A Little History of the World

Gombrich introduces the Renaissance by asking the reader to consider how it feels to change over time. One can look back and see that things were quite different than they are now, but we can rarely sense change in the moment: “[...] at the time you hadn’t noticed that you were changing. Well, the history of the world is just the same” (163). Around 1420, the people of Italian cities, particularly Florence, found themselves holding a very different system of values and taste than the people of the Middle Ages before them. Though they were ruled by the German emperor, they largely ignored his wishes and lived independently. Living as a servant to God was no longer the most important aim; the goal was now to be independent, intelligent, and skilled. They discovered works of antiquity and, with them, discovered a new approach to art and beauty. People learned Latin and Greek and studied the art and philosophy of Athens and Rome. They had circled back to the past, and were experiencing a kind of cultural rebirth, or “renaissance” in French (165). The Roman ruins that covered Italy were revered and replicated in new architecture. Artists wanted to determine not only how things looked, but why, and to understand them completely.