Anthony F. D'Elia Libri

In 1462 Pope Pius II performed the only reverse canonization in history, damning a living man to an afterlife of torment. What had Sigismondo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini and a patron of the arts, done to merit this fate? Anthony D'Elia shows how the recovery of classical literature and art during the Italian Renaissance led to a revival of paganism.

In 1468, on the final night of Carnival in Rome, Pope Paul II sat enthroned above the boisterous crowd, when a scuffle caught his eye. This title offers a story that reveals a Renaissance world that witnessed the rebirth of interest in the classics, a thriving homoerotic culture, the clash of Christian and pagan values, and more.