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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.