The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

Jacob Burckhardt had one of those rare minds that could construct a new synthesis out of thought, government, art, and culture. It was Burckhardt who, for the first time, made it possible to talk about the Renaissance as a moment in the history of Western man. Burckhardt's 'Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy' is a dense work that could be excruciating to read, except for his flashes of genius and ability to manage his material like a Moscow taxi driver: by accelerating and then coasting. When you least expect it, another epiphany draws you in. Burckhardt's Renaissance was an incredible high in the history of mankind. The Medicis, Sforzas, and Malatestas strut their way through the history of the period; Dante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante create works of the imagination that still overpower us; popes like Julius II, Alexander VI, and Leo X combine worldliness with spirituality (sometimes); and even the average man has a face and a voice for the first time. His book will make your blood race.
About the Author: Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897) intended to join the Church, but lost his faith while studying theology. Thereafter he studied history at the University of Basel, gaining his doctorate in 1843 and becoming a lecturer. He moved to the Zurich Polytechnic as Professor of Architecture and History in 1855, which is where he wrote The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. In 1858 he returned to Basel, where he lived for his work as a teacher at the University. Burckhardt's historical writings did much to establish the importance of art in the study of history; indeed, he was one of the "founding fathers of art history" but also one of the original creators of cultural history. According to John Lukacs, he was the first master of cultural history, which seeks to describe the spirit and the forms of expression of a particular age, a particular people, or a particular place. His innovative approach to historical research stressed the importance of art and its inestimable value as a primary source for the study of history. He was one of the first historians to rise above the narrow nineteenth-century notion that "history is past politics and politics current history." Burckhardt's unsystematic approach to history was strongly opposed to the interpretations of Hegelianism, which was popular at the time; economism as an interpretation of history; and positivism, which had come to dominate scientific discourses (including the discourse of the social sciences). In 1838. Burckhardt made his first journey to Italy and published his first important article, "Remarks about Swiss Cathedrals." Burckhardt is best known for his books "The History of the Renaissance in Italy" and "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy." Burckhardt considered the study of ancient history an intellectual necessity and was a highly respected scholar of Greek civilization. "The Greeks and Greek Civilization" sums up the relevant lectures which Burckhardt first gave in 1872 and which he repeated until 1885. At his death, he was working on a four-volume survey of Greek civilization.