Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the late 14th- and 15th-century quest for monumentality, defining the literary outcome of this phenomenon as the "monumental pose"-the self-conscious projection of an image derived from the ideal of visually comprehensible and reproducible ancient exemplars. Writers in this period manifested their desire to imitate the ancients by identifying themselves with classical artifacts like coins or statues. Since ancient artworks were considered "inspirited" by the genius of the original artist, the writer associated with such objects acquired gravitas and his writing appeared authorized by the ancients. Such an association also responded to the contested meaning of "nobility": ancient artifacts seemed to offer a common language of authority and nobility. Even writers (like Buonaccorso, Poggio, Platina, and Landino) who argued that nobility derived from virtue alone, invoked artifacts to define the noble. Indeed, objects (real or imagined) were an essential element in constructing writerly authority. Yet (as Petrarch found out) patrons could easily misread such artifacts, and these signs of authority were already being questioned as mere representations by Poggio in the 1440s. This analysis opens the discussion of the book, and concludes with an introduction to the following chapters.

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