In this book, Amanda Lillie challenges the urban bias in Renaissance art and architectural history by investigating the architecture and patronage strategies, particularly those of the Strozzi and the Sassetti clans, in the Florentine countryside during the fifteenth century. Based entirely on unpublished archival material, her book examines a number of villas from this period and reconstructs the value systems that emerge from these sources, which defy the traditional, idealized interpretation of the 'renaissance villa'. Here, the house is studied in relation to the families who lived in them and to the land that surrounded them. The villa emerges as a functional, utilitarian farming unit upon whose success families depended, and where dynastic and patrimonial values could be nurtured. -Questions the urban bias in renaissance art and architectural history
-Departs from previous Medici centered studies of Florentine villas to examine other renaissance patrons, their buildings and activities in the countryside
-Studies houses in relation to the families that lived in them, and to the land surrounding them
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