Episode #105 – Is the Renaissance a Myth? (Part I)

The Renaissance has been touted as one of the most important moments in European history. 19th century historians like Jules Michelet and Jakob Burckhardt made the case that a “rebirth” starting in the 1300’s laid the ground work for the modern world. This idea has been massively influential, but its not without its critics. Why do some claim that Renaissance is actually a historical myth? Tune in and find out how weird lawn aeration jobs, snobbish ideas about Italy, and lost cities all play a role in the story.

Image result for baptism of christ — This is Verrocchio’s *Baptism of Christ*, the painting I completely got wrong at the Uffizi. Leonardo actually painted the angel furthest to the left, not Jesus.

Works Cited

Burckhardt, Jacob, and S. G. C. Middlemore. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Modern Library, 2002.

Burke, Peter. “The Myth of the Renaissance.” The Renaissance, 1997, pp. 1–6., doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25495-8_1.

Gabriele, Matthew. “There Was No Such Thing As The ‘Renaissance’.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 7 Mar. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/matthewgabriele/2019/03/07/no-such-thing-renaissance/#5eaf15e63589.

Geddes, Dan, et al. “Burckhardt’s The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy: The Birth of Modernity.” The Satirist, 1 Jan. 2017, www.thesatirist.com/books/Civ_Renaiss_Italy.html.

Haskins, Charles Homer. The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century. Harvard Univ. Press, 2011.

Jones, Jonathan. “Jacob Burckhardt: The Renaissance Revisited.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 July 2010, www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/jul/10/jacob-burckhardt-civilization-renaissance-italy.

MONFASANI, JOHN. Renaissance Humanism, from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. ROUTLEDGE, 2017.

Martin, John Jeffries. “The Myth of Renaissance Individualism.” A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance, pp. 208–224., doi:10.1002/9780470751626.ch13.

Medievalists.net. “’The Revolt of the Medievalists’: Directions in Recent Research on the Twelfth-Century Renaissance.” Medievalists.net, 12 Feb. 2017, www.medievalists.net/2017/02/revolt-medievalists/.

“The Renaissance Myth.” James Franklin: The Renaissance Myth, web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/renaissance.html.

Tmg. “The Renaissance – Why It Changed the World.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 6 Oct. 2015, www.telegraph.co.uk/art/london-culture/renaissance-changed-the-world/.