history
The Innocents of Florence by Joseph Luzzi review
The precarious, cruel but dazzling world of a foundling hospital is brought wonderfully to life by the author of Botticelli’s Secret
TL;DR
- The Hospital of the Innocents (Innocenti) in Florence was Europe's first institution for the care of unwanted children.
- Many children were abandoned in Renaissance Florence due to the church's stance on procreation and lack of contraception.
- The Innocenti was built by the Silk Weavers Guild and featured architecture by Filippo Brunelleschi and art by Renaissance masters.
- While saving many children from poverty and exploitation, the hospital also employed harsh practices like starving wet nurses' babies and prioritizing art over adequate child nutrition.
- The hospital's practices reflected the complex mix of high-minded motives and utilitarian cruelty in Renaissance society.
- The Innocenti's work contributed to the notion that every child's fate matters and inspired similar institutions worldwide.