<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Renaissance Tea]]></title><description><![CDATA[Renaissance Insights Brewed for You]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:19:36 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.renaissancetea.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Did the Mona Lisa’s Mystery Begin as Victorian Clickbait?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Today, the Mona Lisa is rarely discussed without mentioning her mysterious smile. Viewers are encouraged to wonder what she is thinking, what secret she might be hiding, or why her expression seems to change. Yet this obsession with mystery was not part of the painting’s original reputation. It developed centuries after Leonardo da Vinci painted the portrait. 	During the Renaissance, writers celebrated the Mona Lisa primarily...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/did-the-mona-lisa-s-mystery-begin-as-victorian-clickbait</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a69e581328f65b106565ae3</guid><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:51:04 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_15434750f67d4429a98c5ba8c82d0ecd~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Machiavelli Wasn’t Writing From the Center of Power: How the Medici destroyed his political career and became his best hope of rebuilding it]]></title><description><![CDATA[Santi di Tito, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Niccolò Machiavelli is often remembered as a powerful political strategist, a man calmly explaining how rulers could gain and keep control. Yet The Prince was not written by someone securely positioned inside government. It emerged after Machiavelli had lost the political career that had shaped nearly fourteen years of his life. 	When the Medici returned to power in Florence in 1512, the republican government Machiavelli had served...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/machiavelli-wasn-t-writing-from-the-center-of-power-how-the-medici-destroyed-his-political-career-a</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a68ffc12d76e381b8823d5a</guid><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:41:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_32b8542420bc40c099bc098362e86c74~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_435,h_557,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Isabella d’Este and the Problem of the Perfect Portrait]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Peter Paul Rubens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Isabella d’Este was one of the most influential women of the Italian Renaissance. As the Marchioness of Mantua, she carefully managed her public image through fashion, collecting, political relationships, and works ofart. Finding an artist who could produce a portrait she actually liked, however, proved surprisingly difficult. 	In 1493, Isabella arranged to exchange portraits with the countess of Acerra. Andrea Mantegna, the...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/isabella-d-este-and-the-problem-of-the-perfect-portrait</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a676cc465a8c8dd285d058b</guid><pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:57:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_c6540f333b004db490c46e90ab2b22b4~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_960,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Was the Pazzi Conspiracy?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	On April 26, 1478, an assassination attempt inside Florence’s cathedral transformed a political struggle into one of the most infamous events of the Italian Renaissance. The targets were Lorenzo de’ Medici and his younger brother, Giuliano, whose family held enormous influence over the Florentine government. 	The conspiracy grew from tensions between the Medici and the Pazzi, another wealthy Florentine banking family. According...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/what-was-the-pazzi-conspiracy</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a676fed65a8c8dd285d0edc</guid><pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:00:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_ec20f758ea0f4981a71ac5499b8ce73c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_191,h_264,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Did Salai Own a Second Mona Lisa?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Were there actually multiple Mona Lisas? 	This is a question that dates back almost as far as the origin of the painting itself. In 1550, Giorgio Vasari describes a painting he refers to as “Monna Lisa” (Clark, 1973). However, after reading the description, it becomes clear that either Vasari saw a painting much different from the Mona Lisa we know today or that he simply embellished yet another story for his book. While Vasari...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/did-salai-own-a-second-mona-lisa</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a63e97a334c7e6fe2a0e772</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:08:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_15434750f67d4429a98c5ba8c82d0ecd~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Isabella d’Este Borrowed Lady with an Ermine]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Isabella d’Este has long been remembered as both one of the Renaissance’s most important art patrons and a greedy, controlling collector who cared more about possessing beautiful objects than supporting the artists who created them (San Juan, 1991). Those two reputations seem difficult to reconcile. Yet the contradiction may tell us as much about the historians who judged Isabella as it does about Isabella herself. 	As Marchesa...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/why-isabella-d-este-borrowed-lady-with-an-ermine</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6117146ed1567a596d8a17</guid><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:40:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_4f61fbcc9d7842b49e13a54ad29de11e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_330,h_444,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Greatest Feud that Never Happened]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Peter Paul Rubens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Around 1504, Florence staged what could have been the greatest artistic rivalry in history. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were both commissioned to paint massive battle scenes on opposite walls of the same hall in the Palazzo Vecchio (Isaacson, 2017), the city’s main government building where Florence’s ruling officials met, debated policy, and displayed symbols of power. The specific room, the Hall of the Five Hundred, was...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/the-greatest-feud-that-never-happened</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5fb19820510c8475e62d1e</guid><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:57:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_75e72127bfe44039804fc739e99634c0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_857,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Hidden Rules Behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Trees]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	In previous articles, we have spent considerable time discussing Leonardo da Vinci’s patronage under Duke Ludovico Sforza. Much of that discussion has focused on the planned bronze horse monument intended to honor the Duke’s father. However, this was only one of many projects Leonardo undertook while living in Milan. During this same period, for example, he received the commission for The Last Supper. 	Leonardo constantly looked...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/the-hidden-rules-behind-leonardo-da-vinci-s-trees</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5e90f561674ad8b6e1595a</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 21:32:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_ef5feed98d9a4224865c8cdb6117cfb0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_960,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Could a Geologist Identify a Leonardo Painting by Its Rocks?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Is it possible for a 500-year-old painting to be so detailed that modern geologists can identify the rocks within it? According to Ann C. Pizzorusso (1996), the answer is yes.  	Pizzorusso describes Leonardo da Vinci as a careful observer of the natural world. In her article, The Authenticity of the Virgin of the Rocks, she describes how Leonardo carried a small notebook with him during his many travels. He would pause to sketch...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/could-a-geologist-identify-a-leonardo-painting-by-its-rocks</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5a8181e447e3bde5850e77</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:34:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_b6d2a19b9a9d41caa167f9a41762509f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_960,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Leonardo da Vinci and the Fossils That Challenged Conventional Wisdom]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Dean Falk Schnabel, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons 	Historians have described Leonardo da Vinci's scientific theories and innovations as "ahead of their time" (Bush, 1978, p. 60). Few examples illustrate this better than his observations of fossilized shells found high in the mountains, far from any coastline. During Leonardo's lifetime, scholars generally explained these fossils in one of two ways. Many scholars believed in the Great Flood theory, which posited that during the Biblical...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/leonardo-da-vinci-and-the-fossils-that-challenged-conventional-wisdom</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5816329c687b0d7a3bc9d5</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:32:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_e398481f432341ac842cb1009c003a5d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_960,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Leonardo's First Landscape: The Beginning of a Lifelong Love of Nature]]></title><description><![CDATA[For a man who sought employment in bustling Italian cities like Florence, Milan, and Rome, Leonardo da Vinci never lost his longing for the quiet of the natural world. He wandered the countryside in every season, unhurried, stopping to study the curve of a flower petal or the swirling eddies around a rock in a stream. According to tradition, he carried a notebook and charcoal wherever he went, ready to capture any observation before it slipped away. 	It may have been during one of these walks...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/leonardo-s-first-landscape-the-beginning-of-a-lifelong-love-of-nature</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a54eeebaf57c5abb39cdbcc</guid><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:50:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_a982057e14be4d9287b9d57644e5ed48~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_806,h_532,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Happened to Leonardo's Giant Horse?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Melchionne (o 'Melchiorre)  Ferraiolo, "Cronaca della Napoli aragonese" (o "Cronaca figurata del Quattrocento"), circa 1498., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	Ludovico Sforza’s political ambition did not end with the title of Duke. Together with his ally Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Ludovico met with King Charles VIII of France to discuss the conquest of Naples. The King liked what he saw and quickly sent his forces to attack both Naples and Florence (Bush, 1978).  	Sforza,...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/what-happened-to-leonardo-s-giant-horse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a51142c4edfc4e4ec44f8ce</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:05:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_08b5162fe0ae4986947c7df3be7621af~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_960,h_690,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Politics Behind Leonardo's Giant Horse]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 	Behind the scenes, Ludovico Sforza was quietly calculating his own place in history. While Leonardo calculated the size of the horse and the bronze required to cast it, Ludovico calculated something else entirely: how to become Duke of Milan. Ludovico hoped to replace the current Duke, his nephew, Gian Galeazzo. In 1493, Ludovico paid Emperor Maximilian  10,000 florins and arranged the marriage of his niece, Biana...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/the-politics-behind-leonardo-s-giant-horse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a510c9c4edfc4e4ec44e831</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 15:37:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_4124c3cce8db40a8afece9ba2977c6d1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_960,h_898,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Just How Big Was the Horse? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Rearing Horse, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 	It is hard to imagine the difficulties Leonardo da Vinci and the previous sculptors had in designing a rearing horse statue until one considers just how big the project Leonardo envisioned. Leonardo did not simply plan to build a life-sized equestrian sculpture. He wanted to create a monument roughly three times the height of a real horse. Art historian Virginia Bush (1978) emphasized the unprecedented scale, writing,...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/just-how-big-was-the-horse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a51087a661479e527e1cf56</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 15:06:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_e9abbf5dca1240d6b6172f79f414fb46~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_960,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Horse That Couldn’t Stand]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Study of the Equestrian Monument for Francesco Sforza, Blvgari Hotel Milano 	The Sforza family had spent years searching for an artist capable of creating a monumental equestrian statue honoring Francesco Sforza. Multiple artists proposed designs featuring a horse rearing on its hind legs with a mounted rider representing the elder Sforza. Although many brilliant designs were sketched, no one found a satisfactory way to support the immense weight of a bronze...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/the-horse-that-couldn-t-stand</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a50f632c549c55b35ae3d25</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:50:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_915e82f0271549a7bccdf9e7c215751a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_596,h_335,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Did Leonardo Promise to Build the World's Largest Horse? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Lattanzio Querena, Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, public domain, Wikimedia Commons 	In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci was an established master artist living in Florence. However, he was dissatisfied with the few commissions he had received. He believed that he would have greater opportunities in Milan, so he wrote a letter to Duke Ludovico Sforza as an engineer and designer of military technology (Konieczny, 2018). 	In the letter to the Duke, Leonardo explains that he is capable of designing...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/why-did-leonardo-promise-to-build-the-world-s-largest-horse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a501040cb673b1177c6fef0</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:44:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_3dcc45cc649740d9ba4f14906048af9f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_408,h_490,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Was She Holding an Ermine?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Lady With an Ermine. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 	In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, to paint a portrait of his young lover, Cecilia Gallerani. According to art historian Jacqueline Musacchio, Cecilia Gallerani was believed to be pregnant with Ludovico's child around the time Leonardo painted her portrait. Gallerani lived in the Duke’s household until the spring of 1491, when he requested Beatrice d’Este’s hand in...]]></description><link>https://www.renaissancetea.org/post/why-was-she-holding-an-ermine</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a4d8a8900be0c704955ffb5</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:16:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/08ce07_4f61fbcc9d7842b49e13a54ad29de11e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_330,h_444,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>juliaelizabethwrit</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>