8 Feb. The British School at Rome hosts The sacred home in the Italian Renaissance, a talk by Abigail Brundin, Deborah Howard and Mary Laven whose forthcoming book of the same name challenges the widespread assumption that a new secular spirit pervaded the Italian Renaissance home. Instead the scholars explore the private devotional life of Italians between 1450 and 1600, suggesting that piety was not confined to the church and the convent but was shaped to meet the demands of domestic life – childbirth, marriage, infertility, sickness, accidents, poverty and death. The lecture will be in English and is scheduled from 18.00-19.30.