The pagan dream of the Renaissance

Abstract

During the Renaissance, a profound transformation occurred in Western culture, fuelled in large part by the rediscovery of the mythological, pagan imagination. This large-format and highly illustrated book provides new perspectives on this phenomenon, demonstrating how the pagan revival permeated every aspect of Renaissance life and culture. Godwin explains how the European imagination was seduced by the pagan gods, and how people of wealth and leisure began to decorate their villas and palaces with images of them, write stories about them, and even produce music and dramatic pageants about them. He explores how the pagan imagination existed side-by-side - sometimes uneasily - with the official symbols and doctrines of the Church, and documents how pagan themes were used to enhance both public and private life. In its deepest and most vibrant form, we discover how the pagan dream of the Renaissance represented nostalgia for a classical world untroubled by sin and in no need of redemption.