The Concept Of The Individual? Essay, Research Paper
Jacob
Burckhardt?s Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy?s second section is
devoted to the ?development of the individual? and claims to have found a great
change in human perception during the Renaissance: ?In the Middle Ages
both sides of the human consciousness?lay dreaming or half-awake beneath a
common veil.? The veil was woven of
faith, illusion and childish prepossession, through which the world and history
were seen clad in strange hues.? Man was
conscious of himself only as a member of a race, people, party, family or
corporation ? only through some general category.? In Italy this veil first melted into air; an objective treatment
and consideration of the State and all the things of this world became
possible.? The subjective side at the
same time asserted itself with corresponding emphasis?Burckhardt saw individualism as the period?s
greatest problem and as its greatest asset.?
Claiming that this ?fundamental vice? found its feet in the Italian
nation ? a people Burckhardt saw as ?emerged form the half-conscious life of
the race and become themselves individuals? and ?firstborn amongst the sons of
Europe? in virtue of their moral autonomy, cultivation of privacy and the individuality
of culture.? The Italians?first cast off the authority of a State which, as a
fact, is in most cases tyrannical and illegitmate, and what he thinks and does
is now, rightly or wrongly, called treason.?
The sight of victorious egotism in others drives him to defend his own
rights by his own arm?? In face of all
objective facts, of laws and restraints of any kind, he retains the feeling of
his own sovereignty, and in each case forms his decision independently,
according as honour or interest, passion or calculation, revenge or
renunciation, gain the upper hand in his mind.?Burckhardt
thought this massive change was the result of increased personal wealth for
much of society, the development of culture, a change in the role of the Church
but first and foremost, the Italian city-states.? The mass insecurities of the past caused by party strife was
replaced by personal insecurity (another form of individualism) as men were
forced to cultivate their personal worth and outlook.? In this mould, Burckhardt saw the rise of the ?universal man?: a
concept that meant not only universal knowledge of art, science and politics,
but also the ability to express oneself as an individual.? The personal development of individual
talent was a distinction in its absolute assertion of personality on the
world.? Burckhardt saw the new idea of
pride in oneself leading to new patriotism in one?s townsmen.? Local artists, leaders and authors all received
commemoration through statues, monuments and biographical writings.? However, as pride spurred these things on,
jealousy spurred on the short story, invective and cynical wit as well as
parody.? The universal men that
Burckhardt notes as being notably lauded by contemporaries include Leon
Battista Alberti, (an athlete, scribe, musician, painter, architect and
philosopher) and Leonardo da Vinci (a musician, lover of nature, scientist,
engineer, painter, inventor). Burckhardt?s
argument that the ?different tendencies and manifestations of private life?
thriving in the fullest vigour and variety? were developed in this period and
that the private man was ?indifferent to politics, and busied partly with
serious disputes, partly with the interests of a dilettante? emerged in this
period.? He saw Italy as beginning to
?swarm with individuality? at the close of the thirteenth century and a
?thousand figures meet us each in his own special shape and dress? once the
?ban on human personality? was dissolved.?
Dante was ?the most national herald of his time? because of the ?wealth
of individuality that he set forth.??
The breakdown of barriers of race, nationality and family occurred as
people stopped classifying themselves according to those criteria. Dante, the
first son of Florence said ?my country is the whole world? and Ghiberti said that
the learned man ?is nowhere a stranger?. Burckhardt
proves his thesis by claiming that the number of ?universal men? rose in the
fifteenth century, and although he was unsure whether they consciously
developed their ?spiritual and material existence,? several managed to attain
as perfect a being as was possible, given the innate failings of humanity. Burckhardt has
been throroughly analysed and attacked since his publication, mostly because
Burckhardt relied on brilliant prose, argument construction and sweeping
generalisations more than demonstration by examples.? His arguments won him praise that soon turned to bitter
criticism. ?The idea that man had been unaware of himself
is ridiculous.? Even medieval man used
the First Person Singular, and theologians working from Genesis knew that God
had differentiated individuals one from another.? Burckhardt?s individuals were different from their predecessors
in that they possessed striking, unique personalities and an urge to better
themselves.? The first part of
Burckhardt?s individual, the unique personality, has been dropped as the
exaggerations of a historian radically revising conceptions of the past and
trying to do too much. The idea of
man as a morally autonomous, emotive being possessive of will-power saw new
developments in Quattrocento Italy, but the substantial foundations for these
minor changes had been laid during the medieval period.? What was new was the idea of personality
depicting the actions, and possibly showing itself through the works and ideas,
of the man.? Burckhardt?s use of da
Vinci and Alberti is perhaps a little na?ve, as they were praised, not for
being the personifications of the Renaissance man, as Burckhardt thought, but
for being the exceptions.? Burckhardt?s
theory lacks concrete examples and facts to support it, and it has all but been
abandoned in its original form.? The
Renaissance did evolve a cult of the individual for western society.? The modern quirk of valuing the art because
of the artist, not because of its artistic value, is a Renaissance value.? ?Michelangelo and Pontormo made cults to their
artistic vision and ability in the 1500s in making their art an expression of
themselves.? Bufalmacco was notably
mocked by Franco Sachetti for his artistic gait and lifestyle, whilst Manetti
claims that Brunelleschi?s muse was his way of life.? Although Raphael, Masaccio and Giotto were stra
conventional, such artists as Donatello, who destroyed pieces art when he
failed to get a good enough price for it.?
This cult of such personae is seen as a sixteenth century innovation,
but another facet of artistic indiviualism, the reemergence of the artistic
temperament, was recorded by Vasari as occurring in the early fifteenth century
and in a novelle by Sacchetti, an author writing in the late fourteenth
century.? I use the word reemergence as
Pliny talks of Kallimachos ?the Niggler? who spent ages fussing over the
minutae of his work, Apollodorus ?the Madman? who smashed work of his that he
felt to be insufficient and Protegenes who ate only lupins steeped in water
whilst engaged in a project. Despite such aged roots, the idea as it comes to
us is a Renaissance phenomenon that was probably reintroduced by the humanists,
as the coincidence of the dates of the reintroduction and the dates of the
humanist hegemony would suggest.? Many
patrons saw innovative lifestyles as a means to innovative creations and
tolerated, accepted or supported the artist?s quirks, and this connection of
personality with the art produced is indeed a new innovation for the era.? As da Vinci said ?every painter paints
himself?. The Bohemians may have been attempting merely to raise themselves
above the norms of ?good society? and to show themselves to be of a different
social class than their less ?gifted? peers, but even if this is the case, it
is still an attempt at showing off a difference of personality that would have
been important for an artist.? By 1561,
Cardanus saw painters as ?fickle, of unsettled mind, melancholic, and
changeable in their manners.?? To use
Pliny?s words, artists were seen as ?queer fish.? Vasari?s ?Lives of the Artists? is a catalogue of
bohemian artists, most of whom are given trite reasons for their
brilliance.? Although, he did give
?nature? and ?grace? credit for Desiderio da Settignano and Domenico Puligo,
and surmised that ?long implanted seeds? were the reason for Agostino and
Agnolo of Siena?s creativity, he usually gave less vague reasons.? Gaddo Gaddi, Vellano of Padua and Pisanello
earned their talent and inspiration by copying their predecessors.? Giuliano da Maiano was supported in his
choice of vocation by his father, so giving him an edge.? Exile enabled Starnina, Antonio Veneziano and
Perugino to improve their portfolios, whilst Baccio da Montelupo won his talent
through application.? Alberti?s pensive
use of artistic theory and Dosso?s study of art were both extolled.? At the same time, Vasari notes how Andrea
del Sarto, Fra Batolomeo and Rosso were discouraged by Michelangelo?s
inimitable presence in their city of Rome, whilst copying masters hindered
Uccello and Verrochio. Later, Vasari
explained the prevalent belief that an artist?s ability sprung directly from
his motivation and situation, so introducing the idea of individuality.? Simone, Lippo Memmi, Lorenzo di Bicci and
Don Bartolomeo were all praised for the way that their good characters shone
through their art whilst the art of Dosso and Battista Dossi suffered for lack
of an interesting personality.?
Giottino, Franciabigio and Donatello took the artistic temperament to a
new height whilst Raffaello da Montelupo?s diffidence and passivity failed his
art.? The devotion required, in Vasari?s
eyes, to art meant abstinence in order to allow the artist?s outpourings to be
unchecked by other considerations, whilst the creations needed to be coaxed
from the artists by exhortation and encouragement ? a motivational
technique.? The importance of the
individual?s vision is clear when one learns of Michelangelo?s secrecy about
his work, and his incredible depression, mood swings and three day work
binges.? Wittkower
challenges the emergence of artistic individuality in this period by noting
that the architect who built Pisa cathedral, Rainaldus, not only recorded his
on name but also recorded that he thought his work was ?remarkable and
excellent?. Lanfrancus of Modena calls himself clarus, doctus and aptus.? The guild system which emerged during the
XIIIth century made artists de facto craftsmen with controlled training and workdays.? Coulton believes that the guilds diminished
individualism, whilst Doren denies such a link. The importance
of motivation and situation was as important to Vasari for artists as for
scholars and poets.? Contemporaries and
classical sources saw poets as a theologian and seer, as he used the eyes of
his mind to penetrate deeper truths.?
Creativity was an asset belonging to the poet: a change in direction
from the poet inspired by God?s grace to the poet inspired generally.? This creativity was studied in biography
after biography of poets.? The creative
minds were seen as sources of wisdom for patrons, readers or admirers to
follow.? The Renaissance was the era
when the powerful students of the learned bringers of wisdom became famous for
their adherence to the philosophies of their adherent sources.? This was set down as early as in Plutarch?s Lives.
?The philosophy was interspersed
with illustrations of illustrious followers of the philosophy: the idea of
virtue was no longer just as simple as following biblical ethics for a
fifteenth century Italian.? The
importance of following the life suggested by the fashionable philosophies was
vital for keeping up appearances and was characterised for the most part by the
pursuit of virtue for its own sake.? The era leant
to man a great non-Christian (although not un-Christian) set of behavioural
norms sharply different to the norms known to Christian Europe.? The Renaissance was important not in
creating individualism, so much as in recognising the importance of a concept
of virtue by which everyone could be held accountable and the recognition of
the importance of character in creativity which the humanists and artists
discovered.? The term ?Individualism? is
Victorian and in itself assigns too great an importance to the Renaissance ?
another concept itself not described by a contemporary term. Although I am
contrary to much of the revision of Burckhardt in that I would not claim that
socio-economic pressures caused the awakening what little concept of
individuality was born or developed in this era, I would support an awakening
to the role of the individual in artistic talent, and moreover, I would support
the idea of an awakening of the concept of humanity as a group of independent
beings.?