The name is absent

Dante and the Renaissance 205

Dante’s achievements in physics and astronomy,¹ they would
not be sufficient to give him a place among the founders of
modern science. Two words of Roger Bacon, “scientia ex-
perimentalis,” outweigh in this respect the whole of Dante’s
contributions.

In pure and applied sciences, in geographical discoveries,
in national politics, the Renaissance stirred the whole of
Europe. Italy played her creditable part in this general
progress, but the other countries were not dependent upon
her leadership. The situation was entirely different in the
realm of art and literature. There—without minimizing
the brilliant development of Burgundy and Flanders—we
may say that Italy reigned supreme. The Italian expeditions
of the French kings, Charles VIII, Louis XII, Francis I,
were the revelation of an enchanted world. The whole
tone of culture became Italianate. Castiglione’s Courtier
was the code of good breeding; the French language was in
danger of being Italianized and Henry Estienne had to
utter a growl of warning.² Francis I surrounded himself
with Italian artists. No doubt the Renaissance meant the
revival of the antique ideal; but, we must be careful to add,
the antique ideal interpreted, transmuted by Italy. Of this
fact there is no clearer witness than architecture—so often
the aptest symbol of a civilization. For two centuries ar-
chitecture did but adapt Italian models to local traditions
and conditions; it was not until late in the eighteenth cen-
tury that Greco-Roman pastiches finally prevailed. Italy
was the third but the most direct and potent of the classical
influences. Perhaps, as Professor Raffaello Piccoli main-

¹ We refer particularly to the “Quæstio de Aqua et Terra,” which Scar-
tazzini and most other critics considered until recently as a forgery, but
which scholars are now inclined to accept as genuine.

² Henri ∏ Estienne, “Deux Dialogues du nouveau langage françois italia-
nizé et autrement déguizé,” 1578.

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