Download Baldwin Outline of Golden Age Idea in the Renaissance

Outline to the Golden Age Idea in Renaissance Culture / Robert Baldwin, Oct. 3, 2014
If we remember that “renaissance” means rebirth, it is easy to see how Golden Age thinking was
central to the Renaissance and to its notions of itself as the rebirth of a perfect or “classical”
period (ancient Greece and especially ancient Rome).
Renaissance writers produced numerous variations on the theme of Golden Age, spinning it to
meet present-day needs and circumstances. For example, the Golden Age could allegorize
conjugal love and mercantile prosperity in the Florentine republic (Botticelli’s Primavera),
unbridled drinking and sexual pleasure in courtly Ferrara (Titian’s Bacchanal of the Andrians),
or a more intellectual Golden Age of courtly arts (Parnassus by Mantegna and by Raphael).
Two Primary Traditions for Golden Age
Keeping in mind that every text and image has its own take on the Golden Age, two basic
traditions stand out. These traditions could be separate since the first one referred back to a
perfect, original moment in human history while the second refers to a later moment of perfect
civilization. Or artists could use mythological landscapes to combine the two traditions as in
Botticelli’s Primavera and Mantegna and Raphael’s images of Parnassus. By painting fertile
landscapes with classical deities tied to literature and the arts (especially Apollo), artists referred
simultaneously to a perfect moment in early history and to the high civilization of ancient Rome.
Tradition I. Golden Age as perfect pastoral origins brought back by a modern ruler or state
This form of the Golden Age usually appeared as an idyllic, inhabited, pastoral landscape
suggesting peace, prosperity, and good government under the watchful eye of the shepherd (an
old classical metaphor for kings). The frequent use of a sunrise allegorized the Golden Age
theme of rebirth and renewal while recalling Apollo as a benevolent, cosmic ruler and a celestial
model for earthly sun kings. (The solar ruler was already a cliché in ancient Roman literature.)
Tradition II. Golden Age as Cultural Perfection (Rome) Reborn
Following the example of ancient Roman poets like Horace and Ovid, Renaissance humanists
opportunistically defined the Golden Age as a cultural rebirth and flourishing under the
patronage of a wise, modern ruler, a philosopher-king. The Romans could look back to the
cultivated example of ancient Athens. Renaissance humanists looked back overwhelming at
ancient Rome. By the late fifteenth century, Italian humanists began flattering their educated
patrons as presiding over as new Golden Age of learning and the arts. By defining the Golden
Age in cultural terms, writers and artists compared themselves favorably to their classical
counterparts and elevated their status as central and important players in the new Golden Age
they helped create. Various classical gods allegorized intellectual inspiration and achievement
including Minerva, Mercury, Venus, and above all, Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and, more
generally, the liberal arts as a whole. Whenever you see Apollo in Renaissance or Baroque art,
ask yourself if Golden Age imagery is present.