The name Renaissance applied, at first, only to the
rebirth or revival of men's interest in the literature and art of classical
antiquity. Italy was the original home of this Renaissance. There it first
appeared, there it found widest acceptance, and there it reached its highest
development. From Italy the Renaissance gradually spread beyond the Alps, until
it had made the round of western Europe.
ITALIAN CITIES OF THE RENAISSANCE
Italy, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, was a
land particularly favorable to the growth of learning and the arts. In northern
Italy the great cities of Milan, Pisa, Genoa, Florence, Venice, and many others
had early succeeded in throwing off their feudal burdens and had become
independent, self-governing communities. Democracy flourished in them, as in
the old Greek city-states. Noble birth counted for little; a man of ability and
ambition might rise to any place. The fierce party conflicts within their walls
stimulated mental activity and helped to make life full, varied, and intense.
Their widespread trade and thriving manufactures made them prosperous. Wealth
brought leisure, bred a taste for luxury and the refinements of life, and gave
means for the gratification of that taste. People wanted to have about them
beautiful pictures, statuary, furniture, palaces, and churches; and they
rewarded richly the artists who could produce such things. It is not without
significance that the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance was democratic,
industrial, and wealthy Florence.
