The Invention of the Renaissance at the BnF

This is not yet another, umpteenth show about the Renaissance . Rather, it explores a key, and often neglected, aspect of this period of artistic ferment: humanism. By restoring the texts and thinkers of antiquity to a central place, this intellectual movement that emerged in 14 th -century Italy spread across the peninsula and eventually the rest of Europe in the 16 th century. “Humanism is the heart of the Renaissance,” says Jean-Marc Chatelain, Director of Rare Books at the Bibliothèque…