The Renaissance created a new vision of womanhood and indeed a New Woman, propos
es Gaia Servadio in this rich feast of a book. She dates the birth of this revol
utionary movement to the invention of the printing press in 1456, which made boo
ks and hence education available to women. Central to her story are the lives of
such as Vittoria Colonna, whose extraordinary mutual love with Michelangelo is
told here; Tullia d Aragona, poet and the best known courtesan of her age; and F
rench poet Louise Labe, who fought in battle in male clothes.
