In university I majored in history (MA)/ minored in English and enjoyed the swirl of ideas from classical Greek civilization (510-320 BC) to the present day. My wife and I are headed to Florence, Italy where we will be visiting some key historical sites and galleries, as well as sightseeing in the surrounding Tuscan countryside.A pivotal moment in intellectual history was the Renaissance or 'rebirth of civilization' which centered in Florence and began in 1400-1430. This prosperous city of 60,000 was a stable city state made up of artisans and professional people who helped build Florence into an economic leader in Europe. The Florentine gold florin symbolized its influence.
These wealthy individuals supported the arts and learning and generally contributed to a dynamic growth in a humanist perspective largely motivated by an interest in Greek classical literature.
This growth took place after a one thousand year lapse called the Dark Ages where European civilization struggled to survive. The Roman Catholic church basically held communities together in the Middle Ages and the hub of every community was a church with tall spires that could be seen from afar.
Kenneth Clark in his Civilisation series for the BBC (1969) writes of the Renaissance:
'People sometimes feel disappointed the first time they see the famous beginnings of Renaissance architecture because they are so small. Well, so they are, after the great monuments of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. They don't try to impress us or crush us by size and weight, as all God-directed architecture does. Everything is adjusted to the scale of reasonable human necessity. They are intended to make each individual more conscious of his powers, as a complete moral and intellectual being. They are an assertion of the dignity of man.
The dignity of man. Today those words die on our lips. But in fifteenth century Florence their meaning was still a fresh and invigorating belief....'
I have prepared several more posts which are post dated over the next few days. I hope to do a live update later next week.
I have also post dated my other sites for next week with regular posts: 365 Quote Quest and 365 Word Quest.
Photo Image: The Birth of Venus, painted by Botticelli in 1486, at Uffizi Gallery, Florence
