[(The State as a Work of Art )] [Author: Jacob Burckhardt] [Aug-2010]

by Jacob Burckhardt

Pioneering art historian Jacob Burckhardt saw the Italian Renaissance as no less than the beginning of the modern world. In this hugely influential work he argues that the Renaissance's creativity, competitiveness, dynasties, great city-states and even its vicious rulers sowed the seeds of a new era.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Art, Nonfiction, Politics

Unknown Binding

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

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that looks at Italy's history during the 14th, 15th, and 16th century and argues that despots and violence were in large part the catalysts of Italy's greatness and originality during the Renaissance. Hyper effective bureaucracies aimed at protecting the elite against conspiracies is one example of an institution born out of strife that would later have unintended consequences on Italian culture. In this case, corruption and bureaucracy would inspire figures like Dante and Machiavelli to write about the Italian states and forward Italian art and politics. Bureaucracy also made the republics - Venice and Florence - very wealthy.
This was a very enlightening read.

[Stuart Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title is a rather poor fit for the good ideas series as it is predominantly narrative and lacks analysis and attempts to explain why historical events occurred.

I got the impression that the role of historian has changed significantly since the 19th century; it is hard to imagine that an assertion like 'the Spaniards, in whom perhaps a touch of oriental blood.. had unloosed the devilish element of human nature' would find its way into print nowadays.

It is a shame that this is such a dull book, as the period covered is such an interesting one. The great ideas series is usually stimulating, but I can't recommend this one unfortunately.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burckhardt saw Italy as the birthplace of modern individualism, political calculation, science and scepticism so he wrote a dynamic and dark book about the Renaissance. The writing is great, but I could've used some analysis to go with it.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave up.