Renaissance: Waiting for (re)rebirth or lingering yet?

There seems to be this kind of conception within the schools of thought I have received instruction from that the Renaissance is a thing of the past, a state that has an effect on us daily however it does not command any kind of continuing hold over the modern world in most senses of the term.  And yet my experiences in the Italian country lend themselves to other conclusions.  Though it is admittedly no longer depicted in sculpture or Renaissance-esque frescoes, there are still vast quantities of expressed humanism.  Nudity in respect to the ideal body is much more widely accepted here in Italy than any place I have experienced in the United States of America.  This could be the result of my relatively limited experiences with the variety of our many states or it could be a vestige of the once very vivacious vitality of the Renaissance now vivified in the very place it once came to life!  The nudity in commercial posters, on television, even on the beach, is something seen much less offensively that I think reflects much less embarrassment of the human body, a greater pride in the effects strength of humanity’s greatest vessel, the body.  This can also be seen in how people treat their bodies here (for the most part).  People seem to take better care of their bodies in Italy than America, by and large.  What between the walking and the value of restful siestas from 1-4 on weekdays instead of expecting full, nonstop workdays to produce wealth evince a greater appreciation for the body and its needs over against economic and consumer concerns.  In conjunction with this there seems to be a great deal more smoking in this society than our own, a surprising development for such a humanist society fixated with their own appearance and the  perfection thereof!  Women are scarcely seen separated from their high heels (at any time!) and men are usually (gulp) in style with collars popped!  It’s a frightening and intimidating appeal but one whose efficacy works to produce a largely humanist culture, at least within my brief four week window of observation.  

Individualism: 

There is an obvious understanding of individualism in the modern italian society, though perhaps not to the same extremity as the USA because of their mitigated capitalism in conjunction with more socialist dealings in the sense of health care.  The base ideals are still largely individualistic, people work on their own to earn money to spend and buy for themselves, to stick out from the crowd as someone unique and special.  But what about issues specific to our Renaissance studies?  Are people trained specifically for versatility and virtuosity?  It is perhaps questionable on this level because people are encouraged to study within their fields and remain within that concentration to a certain specialty in many ways in America at least, and I have seen nothing to the contrary here.  But Italians do not seem entirely concerned with becoming terribly versatile as the Renaissance individualism may necessitate.  Do people strive to be virtuous?  If we are dealing with a sort of Aristotelian understanding of virtue, that there is a certain balance achieved for every man that must be aimed for but is unique to each individual, then probably not!  Laws are established for people to pursue a blanket answer of conduct for every individual in society to conform to a set standard, not for a personalized standard for each person.  The result is not necessarily overly detrimental, because the implementation of a golden mean rule would be too unwieldy for any larger society.  So the current ethical and legal code will suffice but it does not serve to direct the community towards the virtuosity aforementioned.  In several senses then, although individualism is still a massive proponent of the Italian society, the basis in versatility and Aristotelian virtuosity seems limited at best.

Secularism: 

The rampant secularism of Europe by and large no longer seems like an entirely terrible thing to me.  For some time it has struck me as sort of malaise, a discomforting dis-caring distanced generation, deeming the church as defunct and devious. And yet, it has become something more similar to our Renaissance understanding of the term for this course.  Secularism is not so much a thing that is opposed to the church here, but really that can be more concerned with living in the here and now and being more concerned with civic life and virtue over the life of the here after.  This seems to be an accepted and even expected part of society here.  Don't get me wrong.  People here are certainly religious and adhere to Roman Catholicism strongly, but I think it is more of a societal aspect, where people don't constantly go about their daily lives being concerned with their entrance to heaven.  It may be because the average value of life is higher and people don't need to look forward so much to the next life to live joyfully.  Regardless of the justification, the secularism has huge implications for the established churches.  Attendance has been down for many religious services so that huge basilicas that I assume were once full to the brim on sundays are now reserved from the nave up and populated with a scant few attendees.  This secularism also carries with it connotations of shifting purposes for days of the week and holidays.  What was once a celebrated saint's day has often times just been down graded or renamed to a bank holiday, so that things still shut down but for more secular reasons.  Similarly corpus christi didn't phase the Italian public at all it seems!  The schedule worked on in fine order, much to my pleasure, as my travels in Positano would have suffered severely from lack of transportation!  The secularism is by no means a manifestation of the absence of Christianity though.  Quite the contrary.  Though the peoples have become more concerned with this life over the "next" there is still a huge representation for the respect and application of the ethics of Christianity.  There is still an appreciation for agape love in the Italian mindset and a certain understanding of an arrangement of an ethical code by which to conduct ones self, still loosely based on the principles of the Christian ethics.  The result leaves us with a sort of church-society conglomerate to where everyone is indeed a Roman Catholic, but not necessarily be choice but because of their Italian nationality.  Once again I am not generalizing this to everyone, but this seems to be a trend at large.  The presence of secularism is clear.

Historical self consciousness:

The church at least maintains the ancients and the newer oldies, like Saint Benedict, etcetera producing an effectual societal trend that appreciates and venerates those of the past, if not in a different way than it was once employed in education within the Renaissance.  There is a certain appreciation still largely present in a religious context for the peoples of Italy.  Saints of the centuries past show a church inclined with appreciating the past, but much less intellectually inclined but more the mythological and religious connotations they entail.  There is a certain shift therefore in what the ancients are appreciated for in education.  Whereas there is a certain understanding and dealing with the writings of more widely known philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, much more attention is paid to religious figures in the church.  By and large there is a societal disconnect from the peoples and their ancient past, so that the average individual and even the better educated peoples are not so concerned with the ancients. But then we must really ask, are the ancients being employed like they were for the Renaissance peoples?  This new methodology of veneration over emulation has led to a developed sort of appreciation for the past but not a rebirth of the past in the present, a complication that perhaps prevents us from deeming the Renaissance as full swing as it may have once been.

This may contradict the disconnect from their past but there does exist a certain sense of Creativity and historical self consciousness in the modern Italian sentiment, from my observations.  These people are obsessed with recycling, reusing and conserving as much as possible, in a fashion that I see as unique to this generation.  The imperative seems established off of principles of planetary, green conservation.  This kind of understanding of humanity’s consumption having actual environmental consequences is a novel approach to worldview and this generation knows its Creativity when it sees it.  Thus the sort of implementation of smart cars, intensive and mandatory recycling is perhaps a manifestation of something more world changing and mind altering. So there is at least a realization and embodiment of something unique to this time period but by no means is it constricted to the same fields of artistic and philosophical expression, but perhaps this still constitutes itself as a unique act within history.

Conclusions:  What then can we say about our stated objective?  Is the Renaissance, at least according to my findings, in want of rebirth or lingering yet?  It is perhaps safest to state that it was once alive and its affects are still largely strewn through out this Italian culture.  But by no means is it still flourishing as it once was.  It can be said that the Renaissance is still a lingering entity some 500 years later, but it is by no means the most active influence over the society.  By and large the Renaissance is gone from the Italian worldview.  And now, for a departure from this dry language, I shall whet your visual appetites with a view of the Perugian sun rise.