Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy: The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453-1524.

Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy: The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453-1524. By K. J. P. Lowe (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993) 314 pp. $59.95

The jacket of Lowe's book on Soderini symbolizes the obstacles that she faced reconstructing the story of a Florentine whose personal papers are no longer extant. It shows a chalk drawing--some details clear and some sketchy--from the workshop of Raphael that may be a likeness of the cardinal, or perhaps of his brother, or even of someone else entirely. In her search for sources, Lowe consulted not only the usual archives, such as those in Florence and Rome, but also less frequented ones, such …