Around the
middle eleven hundreds A.D., the `Middle Ages' were coming to an
end.(193) "Based on the principle of free labour and free trade,
and organized into powerful craft guilds, the cities became the
centre of activity, as well as of the economy. ` The city makes free
men ' - so runs a medieval saying. It was to the cities that men
came, not only to work but to free themselves from the complex of
subjection, restraint and hard labour that prevailed under the
feudal system. A new social class, called the `bourgeoisie', or
middle class came to power, rapidly growing in wealth... Behind them
was the commonalty, consisting of artisans, shopkeepers, and
labourers" (194) The city folk, endowed with a new community
spirit, challenged the arrogance of the feudal aristocracy. Gothic
architecture, particularly that of cathedrals predominated at this
time. (195)
In the fourteen hundreds, "Italy was the birthplace of the
society that eventually found its counterpart in the whole of modern
Europe." (196) The `middle class' man was born. (197) His wealth
and aspirations of power would give him some of the same desires and
pleasures of the wealthy. He now also had access to art.
One of the ways society judges the success of a company today, is by
its art collection. Wealthy, and even more moderately financially
secure individuals, often own art collections. Tycoons, all over the
world are clamouring over art. This whets the appetites of the
`nouveau riche'.
The middle class can be characterized in part by their love of
possessions. The rising bourgeoisie society was "greedy, selfish and
pretentious, placing before everything its own material interests
and its own desire for a life." (197)
193. Gina Pischel, A World History of Art, (New York, Golden Press,
1968), p.p. 301, 302
194. ibid., p. 303
195. ibid., p. 304
196. ibid., p. 352
197. ibid., p. 584
