Athena Asks - Jonquil O'Reilly talks to Timothy McCall about Renaissance fashion and male identity

Athena Art Foundation

In fifteenth-century Italy, men like Lionello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, were peacocks, strutting their stuff in scintillating brocades, armour, and jewels to attract attention both to physical beauty and to political power. In this podcast, Jonquil O'Reilly, fashion historian and Old Master specialist at Christies, talks to Timothy McCall, Associate Professor of Art History at Villanova University. In a fascinating discussion about Tim's new book, Brilliant Bodies, they present us with a totally new perspective on male fashion in Quattrocento Italy, arguing that in this culture, elaborate costume not only supported but signified authority.