 A global Renaissance 33 2 The humanist script 62 3 Church and state 92 4 Putting things into perspective 124 5 Brave new worlds 154 6 Experiments, dreams, and performances 184 Timeline 221 Further reading 226 Index 229 v This page intentionally left blank PREFACE if there is one moment at which most people define the birth, of modern European civilization, it is surely the period between 1400 and 1600 known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance Bazaar argues that modern Europe emerged in this period by competing and exchanging ideas and commodities with its east- ern (and predominantly Islamic) neighbours. These east-west transactions laid the bases for the great art and culture that we now associate with the Renaissance. They also reveal that Europe emerged in close relation rather than stark opposition to the cul- tures and communities it has often corne to demonize and label as underdeveloped and uncivilized. Scholars across the humanities are already developing this approach to the Renaissance. However, The Renaissance Bazaar is the first book to synthesize these developments, and suggest how an understanding of the impact of the east transforms our understanding of the Renaissance. My own collaborative work with Lisa Jardine, alongside the writings of scholars like Gülru Nedpoglu, Nabil Matar, Joan Pau Rubies, Deborah Howard, and Julian Raby, has started to reconsider the ways in which the Renaissance looks very different when viewed from beyond the bounds of Europe. Rather than signalling an end to the study of the Renaissance, this book suggests that exciting discoveries still lie ahead. I would like to thank Matt Birchwood, Mat Dimmock, Mar- garet Ferguson, Don and Sarah Holmes, Adam Lowe, Karin Pibernik, Evelyn Welch, and, at Oxford, Aii Chivers for their help and suggestions in the completion of this book. No one could wish for a better mentor and collaborator than Lisa Jardine. She vii Preface was instrumental in encouraging me to write this book, and per- sistently prevented me from being hypnotized by the seductive myths of the Renaissance with her characteristic verve and ingenuity. I look forward to further collaborations and voyages of discovery with her on an even grander scale. This book is dedicated to my most sceptical critic, Rachel Holmes. She has read every page, questioned every assumption, and demanded clarity at every point. The result is a much better book than I could have written without her, although any mis- takes and omissions remain my own. I hope that she now agrees with me that the Renaissance is worth the effort. viii LIST OF PLATES 1 Hans Holbein, the Younger, The Ambassadors, 1533, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London. 2 Gentile Bellini (attributed), The Sultan Mehmed II, ^.1479, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London. 3 Abraham Cresques, detail of North Africa, first two panels of The Catalan Atlas, 1375, vellum on wood, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris / The Bridgeman Art Library. 4 'Aristotle and Averroës' by Girolams da Cremona, from Aris- totle, Works, print and paint, vol. I, 1483, Venice. Pierpoint Morgan Library, New York, PML2H94, folio 2r. / Art Resource, New York. 5 Raphael's workshop, Donation ofConstantine, 1523-4, fresco, north wall, Sala di Constantino, Vatican / Scala. 6 Fra Angélico, Linaiuoli Altarpiece, 1433, tempera on panel, Museo di San Marco, Florence / Scala. 7 Costanzo da Ferrara, Seated Scribe, ^.1470-80, pen and gouache, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston / The Bridgeman Art Library. 8 Bihzäd, Portrait of a Painter, late i5th century, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC.: purchase, Fig32.28. IX