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A quick guide to finding your way around.

Welcome to DrCharlotteBassett.com, a digital space to nurture one’s love of history and art history through thoughtful, human-produced essays.

The goal of this site is to explore the complexities of history and historiography in an accessible way. Rather than 30 page articles, you’ll have access to punchy essays written in a more conversational way.

Essays will focus on the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and post-Restoration Britain and Scotland (ca. 1660-1720). They will include analyses of art, architecture, and other elements of visual culture. I hope you have as much fun reading these essays as I had writing them!

If you’re not sure where to begin, this page will point you in the right direction.

What you’ll find here

The essays explore history through a few core themes:

Art and architecture

How buildings, landscapes, and works of art reflect power, taste, and cultural identity.

Cities and historical change

How places like Florence developed across centuries through politics, trade, and artistic innovation.

Accessible historical writing

Research-informed essays written to be readable and engaging.

Social analysis and ideas

The figures, movements, and conflicts that shaped historical societies.

A good place to start

History · Renaissance

History of Florence

4-part series

Few cities shaped the Western world as profoundly as Florence. This four-part series traces Florentine history from its Etruscan foundations through the brilliance of the Renaissance, ending with the close of the Republic in 1569.

Art History · Renaissance

Michelangelo’s David

4-part series

Michelangelo’s David is one of the most recognised works of art in the world — but what does it actually mean, and why does it still matter? This series explores the sculpture in full, from its creation to its enduring significance.

Art History · Renaissance

The Mona Lisa

4-part series

The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world, but familiarity has obscured what makes it genuinely remarkable. This series looks past the myth to examine what Leonardo actually achieved — and why it still unsettles us.