Boccaccio's heroines: power and virtue in Renaissance society

Text and its critics

Lauds and libraries

The art of virtue

Authorial intent

Dedication : the nature of virtue

Preface : a book for men about women

A bad example

Overstepping the boundaries

Action/reaction

Dangerous minds and bodies

Calculated anomalies

Famous women in Renaissance Tuscany

Boccaccio's heroines

A woman's place

Daring but decorous : donne illustri in the art of the Tuscan republics

Famous women and famous women : Boccaccio and the court consorts

Eleonora d'Aragona d'Este

Isabella d'Este and Mantegna.