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Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies is a research topic within History. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the cultural, intellectual, and political landscape of Renaissance Florence, encompassing topics such as humanism, Florentine politics, art and architecture, civic humanism, Neoplatonism, and literature. It delves into the works of prominent figures like Machiavelli and Ficino, while also examining the roles of women and men in Renaissance Venice.

  • Renaissance Florence
  • Italian Renaissance
  • Machiavelli
  • Humanism
  • Florentine Politics
  • Art and Architecture
  • Civic Humanism
  • Venice
  • Neoplatonism
  • Literature
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+4%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
31% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Which countries lead Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research?

By volume, the United States and Italy publish the most (592 and 533 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 592 works
  2. 2 Italy 533 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 230 works
  4. 4 France 186 works
  5. 5 Spain 105 works
  6. 6 Germany 69 works
  7. 7 Canada 64 works
  8. 8 Poland 42 works
  9. 9 Russia 39 works
  10. 10 Belgium 39 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 31.2%Italy: 28.1%United Kingdom: 12.1%France: 9.8%6 others listed: 18.8%31%largest
United States592 · 31.2%Italy533 · 28.1%United Kingdom230 · 12.1%France186 · 9.8%6 others listed358 · 18.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Ca' Foscari University of Venice publishes the most Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of Milan.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 63 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 59 works
  3. 3 University of MilanItaly 34 works
  4. 4 University of BolognaItaly 30 works
  5. 5 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 30 works
  6. 6 University of FlorenceItaly 28 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 23 works
  8. 8 University of TurinItaly 21 works
  9. 9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 20 works
  10. 10 Film IndependentUnited States 19 works

Who are the leading researchers in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Renaissance and Early Modern Studies include Robert E. Black, Andrew Steptoe and Roberto Sacchi.

  1. 1 Robert E. Black United States 127k citations
  2. 2 Andrew Steptoe United Kingdom 118k citations
  3. 3 Roberto Sacchi Italy 106k citations
  4. 4 Robert West United Kingdom 102k citations
  5. 5 Egbert W. Meijer Netherlands 100k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies?

The most cited paper in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies is "Versions of Imitation in the Renaissance" (G. W. Pigman, 1980), with 376 citations. Next come "Medieval "Ars Dictaminis" and the Beginnings of Humanism: a New Construction of the Problem" (270) and "Renaissance eloquence. Studies in the theory and practice of renaissance rhetoric" (241).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Versions of Imitation in the Renaissance G. W. Pigman · Renaissance Quarterly Apr 1980 376
2 Medieval "Ars Dictaminis" and the Beginnings of Humanism: a New Construction of the Problem Ronald G. Witt · Renaissance Quarterly Apr 1982 270
3 Renaissance eloquence. Studies in the theory and practice of renaissance rhetoric Edmund J. Campion · History of European Ideas 1986 241
4 The New Historicism in Renaissance Studies Jean E. Howard · English Literary Renaissance 1986 232
5 A Frame Analysis of Favor Seeking in the Renaissance: Agency, Networks, and Political Culture Paul D. McLean · American Journal of Sociology Jul 1998 215
All 101 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research done?

The largest centres of Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research in 2022-now are Rome (Italy), Venice (Italy), Paris (France) and Milan (Italy). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Venice and Florence.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 RomeItaly 70 works
  2. 2 VeniceItaly 67 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 55 works
  4. 4 MilanItaly 46 works
  5. 5 FlorenceItaly 42 works
  6. 6 LondonUnited Kingdom 41 works
  7. 7 BolognaItaly 33 works
  8. 8 NaplesItaly 31 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 30 works
  10. 10 New YorkUnited States 30 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VeniceIT · 67.0 works94×
  2. FlorenceIT · 42.0 works23×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies than the world average.

See Renaissance and Early Modern Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Renaissance and Early Modern Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, University of Oxford and McGill University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 13%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →McGill UniversityUniversity of OxfordCa' Foscari Universi…University of Cambri…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 70.014.1%134.9×63 +106.4%
2University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 66.618.2%8.5×23 +16.7%
3McGill UniversityCanada 59.331.9%4.5×9 +10.4%
4University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 57.19.1%8.8×20 +47.5%
5University of MilanItaly 52.48.8%26.6×34 +38.9%
6Sapienza University of RomeItaly 52.210.6%13.3×30 +77.9%
7University of PaduaItaly 51.915.3%11.1×17 +60.9%
8University of WarwickUnited Kingdom 50.35.2%14.8×13 +51.8%
9University of BolognaItaly 50.17.2%18.8×30 +26.3%
10Princeton UniversityUnited States 48.19.6%12.2×11 +99.4%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, country by country

Is Renaissance and Early Modern Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 4% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Renaissance and Early Modern Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Renaissance and Early Modern Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0076% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Renaissance and Early Modern Studies0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Renaissance and Early Modern Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Renaissance and Early Modern Studies9.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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