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.

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Burckhardt's the most influential interpretation of the Italian Renaissance in the 19th century. The book is about political and economic changes taking place in the West of his day. Burckhardt has traced the cultural patterns of evolution from the medieval period to the awakening of modern fortitude and creativity of the Renaissance. A treat for all history lovers!