Cultural links between Portugal and Italy in the Renaissance /

Here we have a real university press book: a beautifully produced treatment (with footnotes and fine quality illustrations) of a recondite subject by impressive scholars capable of making their interests significant to others. There are three sections: one historical ("Social and Institutional Relations"), one cultural ("Art and Literature"), and one social art historical ("Patronage and Collecting"). Each will draw a different initial audience, but readers will find the entire volume worth exploring. Portugal does not leap to mind when one thinks of the Renaissance, though perhaps it should. Leo X's court was regaled by an elephant sent by the Portuguese in 1514, Baldassare Castiglione dedicated Il Cortegiano to a Portuguese, and Francisco de Holanda was in Rome on a mission from the king of Portugal. This collection of essays, derived from a 1995 conference, is a fascinating stab in the direction of broadening our horizons. One quibble: neither "engraving" nor "woodcut" appears in the index, though both were important means of transmission and appear in the text. The collection is wide ranging yet coherent, specialized, even a bit esoteric, and it intersects frequently with major personalities, events, and themes. An exemplary volume, destined for upper-division undergraduate students through faculty. P. Emison; University of New Hampshire