Day of Special Interest

Tuesday 18th February 2025

The Second Sex?

A DAY ON WOMEN IN THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE:  ART AND SOCIETY 

with Sarah Dunant 

We were absolutely delighted to welcome back Sarah Dunant to The Arts Society Corinium, following her outstanding talk on The Borgias last year. 

Report about the day:

72 (including 19 visitors) attended this DSI given by Sarah Dunant, bestselling historical fiction author, on the subject of Women in the Renaissance, entitled ‘The Second Sex?’  The day would be in three parts, two lectures in the morning “The Second Sex: the rich history of courtesans and nuns”, “A Portrait of One Great Woman” and in the afternoon, a Book Group session with a Q&A.

Despite the chilly temperature (sadly the boiler had broken) Sarah’s high energy and enthusiasm for her work made this whole day memorable.  The first lecture concerned the choices for women for whom marriage was not an option.  Convents were seen as a convenient place for young children and women to be placed and although the virtual imprisonment behind the convent walls might seem a terrifying prospect, perhaps the alternative of a marriage of convenience between dynastic families, with the expectation of providing a good number of heirs, it may have been a preferable option! Married women also had restrictions imposed on them so the possibility of finding a creative outlet in music or painting or learning in a convent, within a structure run by women for women, could be appealing.   Sarah’s novel, Sacred Hearts is centred around life in a convent and is a plot-driven page turner! The opportunities for cultured beautiful women to cater to the demands of men also gave rise to another possible career choice – In the Company of the Courtesan is a riveting read about the life of a courtesan in Venice in the in the heyday of the Renaissance.

After a warming coffee and snacks, Sarah gave her second lecture about the fascinating life of Isabella d’Este - this extraordinary woman is the subject of Sarah’s latest novel and will be  published in June this year -La Marchesa.   Born in 1474 in Ferrara into one of Italy’s most illustrious dynasties, Isabella d’Este was married at fifteen into another. Her husband, Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, was a warrior and a philanderer, but their partnership lasted over a quarter of a century and their mutual independence allowed her to become the greatest female patron and art collector of her time as well as regularly ruling the state in his absence.


We enjoyed a delicious lunch and reconvened for a group discussion and Q&A.  A wide range of the questions provoked a fascinating chat around writing about history and the importance of refraining from judging the past from today’s perspectives.  Decisions and choices made by historical figures need to be put into the context of the period in question, and this is one of the fundamental themes in her latest novel.  


Sarah began her working life at the BBC where Lord Reith had famously given the broadcaster the mission: “educate, inform and entertain “.  Sarah has turned this on its head by writing brilliantly about characters in history so we can learn about their lives - her goal being to “entertain, inform and educate.”


She did this in spades for us and we are grateful to her for her time and energy and also to the Committee for organising such an enjoyable day,

Biography of Sarah Dunant


Novelist, broadcaster and critic.  Sarah read history at Cambridge, then worked for many years as a cultural journalist in radio and television on such programmes as Kaleidoscope (BBC Radio 4), The Late Show (BBC 2), and Night Waves/Free thinking (BBC Radio 3).  She has published thirteen novels, taught renaissance studies at Washington University, St Louis and lectured around the world at festivals and conferences.  Her last five novels have been set within the Italian Renaissance.  In the Name of the Family completes the story of the Borgia family and the remarkable period of Italian history in which they lived. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s A POINT OF VIEW and these talks, alongside her series on history for Radio 4, When Greeks Flew Kites are available on podcast or BBC sounds.