THE DARK SIDE OF THE RENAISSANCE
“The problem is if we don’t think about the hardships and the atrocities, then we get this very one-sided story of the glories of Western civilization and ‘wasn’t European culture great?’ without seeing any of the negatives to that,” argues Catherine Fletcher, the author of The Beauty And The Terror: An Alternative History Of The Italian Renaissance.
Whether you’re an art lover or not, there’s a high chance that you will be able to name at least one of the most famous works to have come out of the Italian Renaissance: for example, two of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic paintings, the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa, or Michelangelo’s David, his famous sculptural masterpiece. Yet did you know that Da Vinci pitched his abilities as a military engineer and his various inventions to his patron, Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, before mentioning his ability as an artist? Or that Michelangelo was hired as a military architect by the government of Florence to build fortifications for the city from 1528 to 1529?
“IN CELEBRATING THE RENAISSANCE, WE OFTEN FORGET ABOUT THE TRAGEDY AND CATASTROPHE THAT FREQUENTLY PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN ITS DEVELOPMENT”
For centuries, the world has marvelled at the artistic and scientific achievements that emerged in the Renaissance, essentially putting the period on a pedestal as one of the greatest eras of mankind. However, in celebrating the Renaissance, we often forget about the
