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This work offers a survey of the Renaissance in Florence, which was one of the great artistic and cultural centres of the time. Bruckner argues that the Renaissance in Florence was a result of a new elite of merchants and lawyers and their fascination with Ancient Rome and Greece. The believed that the past was a golden age and in trying to revive the culture of Rome and Greece, they helped to initiate the Renaissance in Florence and also in Italy.

2. Peter Burke, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691162409/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691162409&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2f52e84912fd606bb0cc99049d7f7d9e The Italian Renaissance, Culture and Society]''. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2014).

<i>Power and Imagination</i> argues that the unique culture of the Renaissance that fostered the great artistic achievements in world history was a result of the basic egalitarian nature of the city-states. The elites in these city-states were not members of the nobility or traditional elite and to legitimize their authority they sponsored great works of art. Another crucial factor was the flourishing 'civil culture in these city-states'. This led to the development of the humanist class, who were often lawyers and civil leaders, who had a secular outlook and popularised the ideas of Rome and Greece.

5. Jacob Burckhardt, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014044534X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=014044534X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4b1fbdeab162a6526984d5dafaa1495c The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy]'' (Penguin Classics) Third Printing Edition, (Penguin Books Hamondsworth, 2000).

This remains a very influential work on the Italian Renaissance and especially the origins of the Renaissance. It was published in the 19th century by one of the most acclaimed historians of the century. Burckhardt believed that there were several interlinking causes of the Renaissance. He believed that the elite was willing to become the patrons of great artists because they believe that they could 'legitimize their rule'.<ref>Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Penguin Classics) Third Printing Edition, (Penguin Books Hamondsworth, 2000), p. 67)</ref> Many of the rulers of city-states, such as the Sforzas in Milan, were often tyrants or leaders of mercenary forces and they used art to persuade people they were the legitimate rulers. The Renaissance developed in a largely secular culture, because of the corruption of the church and this created an environment, where people could talk and create, relatively freely. Burckhardt also believed that the Italian preoccupation with arête or excellence, mean that people strove to great work of art and indeed ‘to turn their lives into art’.

6. M.J. Gill. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0582493374/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0582493374&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d54cd5fcddd28680d1a80781d683ec2d The Italian Renaissance: The Origins of Intellectual and Artistic Change Before the Reformation.]'' (Routledge, New York and London, 1990).

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*[[Why did the Italian Renaissance End?]]

*[[How did the Bubonic Plague make the Italian Renaissance possible?]]

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