Wow, this is really bringing the gossipy sensationalism! :D

I know! The book delivered, and Selena delivered!

And we haven't even told you about the Ruspanti! (selenak, do you want to tell her about the Ruspanti, since you read the book and I only skimmed it + read Wikipedia?)

but that's more "why Florence is the best" rather than necessarily "most typical of the Renaissance"

Yeah, that was the conclusion I came to as well, that he's not saying "most representative of contemporaneous cities" but "best", i.e. "most representative of what my idea of the Renaissance was."