Florence’s finest
FRANCESCO GUIDI-BRUSCOLI considers an evocative book that presents slices of life in the cradle of the Renaissance This openness to ideas from other countries and cultures contributed to OCMiPg (NQrePEe the ErCFNe of the Renaissance
Anniversaries always spark book publications, and this year marks 700 years since the death of Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy and father of the Italian vernacular. It is with Dante that Paul Strathern starts his latest work, The Florentines: From Dante to Galileo, which presents slices of the history of Florence by studying the life and work of its illustrious citizens across four centuries.
Florence, located some 60 miles from the sea, was not as cosmopolitan as port cities such as Venice: it attracted migrants, but mainly from the contado (countryside). And yet, during the period Strathern looks at here, it was open to ideas emanating from other countries and cultures. This openness contributed to making Florence the cradle of the Renaissance, where concepts from antiquity were developed and revised, pushing Europe forward from the Middle Ages into the early modern period.
Not all the characters portrayed in the book were Florentines in a strict sense, but most had a profound impact on the history of the city. The author stresses the importance of inter-personal relationships in a place where artists and politicians, geographers and merchants knew each other and learnt something from one another.
Each of the 19 chapters is dedicated to an individual or group of characters. The selection favours those with only a passing knowledge of the period, with detailed accounts of the famous few (notably the Medici and the trio of writers Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio). Conversely, it makes only passing mention of the less well-known, like the 15th-century humanists. Strathern keeps readers engaged throughout with a sprinkling of colourful anecdotes, often taken from contemporary (or slightly later) sources. The celebrated Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects by Vasari is ever-present, although, as Strathern admits, it is “not always reliable”.
The four centuries covered by the book are not evenly balanced, with more than half of it devoted to the 1400s. With the cinquecento (the 1500s), the narrative accelerates and, after the politics of Machiavelli, only “the transcendent art” of Michelangelo bridges the beginning and end of the century, taking us to the final character: Galileo (1564–1642).
Most markedly in the first part of the book, Strathern’s determination to educate his readers sometimes leads him into explanations that carry them away – both in space and time – from the core argument. Possibly this is the result of the “learning process” that the author himself experienced, because when he reaches more familiar ground – the Medici – the narrative flows more smoothly.
As an economic historian I particularly appreciated Strathern’s decision to refrain from giving modern equivalents (in euros or pounds) of sums expressed in florins, preferring instead the much more methodologically sound approach of comparisons with contemporary prices and wages.
For those familiar with the immense academic and popular literature on Renaissance Florence, this book – while a good read – does not offer any novelty. But, for all that, those coming to the period for the first time will be able to sense the flavour of the social, political and cultural life that shaped a city that still attracts so many tourists.
Francesco Guidi-Bruscoli is associate professor of economic history at the University of Florence