No period has been more discussed and dissected than the Renaissance. Today's emphasis on the period's complexity--the way ideas, politics, religion, society, art, and science depend upon and affect one another.

The Renaissance Complete brings the image to center stage. More than 1,000 illustrations focus on over 100 key topics, including the revival of classical learning, the printing press, the rise of the nation-state, philosophy, and the role of women. The scope is all-embracing: Italy, France, Spain, Britain, Germany, and the northern countries; courts and patrons; painters and sculptors; churchmen and traders; men, women, and children. An impressive information resource provides biographies, timelines, a gazetteer of museums and galleries, and an illustrated glossary.