Giovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence

Throughout the book, Brucker refers to an incident in which a set of horns known as “cornia bestiarum” are nailed “over the lintel of Lusanna’s house” (85). He notes that this practice was common throughout Italy during the Renaissance, and it was used “to indicate that a social norm had been violated and to warn the victims to mend their ways” (89). Brucker frequently alludes to the horns to demonstrate the extent to which Lusanna has tarnished her reputation in her community. The horns also symbolize Florence’s intense societal emphasis on following a certain moral and religious code. To stray from society’s expectations was to invite scrutiny and criticism and, in severe cases, ostracism from neighbors and excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Florentine society’s expectations for women are especially harsh. After her first husband’s death, Lusanna must always appear in public dressed as a widow to maintain her respectability. She also must not seek romance or actively pursue a new husband. Instead, Lusanna must rely on marriage brokers to approach her with lists of potential suitors. Due to her well-known extramarital relationships, Lusanna gains a reputation as a “mala femina,” a woman “who had violated her marriage vow and dishonored herself, her husband, and her family” (89).