Rebirth of the Renaissance

The dark truth behind the myths of the artistic golden age

DAVID HORSPOOL

What is it about the Renaissance? How has a loosely defined – some would say indefinable – period in history seduced so many for so long? Well, it's the art, I hear you reply. Of course, the genius of a Michelangelo or a Leonardo will command our attention for as long as we have eyes to see. We mustn't forget the architecture – all those classically inspired, perfectly proportioned cathedrals, churches and palazzi, soothing the breast much more reliably than the busy Baroque or revived Gothic that succeeded it, let alone the horrors of what the modern architecture profession would later foist on us. The literature isn't bad, either. A Renaissance library could include not just Italian masters, from Dante and Petrarch to Boccaccio, but Montaigne, Erasmus, Cervantes and Shakespeare…

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The Oldie (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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