The Renaissance Studies Association was wowed by Amanda Wunder's 2024 study of Spanish court fashion in 17th century Madrid, Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez (Yale University Press), awarding it the 2025 Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Book Prize for best book in Renaissance Studies. A professor of history at Lehman and the CUNY Graduate Center (GC), Wunder's meticulously researched and richly illustrated book examines ways in which royal dresses worn by the queens of Spain—and their depictions in the by court painter Diego Velázquez—shaped politics and perceptions of royal power during the era. 

Wunder shares this year's prize with musicologist Emily Wilbourne of Queens College and the GC.

"It is an enormous honor to receive the Gordon Book Prize from the Renaissance Society of America, which is an interdisciplinary, international organization that I consider to be my intellectual home," said Wunder. "I'm especially delighted to share this honor with my CUNY colleague Emily Wilbourne. This is the first time that the Renaissance Society has awarded the prize to two books, and the fact that it went to two CUNY faculty members really highlights the strength of early modern studies across the CUNY system."

On Friday March 7 at 3 p.m., Wunder will give a book talk at the CUNY Graduate Center. Register here to attend.