Leonardo Bruni or Leonardo Aretino was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. He was the earliest person to write using the three-period view of history: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Modern. The dates Bruni used to define the periods are not exactly what modern historians use today, but he laid the conceptual groundwork for a tripartite division of history.
Bruni
De primo bello punico, 1471
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
Portrait of Petrarch painted by Altichiero in 1376
David by Michelangelo, 1501–1504. Artistic work during the Renaissance illustrates the emphasis given to anatomical details of humans.
Henry William Pickersgill, Portrait of Jeremy Bentham, 1829.
Home of Giordano Bruno Foundation in Germany.