It is hard to give such a picture of the
unconstrained intercourse of these circles in the city, at the baths,
or in the country, as will furnish literal proof of the superiority of
Italy in this respect over the rest of Europe. But let us read
Bandello, and then ask ourselves if anything of the same kind would
have been possible, say, in France, before this kind of society was
there introduced by people like himself. No doubt the supreme
achievements of the human mind were then produced independently of the
help of the drawing-room. Yet it would be unjust to rate the influence
of the latter on art and poetry too low, if only for the reason that
society helped to shape that which existed in no other country--a
widespread interest in artistic production and an intelligent and
critical public opinion. And apart from this, society of the kind we
have described was in itself a natural flower of that life and culture
which was then purely Italian, and which since then has extended to the
rest of Europe.
In Florence society was powerfully affected by literature and politics.
Lorenzo the Magnificent was supreme over his circle, not, as we might
be led to believe, through the princely position which he occupied, but
rather through the wonderful tact he displayed in giving perfect
freedom of action to the many and varied natures which surrounded him.
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