How did women's lives change in the Renaissance? [audio 9min]

The home played a key part in shaping Renaissance art and culture that equalled that of the court, city and church. And yet the role of the household has, until now, been overlooked by historians. The Italian Renaissance house was a place of powerful aesthetic innovation and cultural change -- especially in the lives of women. From the development of portraiture to glass mirrors, and etiquette manuals to the table fork -- domestic life became much more complicated, and much more beautiful. But how did the lives of women change in the Renaissance? And why did the house become such an important space for reflecting new ideas? Ritula Shah talks to Victoria & Albert Museum curator Dr Marta Ajmar-Wollheim and to historian Dr Amanda Vickery from Royal Holloway, University of London. The exhibition 'At Home in Renaissance Italy' runs at the V&A museum from 5th October 2006 to the 7th January 2007.