The Jew in the Art of the Italian RenaissanceRenaissance Italy is often characterized as a place of unusual tolerance and privilege toward Jews. Unlike England, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal, the princely courts of early modern Italy, particularly Urbino, Mantua, and Ferrara, offered economic and social prosperity to Jews. When anti Jewish hostilities created civic tumult in this region, secular authorities promptly contained the violence. Yet this written record tells only one part of