In our previous article, we recommended reference books for learning about Rome, Italy, and in this article, we will recommend books about Florence.

Ferenze is a city of flowers where the works of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and other unspoken masters continue to fascinate people from all over the world.

However, it is surprisingly difficult to understand the history of Florence and how art flourished in this city.

We may know the term "Renaissance art," but when it comes to the actual nature of this art, what was the background of the period in which it reached its golden age?

The more you know about Florence, the more interesting it is! We hope you will find this article useful.

When we think of the Renaissance, the first place that comes to mind is Florence, but there are just too many artists! While the names of the big names immediately come to mind when we think of the Renaissance, there are so many other artists. Frankly speaking, there are so many that it is confusing to know how to look at them and who created what flow of works.

Although Renaissance art is such a complicated subject, this "PenBOOKS What is the Renaissance?" explains each masterpiece in an easy-to-understand manner along the historical flow. The illustrations are also very rich, so it is very easy to visualize.

Readers will be able to relive the times in which he lived, picturing in their minds the days that Machiavelli spent."

This is exactly what it is. This biography will follow his life and what he was fighting against in a very realistic way.

I was amazed when I read this book. I was shocked to find out that Machiavelli had been through all of this! I was shocked. I had no idea that he was disgraced, suspected of treason, and even tortured by his beloved city of Florence.

He then shut himself up in the countryside and faced the book, from which he created "The Theory of Monarchs" in light of his own experience as a diplomat. I was numb to this process.

It satirizes serious theologians and philosophers and humorously describes what it means to be human. It is also critical of the corrupt clergy, and I wondered at the moment I read it how the Catholic Church could allow this work to be published, but sure enough, it was placed on the Catholic banned books list.

Erasmus was at the top of his game as a bestselling author at a stage when the huge publishing industry did not yet exist.

The work that became the source of its popularity is "Lover's God Reisan". We encourage you to pick up a copy.

The book gives a very clear explanation of why purgatory was created in the historical background.

Ideas do not just appear out of thin air. In this book, we can feel that ideas are born only when they are needed in the context of the times.

The book tells us that purgatory came into being around the 12th century.

And Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in the early 14th century, a span of about 200 years.

This book is a recommended reference book to understand what Dante used as a reference to create his work!

Dante's "Divine Comedy" is a very interesting work in terms of medieval people's view of life and death.

This article will consider the "Heaven and the Pure Land are boring" issue.

I have read "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven" in succession, and I think it will be very stimulating to read them while comparing them with the Hell and Pure Land in Japan. We hope you will read them together with Buddhism.