The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

De cultuur der Renaissance in Italie

by Jacob Burckhardt, S.G.C. Middlemore (Translator), Peter Burke (Introduction)

For nineteenth-century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, the Italian Renaissance was nothing less than the beginning of the modern world - a world in which flourishing individualism and the competition for fame radically transformed science, the arts, and politics. In this landmark work he depicts the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice and Rome as providing the seeds of a new form of society, and traces the rise of the creative individual, from Dante to Michelangelo. A fascinating description of an era of cultural transition, this nineteenth-century masterpiece was to become the most influential interpretation of the Italian Renaissance, and anticipated ideas such as Nietzsche's concept of the 'Ubermensch' in its portrayal of an age of genius.

Genres: History, Renaissance, Nonfiction, Art, Italy, Classics, Art History

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1860

About the author

Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a historian of art and culture, and an influential figure in the historiography of each field. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history, albeit in a form very different from how cultural history is conceived and studied in academia today. Siegfried Giedion described Burckhardt's achievement in the following terms: "The great discoverer of the age of the Renaissance, he first showed how a period should be treated in its entirety, with regard not only for its painting, sculpture and architecture, but for the social institutions of its daily life as well." Burckhardt's best known work is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860).

Reviews

[Kalliope · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could I express the sheer pleasure I have had in reading this book? It is not easy to find historians or writers of Burckhardt’s calibre. Published in 1860, this icon of a book deserves its place as a model of historiography of the highest quality. Not many have served as a double linchpin. Burckhardt took up Michelet’s term of “Renaissance” and provided an exhaustive and brilliant analysis of what the term embodied in the Italy of the 13th- 16th Centuries. That was the more specific contribution. But in this study Burckhardt also created a new field of inquiry. With him cultural history was born.

I have read it in translation, but the text is pure delectation nonetheless. Burckhardt is in no hurry to express what he has to say because there is such assuredness in his ideas. Neither is there unwonted prolixity because his language is not more elaborate than his knowledge. His smooth prose keeps the same elegant pace as befits the dignity of his thought. For his erudition flows as clearly as limpid water.

For example, he knows Dante as well as if he were his brother, but his reading has not stopped at the notorious founding fathers of the Renaissance and feels as familiar with a Matteo Villani, Aeneas Sylvius, Niccolò de Niccoli, Giacomo Piccinino, to name just very few. His mastery results from his deep familiarity with a very wide collection of primary sources. He has read them all.. And a similar acquaintanceship is demonstrated in other fields, whether these are painting, music, politics, ecclesiastical matters, sociological, military, etc.

His overall thesis is clear: during this time and place the Individual was invented and shaped in all its dimensions so that it could stand well on its feet and in all fields. And his thesis is then amply, soundly, thoroughly, and methodically elaborated and demonstrated.

In his articulation of the historical understanding of culture he starts with the standard: politics. Italy certainly offers him a wide array of possible systems, from large to smaller despotisms and its critics, and to its alternatives: the acclaimed Republics. But in all of these systems he has detected the disappearance of Feudalism, which was however sustained for a while longer in the other European countries. For him then the political systems of Italy are works of art.

In tracing the development of the Individual he does not stop short at the creation of new Personalities (we now have the names for the craftsmen), but also looks at its other less glorious consequence: the ridicule and humour of that which has been particularized. His elaboration of the Renewal of Antiquity is brilliant. It involved more than exploring the ruins and resuscitating forgotten writers and translating new ones, but also its new forms of teaching, and the eventual stagnation of creativity. Stale imitation could easily become formulaic until it would bring about its own demise and loss of prestige.

This was the period in which frontiers were broken. Burckhardt embarks on following those discoveries as the Italians set out in their travels, in their examination of their natural surroundings, whether this was for aesthetic discoveries, seeing for the first time that landscapes could be beautiful—as Petrarch demonstrated--, or for the revelation of scientific principles. With the individual as the basic unit, the writing of biographies took a new impetus and emphasis in this land and this time. Benvenuto Cellini’s Autobiography is as exquisite as his jewels.

Burckhardt’s emphasis on the individual does not mean that he forgets that this new kind of creature is a social one. He then proceeds with an exhaustive review of how this society structured itself; how its members communicated with each other—whether through language or other means—; how it projected itself—in dressing or in theatrics—; how and in what it sought entertainment, solace or merriment; in sum, how it lived.

As the son of a Calvinist priest, Burckhardt would have to leave for the end, and conclusion, how this new Individual, emerging after a long theocratical period, reconciled his existence with the realm of eternity, with immortality. The last section is devoted to organized Religion and other beliefs, as well as to the slippery question of morals.

For us this book remains a rich lesson. For what Burckhardt can still teach us about the Renaissance, and for the ingenious approach. As a historian, he would not have denied that he was also part of his times, place and society. If at the beginning of the reading some of his prejudices may cause a reader of today’s society shift somewhat uncomfortably in his/her seat when some nations or cultures were perceived by him as part of that awkward "Other”, eventually his beautiful speech lulls our minds and we can follow his tune and eliminate, without much ado, some sporadic discordances.

[Valeriu Gherghel · Rating 4 out of 5]

# Biblioteca afectivă

O carte fundamentală. În definitiv, Renașterea este invenția lui Jacob Burckhardt. Mulți istorici de astăzi se îndoiesc de realitatea acestei epoci. Nici măcar nu-i pot stabili limitele în timp. Îl cuprinde și pe Francesco Petrarca, poetul animat de pasiunea manuscriselor antice? Dar pe cardinalul Nikolaus Cusanus, cu al său „idiota”? Nimeni nu poate da un răspuns întemeiat. Sigur, periodizarea e o problemă complicată și fără soluție. Depinde de criteriul avut în vedere de istoric. Unii au vorbit de un Ev Mediu foarte lung, care sfîrșește în secolul al XIX-lea.

Dincolo de aceste discuții, măcar un fapt e sigur. Toți istoricii care au scris despre Renaștere au fost constrînși să se raporteze la cartea lui Burckhardt. Unii i-au criticat „imaginea”, alții l-au ridicat în slăvi. Reproșul cel mai frecvent adus cărții se referă la ignorarea economiei. Burckhard prezintă pasiunea pentru artă a florentinilor, „nașterea” individului, cultul frumosului roman, vînătoarea de manuscrise latinești. Perfect îndreptățit. Dar Renașterea nu a fost doar un fenomen cultural. Renașterea e și curiozitatea inginerească a lui Leonardo da Vinci, e și curajul lui Christofor Columb, e și folosirea „scrisorii de schimb”, care îți permite să nu mai călătorești cu banii în desagă.

În cartea despre apariția notei de subsol, The Footnote: A Curious History (1997), Anthony Grafton citează o scrisoare a lui Jacob Burckhardt. Într-un loc din epistolă, istoricul elvețian spune că, după lectura lucrării lui Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori, a adunat 700 de fișe cu notele sale de lectură. În Cultura Renașterii în Italia, nu a făcut decît să le re-ordoneze după o temă...

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Thus what the word Renaissance really means is new birth to liberty—the spirit of mankind recovering consciousness and the power of self-determination, recognizing the beauty of the outer world and of the body through art, liberating the reason in science and the conscience in religion, restoring culture to the intelligence, and establishing the principle of political freedom.”
― John Addington Symonds, Renaissance in Italy

Often, when writing about the Renaissance there is tendency among experts/writers/historians to focus on the well-plumed bird and ignore the nest. Burckhardt spends nearly 400 pages carefully detailing the Tuscan nest of the Renaissance that embraced, protected, and incubated the great Italian artists of the Rinascimento (Giotto to Michelangelo, etc).

Burckhardt first describes the state in Italy and carefully describes the rise of the despots, the energy of the republics, and the push and the pull of the papacy. He builds on this, describing the development of the individual, Italy's relationship with its Classical past. Finally, Burckhardt details the science, society and religion of Italy during those impressive years between 1350 and 1550.

I think Daniel J. Boorstin summarized it best when he said Burckhardt "offered a classic portrait of the men and institutions that gave the era its characters and made it the mother of modern European civilization."

Like Gibbon's fantastic 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' it is tempting to gloss over how drastically the craft of history was changed by this book. Burckhardt wasn't interested in a stale or utilitarian history. He wanted a nest that was just as beautiful as the bird it bore.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is THE reference book about the Renaissance in terms of the view held up to Panofsky and 20c art criticism by the venerable Jacob Burckhardt. Required reading for students of art history, it is an interesting study of the world during the Renaissance. Highly criticized nowadays for its obsession with Italy and its bashing of the Middle Ages, I still found it interesting - especially since I read Panofsky and others beforehand. I felt that Burckhardt definitely had a thing for Italy and thus misses quite a lot that was happening in Flanders and France (both in Paris and Avignon) from an artistic point of view. However, his analysis of Italian politics and art is still arguable one of the best around. The style is very erudite, however, so the tepid fan might want to try something lighter (see my review of A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age).

[Peiman E iran · Rating 3 out of 5]

دوستانِ گرانقدر، این کتاب یکی از اصلی ترین کتب در زمینۀ تاریخِ فرهنگی رنسانس و رویدادهایِ این جنبشِ بزرگ است.. البته نکته ای که وجود دارد این است که متأسفانه در ترجمۀ این کتاب نیز سانسورهایی دیده میشود.. ولی آنچه باید از اصلِ موضوع فهمیده شود، با وجودِ سانسورهایِ آزاردهنده، بازهم فهمیده میشود و حقیقت و اصلِ موضوع نمایان است
عزیزانم، رنسانس در ایتالیا، یک انقلاب و یا نهضتِ مردمی نبود.. بلکه جنبشی بود که از درونِ برخی دانشمندان، هنرمندان و نویسندگانِ روشنفکرِ آن دوران به خروش افتاد و خروشِ این گروه از خردمندان موردِ حمایت اومانیست هایِ سکولار و همچنین گروه هایِ آزاداندیش در جامعۀ آن زمان همچون خاندانِ بزرگِ «مدیچی» قرار گرفت.. مذهب و کلیسا با تمامِ قوا جامعه را به کثافت کشیده بود و فسادِ پاپ ها و کشیشان، مغز و زندگیِ انسانهای بیچاره را نیز فاسد کرده بود و روز به روز این وضع بدتر میشد.. تا آنکه این جنبشِ بزرگ و نجات بخش، ظهور کرد.. بسیاری از ما پیشرفتِ فلسفه، هنر، آزاداندیشی، نمایان شدنِ چهرۀ واقعی و زشتِ مذهب و بسیاری از مواردِ اینچنینی را بدهکارِ همان روشنفکرانی هستیم که جرقه هایِ نخستینِ رنسانس را ایجاد کردند
در این کتاب آنچه بیش از همه در نظرِ من دردناک بود، همین ستم هایی بود که مذهب به دانش و فلسفه کرده و افسوس که ادیان و مذاهب تا چه حد سرعتِ ما را در مسیرِ پیشرفت کاهش دادند.. و اینکه این شجره سازی و سوء استفاده از مردمِ ساده لوح در هر دین و مذهبی وجود داشته و میبینیم پاپ هایی که با شجره سازی هایِ تقلبی بر مردم حکومت میکردند، چگونه بر قدرت، همچون زالو چسبیده بودند و حاضر به این نبودند که شاهدِ جامعه ای آزاداندیش باشند... در سرتاسرِ کتاب نمایان است که بسیاری از اعضایِ جامعه از فسادِ سیستمِ کلیسا آگاهی دارند، ولی از ترسِ خدا و اینجور موهومات و یا برایِ حفظِ منافع، کاری انجام نمیدهند.. و یا حاکمان میدانند که با متحد شدن، ایتالیایی قدرتمند و سرزمینی پیشرفته به وجود می آید، ولی بازهم فتنه هایِ کلیسا باعثِ فاصله افتادن میانِ حاکمان میشود
این مبلغانِ مذهبی و دین فروشانِ زالو صفت، نه تنها به مردم اعتماد نداشتند، بلکه به خودشان هم اعتماد نداشتند.. مثلاً در همین کتاب آمده است: کاردینالها زمانی که برای شرکت در مراسمِ تاجگذاریِ هر پاپی دعوت میشدند، از ترسِ مسموم شدن و به قتل رسیدن، شراب و ساقیِ مخصوص خودشان را نیز به مراسم میبردند
‎در این کتاب به نقل از مازاتچو (ماسوچو) نقاش و هنرمندِ بزرگِ دورانِ رنسانس در موردِ مبلغان دینیِ کثیف که مردمِ ساده لوح تصور میکردند کلیدِ بهشت در دستِ آنهاست و البته در موردِ فساد راهبان و راهبه ها مینویسد: بهترین جزا و کیفر برای این مبلغانِ مذهبی این است که بهشت و جهنم و اعراف وجود نداشته باشد.. در این صورت این مفت خورها دیگر از مردم مالیات و صدقه ای دریافت نمیکنند و ناچار خواهن�� شد دوباره بیل و کلنگ به دست بگیرند و کار کنند
در جای دیگر به نقل از گیچاردینی نوشته است: هیچکس به اندازۀ من از جاه طلبی، آز و هرزگی کشیشان و مبلغانِ مذهبی نفرت نداشته و اینگونه بیزار نیست.. این نفرت فقط بخاطر صفاتِ بدِ این موجودات نیست.. غیر از این صفاتِ بد، اینها مدعیِ ارتباط با خداوند هستند که این هم به خودی خود زشت و ناپسند است.. مقامی که من در دربارِ چندین پاپ داشتم، مرا مجبور میکرد که بخاطرِ منافع خودم، بزرگی آنها را بخواهم، وگرنه با آنها اختلاف داشتم
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امیدوارم این ریویو در جهتِ آشنایی با این کتاب، مفید بوده باشه
«پیروز باشید و ایرانی»

[Maryam Bahrani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each book I read offers a new perspective. In this post, I share my thoughts on this book in Persian and English. I hope this will be enjoyable for you :)


هر کتابی که می خوانم دریچه ای به دنیایی جدید است. تو این نوشته دیدگاه و تجربه ام از مطالعه ی این کتاب رو به دو زبان فارسی و انگلیسی با شما به اشتراک می ذارم امیدوارم خوندنش براتون لذتبخش باشه :)

Persian (فارسی)

جنبش فرهنگی رنسانس با رجوع به یونان، انسان را در مرکز تأملات فکری و هنری خویش قرار داد و منشأ تحولی شگرف در انسان‌شناسی و فرهنگ باختر زمین شد. خاستگاه این پویش فرهنگی نخستین بار در ایتالیا تحقق پذیرفت و آن‌گاه بر اثر پیوند یافتن آن فرهنگ با دین مسیحی، فرهنگی نو پدید آمد که با همه‌ی پیامدهای نیک و بدش از ایتالیا به سراسر باختر زمین گسترش پیدا کرد و دَمِ زندگی همه‌ی اروپاییان تربیت‌یافته گردید. بدین‌سان رنسانس را باید جنبشی ایتالیایی دانست و از این روست که
هر کس بخواهد تاریخ ویژگی‌های رنسانس را بررسی کند ناچار باید کار خود را با بررسی خصوصیات این جنبش در ایتالیا آغاز کند. [ از نویسنده]

انگیزه‌ی مطالعه 📚

مدت‌ها بود که در پی مطالعه‌ی اثری معتبر و ژرف‌نگر در باب رنسانس بودم؛ کتابی که بتواند فراتر از روایت‌های سطحی، به تحلیل‌های بنیادین فرهنگی و تاریخی بپردازد. هنگامی که این کتاب را در قفسه‌ی کتابخانه‌ی عمومی محل زندگی‌ام یافتم، بی‌درنگ تصمیم به مطالعه‌اش گرفتم. با اندکی جست‌وجو دریافتم که این اثر از منابع مرجع و کلاسیک در حوزه‌ی تاریخ فرهنگی اروپاست.

دشواری‌های زبانی و مفهومی 🧠

این کتاب به یکی از سنگین ترین تجربیات مطالعاتی من تبدیل شد. لحن نویسنده نه کاملاً دشوار و نه کاملاً روان است؛ بلکه در میانه‌ی این دو قرار دارد، با گرایشی به سوی سختی. از آن‌جا که کتاب در قرن نوزدهم نگاشته شده، سبک نگارش آن تا حدی قدیمی و نیازمند تمرکز و صبوری فراوان است. خواننده‌ی علاقه‌مند باید آشنایی نسبی با ساختارهای سیاسی، مذهبی، فلسفی و هنری اروپا و ایتالیای قرون وسطی داشته باشد تا بتواند مفاهیم را به‌درستی درک کند.

ساختار سیاسی ایتالیا در دوران رنسانس 🏛️

ایتالیا در قرون وسطی و رنسانس یک کشور متحد نبود، بلکه مجموعه‌ای از دولت‌شهرها و قلمروهای مستقل بود که هرکدام ساختار سیاسی خاص خود را داشتند:

- شهریارها :
حاکمان دولت‌شهرها که معمولاً از خانواده‌های اشرافی یا نظامی بودند. خاندان مدیچی در فلورانس نمونه‌ای بارز از این گروه است—بانکدارانی که حامی هنر و علم نیز بودند.

- پاپ‌ها و دولت کلیسا:
پاپ‌ها علاوه بر رهبری مذهبی، در رم و اطراف آن قدرت سیاسی و نظامی داشتند. دولت پاپی یکی از قدرت‌های اصلی ایتالیا بود و درگیر رقابت‌های سیاسی با دیگر دولت‌شهرها. فساد، جنگ و سیاست‌ورزی در این دوره از ویژگی‌های بارز پاپ‌ها بود—نکته‌ای که بورکهارت نیز به آن پرداخته است.

- جمهوری‌ها:
شهرهایی چون ونیز و جنوا دارای ساختار جمهوری بودند، با شوراهای شهری و اشراف منتخب. هرچند این جمهوری‌ها گاه به دیکتاتوری‌های پنهان بدل می‌شدند، اما ساختارشان با حکومت‌های شهریاری تفاوت داشت.

پرداختن بورکهارت به فساد و قدرت‌طلبی در این ساختارها، صرفاً برای نقد نیست؛ بلکه هدف او نشان دادن زمینه‌ای‌ست که در آن فردگرایی و انسان‌گرایی رنسانس شکل گرفت. در این فضای پرآشوب، انسان‌ها ناچار بودند خود را بشناسند، مستقل بیندیشند و از وابستگی به نهادهای سنتی چون کلیسا فاصله بگیرند.

ساختار و محتوای کتاب 🧩

در آغاز، تمرکز نویسنده بر رفتار و اندیشه‌های پاپ‌ها، شهریاران و حاکمان ایتالیایی است. ممکن است خواننده در این مرحله دچار قضاوت زودهنگام شود و گمان کند که کتاب صرفاً به مسائل سیاسی می‌پردازد. اما با پیشروی در مطالعه، مطالب گسترده‌تر و جذاب‌تر می‌شوند و نویسنده با دقتی مثال‌زدنی، به بررسی پیش‌زمینه‌های گوناگون شکل‌گیری رنسانس می‌پردازد. دسته‌بندی‌های موضوعی و تحلیل‌های تاریخی از نقاط قوت برجسته‌ی این اثر به‌شمار می‌آیند.

جلوه‌های تصویری و تجربه‌ی بصری 🎨

در صفحات پایانی کتاب، تصاویری از آثار هنری دوران رنسانس—نقاشی‌ها، مجسمه‌ها و جلوه‌های بصری دیگر—بر روی کاغذ گلاسه چاپ شده‌اند که دیدنشان حقیقتاً لذت‌بخش است. این تصاویر، نه‌تنها به فهم بهتر مطالب کمک می‌کنند، بلکه تجربه‌ی مطالعه را از حالت صرفاً متنی خارج کرده و به آن رنگ و روح می‌بخشند.

هرچند نمی‌دانم در نسخه‌های غیرایرانی نیز چنین توجهی به این بخش شده یا نه، اما این ابتکار در چاپ فارسی بسیار ارزشمند است. با این حال، ای‌کاش این تصاویر نه فقط در پایان کتاب، بلکه در لابه‌لای صفحات و در کنار ذکر نام اشخاص، مکان‌ها و آثار هنری آورده می‌شدند تا خواننده بتواند هم‌زمان با مطالعه، آنچه را که می‌خواند به چشم نیز ببیند. چنین تلفیقی از متن و تصویر می‌توانست تجربه‌ی خواندن را به سطحی بالاتر ارتقا دهد.

ارتباط فرهنگی با خواننده‌ی ایرانی 🔍

یکی از بخش‌های جالب توجه برای من، شباهت‌هایی بود که میان جامعه‌ی ایران امروز و ایتالیای آن دوران مشاهده کردم. از جمله بازگشت به دوران باستان، یا انتخاب نام‌های اصیل ملی برای فرزندان—نشانه‌هایی از نوعی بازآفرینی فرهنگی که در هر دو جامعه قابل مشاهده است. این بخش‌ها کتاب را از یک متن صرفاً تاریخی فراتر می‌برند و آن را به آینه‌ای فرهنگی بدل می‌سازند.

ترجمه 📝

مترجم اثر، با دقت و وفاداری به متن اصلی، ترجمه‌ای قابل‌اعتماد ارائه داده است. با این حال، ای‌کاش لحن ترجمه اندکی روان‌تر بود تا ارتباط خواننده با متن آسان‌تر برقرار شود. با وجود این، ارزش علمی و فرهنگی کتاب به‌خوبی حفظ شده است.

جمع‌بندی و تأمل پایانی 🧭

کتاب «فرهنگ رنسانس در اروپا» اثری ژرف، مرجع و تأثیرگذار است که مطالعه‌ی آن نیازمند آمادگی ذهنی، صبوری و علاقه‌ی جدی به تاریخ فرهنگی است. این کتاب نه‌تنها تاریخ را روایت می‌کند، بلکه به‌نوعی فلسفه‌ی انسان‌گرایی را در بستر تحولات اجتماعی و سیاسی اروپا بازتاب می‌دهد. بورکهارت با نگاهی تحلیلی، نشان می‌دهد که چگونه انسان در دل بحران‌ها و آشوب‌ها، خود را بازمی‌یابد و به مرکز اندیشه و هنر بدل می‌شود.

برای من، این کتاب تجربه‌ای بود که ذهنم را به چالش کشید، افق‌های فکری‌ام را گسترش داد و مرا به تأملی عمیق درباره‌ی نسبت فرهنگ، قدرت و فردیت واداشت. پس از پایان مطالعه، نیاز داشتم لحظه‌ای دراز بکشم، سکوت کنم و اجازه دهم این همه اندیشه در ذهنم به خوبی آرام بگیرد. این اثر، نه فقط یک کتاب، بلکه یک مواجهه‌ی فکری‌ست؛ مواجهه‌ای که اگر با آمادگی و علاقه وارد آن شوید، بی‌تردید چیزی از آن در شما باقی خواهد ماند.


English (انگلیسی)

The cultural movement of the Renaissance, by turning to ancient Greece, placed the human being at the center of intellectual and artistic contemplation. It became the source of a profound transformation in anthropology and Western culture. This cultural awakening first took shape in Italy. Through its fusion with Christianity, a new culture emerged—one that, with all its positive and negative consequences, spread from Italy across the Western world and became the breath of life for all educated Europeans. Thus, the Renaissance must be regarded as an Italian movement, and anyone wishing to study its characteristics must begin by examining its origins in Italy. 
—From the author

Motivation for Reading 📚

For a long time, I had searched for a credible and profound work on the Renaissance that would go beyond superficial narratives and delve into foundational cultural and historical analysis. When I found this book on the shelf of my local public library, I immediately decided to read it. A bit of research revealed that it is considered a classic and authoritative source in European cultural history.

Linguistic and Conceptual
Challenges  🧠

This book turned out to be one of the most intellectually demanding reading experiences I’ve ever had. The author’s tone is neither entirely difficult nor entirely fluent; it lies somewhere in between, leaning toward complexity. Since the book was written in the 19th century, its style is somewhat antiquated and requires considerable focus and patience. A dedicated reader should have a basic familiarity with the political, religious, philosophical, and artistic structures of medieval Europe and Italy to fully grasp its concepts.

Political Structure of
Renaissance Italy  🏛️

Italy during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was not a unified country but a collection of city-states and independent territories, each with its own political structure:

- Princes (or Signori, as they were known in Italian) :
  Rulers of city-states, often from aristocratic or military families. The Medici family of Florence is a prime example—bankers who were also patrons of art and science.

- Popes and the Papal State: 
  The popes, in addition to their religious leadership, held political and military power in Rome and its surroundings. The Papal State was one of Italy’s major powers and engaged in political rivalries with other city-states. Corruption, warfare, and political maneuvering were hallmarks of the papacy during this period—a point Burckhardt also explores.

- Republics: 
  Cities like Venice and Genoa had republican structures, with city councils and elected nobles. Although these republics sometimes turned into hidden dictatorships, their governance differed from princely rule.

Burckhardt’s discussion of corruption and power struggles is not merely critical; his aim is to reveal the context in which Renaissance individualism and humanism emerged. In this turbulent environment, people were compelled to know themselves, think independently, and distance themselves from traditional institutions like the Church.

Structure and Content of the Book 🧩

At first, the author focuses on the behavior and thoughts of popes, princes, and Italian rulers. A reader might prematurely judge the book as being purely political. However, as the reading progresses, the material becomes broader and more engaging. With remarkable precision, the author examines the various backgrounds that shaped the Renaissance. The thematic categorization and historical analysis are among the book’s strongest features.

Visual Elements and Aesthetic Experience  🎨

Toward the end of the book, glossy pages feature images of Renaissance artworks—paintings, sculptures, and other visual elements—that are truly delightful to see. These images not only enhance understanding but also elevate the reading experience beyond mere text, adding color and spirit.

Although I’m unsure whether non-Persian editions include this feature, it’s a valuable addition to the Persian print. Still, I wish these images had been interspersed throughout the book, alongside mentions of people, places, and artworks, so readers could visually engage with what they were reading. Such a fusion of text and image would have taken the reading experience to a higher level.

Cultural Resonance with
Iranian Readers  🔍

One of the most striking aspects for me was the resemblance between contemporary Iranian society and Renaissance Italy. For example, the revival of ancient heritage or the choice of authentic national names for children—signs of a cultural reawakening visible in both societies. These elements elevate the book beyond a historical text, turning it into a cultural mirror.

Translation  📝

The translator has provided a faithful and reliable rendition of the original text. However, I wish the tone of the translation were slightly more fluid to facilitate easier engagement with the content. Nevertheless, the book’s scholarly and cultural value has been well preserved.

Conclusion and Final Reflections 🧭

The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy is a profound, authoritative, and influential work that demands mental readiness, patience, and a genuine interest in cultural history. It not only recounts history but also reflects the philosophy of humanism within the social and political transformations of Europe. Through analytical insight, Burckhardt shows how, amid crises and chaos, humans rediscover themselves and become the center of thought and art.

For me, this book was a challenging intellectual journey that expanded my horizons and led me to deep contemplation about the relationship between culture, power, and individuality. After finishing it, I felt the need to lie down, be silent, and let all those thoughts settle in my mind. This work is not just a book—it’s a philosophical encounter. If you enter it with readiness and curiosity, something of it will undoubtedly remain within you.

[Roy Lotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work bears the title of an essay in the strictest sense of the word.

I did not know what I was getting into when I opened this book. I assumed that it was simply a narrative history of the Renaissance, and thus I figured it would be mostly review. But there is no narrative to be found in these pages. Rather, Burckhardt gives us the pioneering work of cultural history, changing both our picture of the Renaissance and our ideas about how to write history.

A comparison with Gibbon is instructive. While Gibbon arranged all of his material into chronological order, searching for causes and effects in the ceaseless stream of history, hoping to finally solve that mystery of the ages—namely, why did Rome fall?—Burckhardt is almost entirely unconcerned with causes.

His book is not an attempt to explain the Italian Renaissance, but to describe it. Thus he takes the approach of an anthropologist studying a people, hoping to understand a foreign culture. He describes the political structure, the social hierarchy, the forms of education, the attitude towards the environment, the role of women, the religious rituals, the common superstitions, and much more. In the process, many events and people are portrayed, but only as illustrations of attitudes, ideals, mentalities. What emerges is a picture of the Renaissance Mind.

Burckhardt’s book is far from perfect. For one, he wrote it for fellow scholars, not anticipating his book's popularity; thus he presupposes quite a thorough knowledge of Renaissance history, constantly making references without explanations. What is more, his approach of anthropological history rests on the presupposition, which he tries to justify, that the culture of the Italian Renaissance was uniform and constant enough in the centuries between Dante and Michelangelo that scant attention need be paid to chronology. And in the attempt to sharply delineate the Italian Renaissance from both the medieval period and the rest of Europe, Burckhardt makes some dubious generalizations (especially about the Spanish, whom Burckhardt did not like). Besides all this, it is somewhat unsatisfying to have a history book that is so unconcerned with historical causation. At the very least, a modern treatment of the Renaissance wouldn’t so totally neglect economics, as Burckhardt does.

These faults notwithstanding, this book is a true classic of history. Burckhardt is so engrossed in the material, with such a deep knowledge of all the thinkers and writers, with all the pertinent facts at his fingertips, that you cannot but feel awed by the performance. He is also such a stately writer. Even in translation, his prose is elegant, managing to preserve the intimacy of an essay within the strictures of a historical treatise. This stateliness also describes his turn of mind. Burckhardt manages to be both brief and leisurely in his exposition, never rushing, never too eager to prove his point, and yet tackling complex topics in just a few pages. Whether he was right or not, whether this is an accurate picture of the Italian Renaissance, I cannot say; but it is a brilliant and important work of scholarship, an impressive and inspiring feat.

[S h a y a N · Rating 5 out of 5]

«از دیرباز همه آدمیان مفهومی منطقی از انسانیت در ذهن داشتند، ولی رنسانس به شناخت خود انسانیت دست یافت.»

این کتاب بیشتر برای دانشجوهای تاریخ مناسبه، نویسنده خیلی زیاد به اسامی و تاریخ‌ها اشاره کرده که برای خواننده معمولی طاقت فرسا میشه، با وجود این خیلی دقیق به تمام عوامل شکل‌گیری رنسانس و تغییرات تدریجی در همه‌ی جنبه‌های زندگی اجتماعی و سیاسی پرداخته و نقش اصلی رو در این جنبش، بازگشت مردم به سبک زندگی باشکوه و اندیشه‌های پر افتخار دوران باستان می‌دونه که با محور قرار گرفتن انسان در تفکر و هنر، تضعیف کلیسا، مفهوم برابری اجتماعی، از بین رفتن اشرافیت و نظام طبقاتی و تاثیر نویسندگان و شاعرانی مثل دانته این زمینه به تدریج فراهم میشه. بخش‌های ابتدایی در مورد فرمانروایان قرون وسطا هست که شرح جنایت‌هاشون مو به تن خواننده سیخ می‌کنه و واقعا حیرت‌انگیزه که اروپایی‌ها تونستند قدرت رو از دست اون حاکمان وحشی و مستبد بگیرند و این نشون میده که با ارتقای آگاهی، شناخت، هنر و فرهنگ میشه از سد استبداد رد شد و به آزادی واقعی رسید.
بدون شک کتاب ارزشمندیه و آگاهی ما از رنسانس و تحولاتش رو بالا می‌بره که خیلی اهمیت داره.

[Justin Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I guess that's what old history is like. Burckhardt piles up his anecdotes and, true to his word, gives you his own picture of the Italian Renaissance. Don't go looking for a narrative of events, or precise information. It's all allusion and generalities. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think I would've had a better time if I'd known that at the beginning.
The problem with this book is so obvious that it's almost silly to point it out: Burckhardt's picture of the Renaissance is, shall we say, a little partial. Everything the Italians did in the fifteenth century was wonderful and lovely; everything the 'Northerners' did before that was barabarous; everything the Spanish did after that - and boy, do the Spanish come in for a beating - was equally barbarous. The Muslims were okay, although they were a bit grasping and oppressive. In short, only in Italy in the fifteenth century was life lived properly.
So it's pretty amusing when he says, at the start of his final chapter on morality, "A tribunal there is for each one of us, whose voice is our conscience; but let us have done with these generalities about nations." He has to say this, though, so that we won't judge the Italians' morality too harshly All those murders, all that violence, the horrors? Just a consequence of the 'individualism' of the times. Can't be helped. Better that than a world in which men don't go around f'ing and killing whoever they want to. Don't judge the whole nation of Italians. Judge only all the other nations.
This is all nit-picky, of course. It's nicely written, and I'm sure everyone who's interested will find bits that appeal to them one way or the other. At least he doesn't try to theorize everything. But be aware that this book is basically a book about how the writers in the Renaissance saw themselves, and not, as the title implies, about the civilization itself. The middle ages weren't all that bad, and the Renaissance wasn't all that good.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece. One has to be sure, of course, to find a copy that includes the photographic plates -- which are essential (the penguin edition includes only the text and so is incomplete). Worth whatever you pay.... If there were six stars available on this board, I would give it ten....

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=LuUuYnX...

[Count Gravlax · Rating 4 out of 5]

The civilization that Buckhardt describes in this book is one that slowly leaves the middle ages style of government in fiefdoms and burghs and centralizes it's power under a bureaucratic authority. According to him, this made possible for humanist and creative artistic and moral expressions to flourish and art to become freer and better able to capture the intricacies of human emotions.

Well I disagree. The portrait painted by Buckhardt in relation to the civilization of the Renaissance is not the most favorable one. On the contrary, is one of coups, conflicts, tyranny and death. Culture goes along the same way and although it's forms do flourish, art loses all it's popular spontaneity and become a mere mouthpiece for the ruling head. The only creative and rebel exception is the one found in moralistic and thus religious art, like the ones from Dante (for whom Buckhardt has a huge crush), Bocaccio and Bosch, Brueghel and Rabelais among other european nations. Being faithful to a superior authority than the earthly one, religion allows art to fully criticize what it sees as a corrupt and degenerate society. See what Deleuze mentions in his Vincenne classes: the creative freedom of christianity.

But this are just disagreements. This book should be celebrated as having inaugurated the field of cultural history, of even "history of feelings", which I guess is much more fun than regular history. There are moments of great beauty throughout the book, like when he describes italian geography as enchanted by it as the renaissance man newly found love for nature, or how he exceptionally chooses to analyze popular superstition. However sometimes it just feels like a mish-mash, it's theory of renaissantist gender equality is self defeating and disproves itself a few pages later and sometimes it just feels like he mixed the general life of the elites as a mutual conscience of a people. Which brings to the question if something we can call "Renaissance" ever existed to the regular man at all and if far from elevating the general spirits it's true consequences for the poor of Italy were not only a more strict bureaucracy, political and religious oppression and war.

[sologdin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masterful. The 'state as a work of art' is fucking fantastic, conceptually and rhetorically, very fertile, &c. Plenty else.

[grllopez ~ with freedom and books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this almost 100 pages, but I can't anymore.

There is one thing I take away from, at least from as much as I have written...man is awful. The greed, the desire for power, the murder, even of family members! It hasn't changed. Man hasn't changed one bit.

I can't read it anymore.

[Tuncay Özdemir · Rating 4 out of 5]

İtalyan Rönesansı'nın her yönüyle masaya yatırıldığı bir kitap. Siyasi görünümden, dini çalkantılara, halkın yaşantısından, aydınların tutumuna kadar farklı farklı bir çok konu başlığıyla söz konusu dönemi izliyoruz. Çok sayıda İtalyan şehir devleti olması nedeniyle, hemen hemen her konuda zıtlıklar ve farklı yaklaşımlar görüyoruz. Bu açıdan rönesans çağı, hem kitapların yakıldığı hem de fikri özgürleşmenin yaşandığı gerçek bir çarpışma noktası olarak karşımızda. Bir kez daha görüyoruz ki çağdaşlaşma ve ilerleme gitgelli ve zorlu bir yolculuk.

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burckhardt is darkly ambivalent about the Renaissance and modernity. He admires the culture but dislikes the politics and society he sees as its corollaries.

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Ah, the old war-horse,' an English professor of mine said when I told him I was going through this book years ago in college. I have to say, its not quite Decline and Fall or Thucydides but its almost up there in the pantheon. This really is a great history, and a real eye-opener on one of our most valuable legacies in the heritage. Burckhardt opens up with a bang--the book is divided into two sections--with 'the State as a Work of Art,' which details the desperate evil of the multitudes of illegitimate petty tyrants in Italy then launching into our general revival of antiquity, discovery of man as individual, festivals, nature, art...there is just so much here. Rereading this has really been a pleasure.

For anyone having an even vague notion of Italy's contributions, please don't miss this. I remember my last years of school going through all the epics of Tasso, Ariosto, Boirardo and Pulci. It was such a different style and so extremely elegant! This age is really one of such fire and passion. The multitude of individuals here and their multifarious talents makes your head swim.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burckhardt's classic study is a great work stylistically; structurally, it's kind of a mess. I thought it would be a rewarding read because of its historiographical prominence and because I didn't know much about the Renaissance. After reading it, I still don't feel like I have a handle on the Renaissance.

I don't think it's fair to comment too much on Burckhardt's methodology by contemporary standards, but it's often unclear what his sources are and how he is using them. His dating of the Renaissance is also different from what I expected, and many of the people featured (Dante, Petrarch, Castiglione) are what I have long regarded as late medieval figures. This is especially significant when you realize just how much of the book is about Dante.

This is worth reading, a building block in my understanding of historiography and of the Renaissance. I just wish it were a bit more substantial in that sense.

[Nikoleta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολυ καλο βιβλιο! Δεν εχει αφησει τιποτα απ'εξω που να αφορα την ιδεολογία της Αναγέννησης στην Ιταλια! Πολύ ενδιαφερον. Υποψην μόνο, οτι δεν ασχολειται με ιστορικα γεγονότα, ασχολείται καθαρά με την ιδεολογια.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

M-a enervat un pic cu romantismul și cu religionismul lui, dar am mai și aflat niște lucruri (nu așa multe cum aflam dacă nu presupunea că toată lumea cunoaște renașterea - și antitchitatea - în detaliu. Sau măcar dacă editorul român mai adăuga niște note de subsol).

[Marks54 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of Burckhardt’s history of the Renaissance, originally published in 1860. He has a second volume that was published in 1867. I had heard of it before but never read it, my presumption being that the Renaissance was a well-researched time and that later volumes would provide more current research and perspectives. I decided to read it after reading Ross King’s account of Vespasiano in “The Bookseller of Florence”, which made it clear that Burckhardt’s account was stimulated by Vespasiano’s work and was not just an early work but a defining one - it was this book that established the idea of the Italian Renaissance into western historiography and helped to define how we think about the time. This gives this book a power of reverse causality that is highly uncommon. We literally look at the 12th through the 16th centuries in Italy differently today because of Burckhardt’s book. That is an influence that few authors, especially historians, can even dream of, unless they happen to be participants in the history itself, such as Churchill or Vasari.

The book itself is an excellent read, easy to follow and informative. The timeline get well established and the major players, including the various popes, are named and discussed. The net is cast over a wide area of cultural activities, with the result that only the basics are provided on many topics ranging from literature to arts to architecture. One does not get a sense of much that is hidden, since Renaissance notables loved to write about themselves. I did not worry about the details too much, since for a short book it is the perspective that is more valuable. There is lots of recent work that fills in the details of the stories.

In terms of excesses and omissions, I would have preferred more on the broader political and geopolitical context of the story and less on the broader religious and cultural state of Italy during the Renaissance. While the mid-nineteenth century was an important time for the emergence of modern historical writings, Burckhardt also brings his own presuppositions to his concluding chapters.

I am hoping that I will be able to visit Italy next year sometime. If that happens, Burckhardt’s book will be good background reading for the trip.

[Hannaneh karimi]

خیلی دوست داشتم توانایی خوندن کتاب های قطور تاریخی رو در خودم ببینم؛ مخصوصا وقتی با چنین کتاب های جالبی مواجه میشم. اما این چندمین باره که داره بهم ثابت میشه مدل من برای بلدشدن تاریخ خوندن کتاب های تاریخی نیست. معمولا وقتی کتابی رو دستم می گیرم باید اکثر جملات رو توی ذهنم تصویرسازی کنم تا بفهمم چی میگه. گاهی این حالت خیلی وسواسگونه و آزاردهنده میشه که متاسفانه موقع خوندن کتاب های تاریخی خیلی پیش میاد. و همین باعث میشه به شدت کند پیش برم و یا به قدری سرسری کتاب رو بخونم که از دو صفحه قبلش چیزی خاطرم نمونه. خلاصه که فرایند طاقت فرسایی میشه و حتی اگر بتونم کتاب رو تموم کنم بعد از دو سه هفته همه چیزش فراموشم میشه و این دیگه خیلی زور داره. فعلا که مشغول کشف خودمم ولی به نظر میاد وقتی با تاریخ در قالب خاطره نویسی، خود زندگی نامه و داستان مواجه میشم خیلی بهتر می فهمم و حتی به یاد میارم. درسته که با این روش خیلی طول میکشه از یک دوره ی تاریخی سر در بیارم ولی عوضش دانسته هام موندگارتر میشن. بنابراین علی الحساب این رو هم رها کردم.

[JCJBergman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively speaking, the amount of detailed and researched information in this book about the Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy is outstanding. However, it's incredibly dense and almost expects you to know what is being talked about as it's written, which is my main problem with the book.

Indeed, Burckhardt was a phenomenal historian who knew all of this like the back of his hand, but I think the book would have greatly benefited from it being written in a more accessible fashion. I skimmed a few chapters and read on the particular parts of which I wanted to know more of, but even then, it was a task to dish out the relevant (as such) information that I personally denounced as worth knowing, or useful in some regard.

I will probably use this as a reference book in the future, and perhaps upon return after reading up more on the topic I will be able to read this in full without becoming agitated from its impenetrability. If anyone wants to check out this book, who is a layperson on this subject, turn away and find another one because this is in some ways for the established intellectual of the subject matter, wanting a comprehensive analysis of the time of which it covers.

[Kapuss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Italia es para mí, óyeme y admirate, una tierra de doloroso recuerdo... El dolor que yo sentí una tarde sublime en Pisa permanecerá por siempre en mi memoria... El cielo era totalmente azul; al oeste, los Apeninos se erguían violáceos; bajo mis pies corría el Arno y yo hubiera querido llorar como un niño.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burckhardt attempts to tell the story of the Renaissance in the only way it should really be told: the making of the modern man. How individuality was gained in the Renaissance. As a result it is not a very systematic telling of history and at times it is not great, but overall pretty good.

[Lizzytish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it.
Got to know a lot about Dante.
Dante is so important because he broke the mold of writing in Latin. He wrote in Italian, in the common language for the common people.

I did get a kick out of the macaroni poetry. It was written in such a way that the Latin endings sounded like slips of the tongue.

I didn't realize how many authors there were back then. My head was swimming with all those names and titles.

There was a section in there on paid assassins. Makes me wonder if that's where the Mafia got its roots.

The Church was extremely corrupt.

Supposedly women were equal to men.Elderly people were encouraged not to sing or perform in music as it had to do as much as impressions made on one's sight.

False hair and perfumes were really in style. They would even perfume their mules. Oh and blonde was the in color.

There was a dance where fools (jesters) would get up and beat each other with pig's bladders.

There was even a real King Wenceslaus!

I recommend this book to sufferers of insomnia.

[Cărăşălu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not your typical modern history book. It's more like a huge, chaotic essay where Burckhardt eulogizes the Italians of the Renaissance era. His style is labyrinthine and there's a lot of personal opinion and value judgements, which are not only expressed as such, but play an essential role in Burckhardt's argumentation or narrative line. There's a lot of detail and examples (probably thousands of Italian names - priests, writers, princes and whatnot), which really bogs down the reading. I started skipping large chunks at one point because it was simply too much. It's not a book written for lay readers, Burckhardt obviously expects readers to be very familiar with the history and personalities of the era. If you are not, try another book.

[Hugo Bissell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author lost all credibility when he claimed men and women were treated equally in the fucking FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Like bro… 😭

I guess the book is an interesting case study on Burckhardt himself, but if you want to learn about actual Renaissance Italy then this ain’t it. It’s borderline incoherent, overly rambly, and WAY too opinionated to be cited with any credibility. I regret reading as much of it as I did.

2 stars coz the cover is sexy and the introduction by Peter Burke was pretty interesting. (Also bc having it on my shelf makes me look smart 😍🙏🏻)

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many works of art history from theose days still hold a very strong ground. Therefore I was truely surprised to realize that this famous work is astinishingly superficials and unstructured. Quite a disappointment.

[Josh Friedlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance which presupposes in the reader a decent knowledge of the political and art history of the period and supposes to fill in the surrounding information about everyday life: religion, crime, sexual mores, superstition, etc. (Burckhardt, a major art historian, had already written a book on the art history of the period. He was also a mentor of Nietzsche!) The main issue preoccupying him is what shifted to precipitate the Renaissance - how people mired in a deep and primitive medieval faith suddenly became interested in their classical heritage, Deist beliefs and a hedonistic lifestyle, and managed to wrap it in a radically new conception of Christianity while maintaining continuity with their past and the good graces of their priests (barring the odd Savonarola here and there). Dante is Burckhardt's leading light, the Renaissance pioneer who seamlessly molded pagan savants into his religious worldview, as if divine grace transcended the boundaries of creed.

Many of Burckhardt's ideas are somewhat old-fashioned, such as his disdain for the Middle Ages, and his adulation of the Italians. But his grand prose, in Victorian English, still captures the spirit. To quote his close:

Echoes of medieval mysticism here flow into one current with Platonic doctrines and with a characteristically modern spirit. One of the most precious fruits of the knowledge of the world and of man here comes to maturity, on whose account alone the Italian Renaissance must be called the leader of modern ages.

[Carlos Nouaille]

¿Cómo puede un libro ser tan interesante y, al mismo tiempo, tan árido? Todavía no sé cómo valorarlo… Supongo que La cultura del Renacimiento en Italia funciona como una clase del siglo XIX. Si acudías a la universidad de Basilea y te sentabas a escuchar la clase del profesor Burckardt, esto sería lo que obtenías. Una disertación cultísima y muy detallada sobre múltiples aspectos de la vida en las distintas ciudades-estado de la Italia del XV y del XVI.

El libro arranca fuerte, con una enumeración interminable de gobernantes y condotieros a los que es difícil seguirles la pista. Si eres capaz de superar esa parte, te esperan otras mucho más interesantes en las que se trata sobre el cambio de conciencia, pasando de un espíritu medieval a otro centrado en el individuo y su potencial, y sus repercusiones en el arte. Pero el discurso se interrumpe constantemente y va saltando de unos temas a otros. El resultado final es un conocimiento muy amplio sobre la vida en la Italia de la época, pero se habría agradecido que estuviera más organizado.