Carolyn James and Susan Broomhall's new book for the compact Cambridge Elements series features ample discussion and original research concerning Isabella d'Este's conduct during the wars that defined Italian politics for much of the sixteenth century. 

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Available for free download until 25 January 2024.

Isabella d'Este's collection included over 1,000 coins and medals in gold, silver, and bronze. Learn about one of these that survives today in a private collection by attending this lightening talk panel featuring independent researcher Mary N. Lannin in the Inclusive Numismatics 

conference. 

When you think about Renaissance Italy, do the names Sofonisba Anguissola, Isabella d’Este, or Lavinia Fontana come to mind? These women, and many others whose names we may never know—artists, writers, patrons, entrepreneurs, healers, nuns, teachers, and more—influenced their time much more than history has generally recognized.

IDEA Director Deanna Shemek will discuss IDEA on at the International Conference of the UNESCO-sponsored International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH) in Tokyo (23-24 August), in a roundtable discussion on Art and Creativity: Humanities in the Global and Digital Age. 

IDEA Director Deanna Shemek features in a podcast interview for Front Porch Book Club, an innovative interpretation of the "book club" as podcast." 

Deanna Shemek, UCI Professor of European Languages and Studies, leads a group of international scholars and digital designers developing a multimedia platform dedicated to the life, letters and spaces of the Italian Renaissance princess Isabella d’Este. Re-launched in January 2023 after a major reconstruction, the Isabella d’Este Archive (IDEA) offers users around the world new ways to encounter the history and culture of early modern Italy. 

Palazzo Ducale ha in serbo una gustosa sorpresa per i suoi visitatori più appassionati: si chiama ISA ed è un fumetto ispirato alla celebre figura di Isabella d'Este!

The IDEA Letters project is dedicated to Daniela Ferrari.

Francesco II Gonzaga e Isabella d’Este furono due protagonisti dell’Italia del Rinascimento. Trasformarono una piccola città come Mantova in uno dei centri culturali e politici del continente e vissero pericolosamente tra intrighi, guerre e congiure.

Examining Isabella’s letters as both documentary evidence and scripted performance, In Continuous Expectation proposes a view of the early modern letter as a technology.

The marriage of Isabella d'Este, one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance, and Francesco Gonzaga, ruler of the small northern Italian principality of Mantua (r.1484-1519) offers a fascinating portrait of political marriage in the early modern period.