![]() ![]() He described culture as a category which includes social etiquette, technological discovery, artistic and literary experimentation and scientific progress. He identified three “powers” in history: the state, religion and culture. ![]() To Burkhardt, cultural history meant a holistic explanation of a distinct period with art as its central concern. He disdained attempts to develop a system of history aimed to apprehend the objective truth of an epoch, instead, he wanted to assert his subjective sense of an intricately composed society. This feeling compelled him to begin a formal study of Italy and ultimately Italy’s greatest moment after the fall of the Roman Empire – the Renaissance.Īlthough Burckhardt is ranked as one of the most formidable historians of the 19th century, he thought history was an imaginative kind of intellectual exercise, more “akin to poetry” than science. He was inspired by the intoxicating atmosphere of the ancient imperial city. It was there that he famously met and befriended the young Friedrich Nietzsche.įifty years earlier, in 1847, Burkhardt had visited Rome. ![]() Returning to Basel, he went on to lecture at the local university. ![]() Born in Basel to a clergyman, Burckhardt studied history at the University of Berlin before specialising in the history of art at the University of Bonn. ![]()
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