The Civilisation of the Renaissance in ItalyBurckhardt, Jacob
History
The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy
Burckhardt, Jacob
Italy -- Civilization; Renaissance -- Italy
The Paduans, even in the sixteenth century, firmly believed that they
possessed not only the genuine bones of their founder Antenor, but also
those of the historian Livy.[334] ‘Sulmona,’ says Boccaccio,[335]
‘bewails that Ovid lies buried far away in exile; and Parma rejoices
that Cassius sleeps within its walls.’ The Mantuans coined a medal in
1257 with the bust of Virgil, and raised a statue to represent him. In
a fit of aristocratic insolence,[336] the guardian of the young Gonzaga,
Carlo Malatesta, caused it to be pulled down in 1392, and was
afterwards forced, when he found the fame of the old poet too strong
for him, to set it up again. Even then, perhaps, the grotto, a couple of
miles from the town, where Virgil was said to have meditated,[337] was
shown to strangers, like the ‘Scuola di Virgilio’ at Naples. Como
claimed both the Plinys[338] for its own, and at the end of the
fifteenth century erected statues in their honour, sitting under
graceful baldachins on the façade of the cathedral.
History and the new topography were now careful to leave no local
celebrity unnoticed. At the same period the northern chronicles only
here and there, among the list of popes, emperors, earthquakes, and
comets, put in the remark, that at such a time this or that famous man
‘flourished.’ We shall elsewhere have to show how, mainly under the
influence of this idea of fame, an admirable biographical literature was
developed. We must here limit ourselves to the local patriotism of the
topographers who recorded the claims of their native cities to
distinction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account