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The Resource The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation

The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation

Creator
Summary
In The Italian Renaissance John Stephens interprets the significance of the immense cultural change which took place in Italy from the time of Petrarch to the Reformation, and considers its wider contribution to Europe beyond the Alps. His important new study (which is designed for students and serious general readers of history as well as the specialist) is not a straight narrative history; rather, it is an examination of the humanists, artists and patrons who were the instruments of this change; the contemporary factors that favoured it; and the elements of ancient thought they revived. Dr. Stephens shows how, following Petrarch's example, the humanists discovered a novel point of view in ancient ethics. It was expressed in a set of assumptions about the scope of free will, the place of man in society, and the work of the intellectual and artist. From the same source they revived a method of induction by which such issues could be analysed. All this, as the book explains, had a powerful impact on political and religious thought in Italy, and on the theory and practice of fine art, as well as influencing classical scholarship and historiography. The book challenges the notion that the humanists were propagandists, or that works of art represented conspicuous consumption by the rich. Instead, by arming themselves with ancient morals and with the culture of antiquity as a whole, the scholars, artists and patrons of the Renaissance consciously used antiquity to enhance the moral and intellectual power of the contemporary lay world. The need of the Italian upper class to prove its fitness to govern made it anxious to show an appreciation of such moral and intellectual virtues, and in doing so it advanced its own education as well as the secular culture it patronised. In this, as Dr. Stephens concludes, the significance of the Italian Renaissance was not so much to 'reflect' society as to shape it. The Italian example was soon to be imitated elsewhere: by 1520 the new outlook and the new learning had spread from Italy far beyond the Alps. The reception of these ideas by the laity in Europe at large prepared society for a new 'world view' which was established in the Reformation. Dr. Stephens seeks to give some impression of this larger inheritance of Renaissance culture, as well as defining its achievement in Italy itself, in this powerful and impressive book
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xviii, 248 pages, 8 pages of plates
Contents
  • Part I : Humanism. Introduction
  • Concepts and assumptions
  • Humanitas
  • The sources of Humanitas
  • Petrarch and his successors
  • Part II : The artist, the patron and the sources of artistic change. Introduction
  • Theories
  • Artistic innovation and the artist's relations with his patron
  • The influence of humanistic ideas
  • Conclusions
  • Part III : The achievement of the Italian Renaissance. Introduction
  • Man and society
  • The intellectual and the ideal of intellectual cultivation
  • Classical scholarship
  • Historiography
  • Renaissance and reformation
  • Postscript : future prospects
Isbn
9780582493377
Instance
Label
The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation
Title
The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
In The Italian Renaissance John Stephens interprets the significance of the immense cultural change which took place in Italy from the time of Petrarch to the Reformation, and considers its wider contribution to Europe beyond the Alps. His important new study (which is designed for students and serious general readers of history as well as the specialist) is not a straight narrative history; rather, it is an examination of the humanists, artists and patrons who were the instruments of this change; the contemporary factors that favoured it; and the elements of ancient thought they revived. Dr. Stephens shows how, following Petrarch's example, the humanists discovered a novel point of view in ancient ethics. It was expressed in a set of assumptions about the scope of free will, the place of man in society, and the work of the intellectual and artist. From the same source they revived a method of induction by which such issues could be analysed. All this, as the book explains, had a powerful impact on political and religious thought in Italy, and on the theory and practice of fine art, as well as influencing classical scholarship and historiography. The book challenges the notion that the humanists were propagandists, or that works of art represented conspicuous consumption by the rich. Instead, by arming themselves with ancient morals and with the culture of antiquity as a whole, the scholars, artists and patrons of the Renaissance consciously used antiquity to enhance the moral and intellectual power of the contemporary lay world. The need of the Italian upper class to prove its fitness to govern made it anxious to show an appreciation of such moral and intellectual virtues, and in doing so it advanced its own education as well as the secular culture it patronised. In this, as Dr. Stephens concludes, the significance of the Italian Renaissance was not so much to 'reflect' society as to shape it. The Italian example was soon to be imitated elsewhere: by 1520 the new outlook and the new learning had spread from Italy far beyond the Alps. The reception of these ideas by the laity in Europe at large prepared society for a new 'world view' which was established in the Reformation. Dr. Stephens seeks to give some impression of this larger inheritance of Renaissance culture, as well as defining its achievement in Italy itself, in this powerful and impressive book
Cataloging source
UkLiU
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Stephens, J. N
Index
no index present
Literary form
non fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Renaissance
  • Arts, Italian
  • Arts, Renaissance
  • Art patronage
  • Artists and patrons
  • Italy
Label
The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-240) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part I : Humanism. Introduction -- Concepts and assumptions -- Humanitas -- The sources of Humanitas -- Petrarch and his successors -- Part II : The artist, the patron and the sources of artistic change. Introduction -- Theories -- Artistic innovation and the artist's relations with his patron -- The influence of humanistic ideas -- Conclusions -- Part III : The achievement of the Italian Renaissance. Introduction -- Man and society -- The intellectual and the ideal of intellectual cultivation -- Classical scholarship -- Historiography -- Renaissance and reformation -- Postscript : future prospects
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xviii, 248 pages, 8 pages of plates
Isbn
9780582493377
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
Label
The Italian Renaissance: the origins of intellectual and artistic change before the Reformation
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-240) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Part I : Humanism. Introduction -- Concepts and assumptions -- Humanitas -- The sources of Humanitas -- Petrarch and his successors -- Part II : The artist, the patron and the sources of artistic change. Introduction -- Theories -- Artistic innovation and the artist's relations with his patron -- The influence of humanistic ideas -- Conclusions -- Part III : The achievement of the Italian Renaissance. Introduction -- Man and society -- The intellectual and the ideal of intellectual cultivation -- Classical scholarship -- Historiography -- Renaissance and reformation -- Postscript : future prospects
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xviii, 248 pages, 8 pages of plates
Isbn
9780582493377
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations

Subject

Library Locations

    • Sydney Jones LibraryBorrow it
      Chatham Street, Liverpool, L7 7BD, GB
      53.403069 -2.963723

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