“Shelf Life” is a podcast from the Newberry Library about the humanities–and the humans behind them. Each episode features a new conversation with librarians, curators, and researchers about anything from the history of fake news to the secret lives of famous American authors.
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Posted on July 31, 2019
In this episode, we’re joined by scholars Bill Wallace and Isabella Magni to dissect a letter written by Michelangelo in 1545. But we’re less interested in what the letter says than in the way it was written. What does Michelangelo’s style of handwriting reveal about who he was as an artist and how he saw himself in Renaissance Italian society?
[This episode is being released in conjunction with Italian Paleography, a new website developed by the Newberry’s Center for Renaissance Studies with support from the Mellon Foundation. Italian Paleography features over 100 manuscripts from the Newberry and other institutions, and provides users with tools and guides for honing their ability to decipher handwriting of the past.]
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