"The Bodman Collection serves as a principal resource and focus for Italian Renaissance studies from 1450 to the 16th century. The gift of the late Harold C. Bodman 1886-1960, the Collection reflects his interest in the period, which was stimulated during the time that he and his wife Ysabel Bodman made their home at the Villa Diana above Florence. The Villa Diana given by Lorenzo de Medici in 1483 to the poet Angelo Poliziano, with its rich heritage of Renaissance associations inspired Bodman to read widely in the works of Poliziano and the group of Italian humanist scholars, philosophers, artists, and writers of the Medici court as well as those of the Platonic Academy. He explored classical sources and followed their influence on later Italian writers, an interest which led him over the years to assemble the books and manuscripts which are now known as the Bodman Italian Renaissance Collection.