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The ‘Self-Made Man’ Is a Myth
The myth of individuality made capitalism possible and has sustained it to this day
The most explicitly humanist value retrieved by the Renaissance, and the one we’re most hampered by today, was the myth of the individual.
Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man — the 1490 drawing of a man, perfectly proportioned within a circle and a square — presented the human form in the idealized geometric terms of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. The individual human body was celebrated as an analogy for the perfect workings of the universe.
Almost all of the period’s innovations retrieved some aspect of individuality. The printing press — much to the frustration of the priests — gave everyone Bibles and the opportunity to interpret the gospel for themselves. This led to Protestantism, personal salvation, and a more individual relationship to God. Reading a book was a personal activity. The gentleman reading in his study retrieved the image of the Greek citizen: a slave-owning white male who thinks he lives by the principles of democracy.
Perspective painting similarly emphasized the point of view of an individual observer, as well as a single best position from which to view a work. Likewise, the plays and epic poems of the Renaissance retrieved the tragic hero of…
