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LECTURE 2 "Mistress"
1h 8m
Dr. Meghan Callahan
Whether married or single, Renaissance men looked to mistresses to amuse them, enhance their status or provide sons if their own wives could not provide them. Their status was commemorated in portraits by some of the most famous artists of the day. Some of the women were professionals, who worked as courtesans across Italy. Others were women of the court, and a few, unusually, became wives.