Sublime

The Renaissance emerged around the same time that the Black Death spread through Florence.

quand les princes et les évêques, au lieu d'armures, se mettent à collectionner des tableaux, des livres et des manuscrits : tous reconnaissent par cette capitulation inconsciente que le génie créateur commence à l'emporter en Occident et que les œuvres artistiques sont destinées à survivre aux œuvres politiques et guerrières. L'Europe a acquis le

For Renaissance artists, painting was perhaps an instrument of knowledge but it was also an instrument of possession, and we must not forget when we are dealing with Renaissance painting, that it was only possible because of the immense fortunes which were being amassed in Florence and elsewhere, and that rich Italian merchants looked upon painters