Independent Women Courtesans in the Italian Renaissance Essay

Independent Women Courtesans in the Italian Renaissance Prostitution is normally thought of as anyone who sells his or her body for money. In this century, no distinction is put on the class level of the prostitute or on how much or how little he or she earns, they are still considered just a common prostitute. This was not true of 16th century Italy, though. In this age, prostitution was a legal business and class lines were of great importance. At the top of this list were the honest courtesans; honest because they believed they acquired their capital through honest means. They redefined the male humanist category of virtue as a womans intellectual integrity and used this, their outstanding wit and intelligence, along with†¦show more content†¦Owing either to class inferiority or to gender, many Italian women were placed in morally precarious positions that compromised their human dignity, personal freedom, and individual beliefs. Due to a major change in culture, the prospects of marriage for women of the upper classes w ere drastically reduced. To ensure concentration of inheritance on a single line and prevent dispersal of resources through the payment of dowries, many families among these classes tried to limit marriages to one or two in each generation. This did not leave the eldest daughters many options. Many of them were forced into convents, forced claustration, or they entered of their own free will because they felt that they had no other choice. This led to increased pressure on the convents and the cost of placing daughters in them grew so high that many families could not even afford that. Womans power and standing in the family depended crucially on the possession of a dowry and refusal of the option of marriage left these women dowerless and effectively disinherited. This left the excess daughters only two choices, life as secular spinster or life as a prostitute (Cox 532-534). Many other young women were introduced to the profession at a very early age by their mothers, courtesa ns themselves who were no longer young and beautiful and were unable to support their daughters any more. Some daughters even had their fees paid directly to their mothers (Rosenthal TerzeShow MoreRelatedThe Spanish Renaissance Period : 16th Century Venetian Triumvirate : Titian, Veronese, And Tintoretto1157 Words   |  5 Pages16th century Venetian Triumvirate: Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto were master painters and artists who treasured females and created a small number of nude portraits each during the Venetian Renaissance period. Titian was an Italian artist of international reputation. Like his mentor, Giorgione, put time and talent in creating a mysterious and influential painting, â€Å"Pastoral Concert, c. 1508-1510. 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