ABSTRACT
The comparative point of view of anthropology rests on recognition that there are physical and cultural differences among human populations which must be taken into account in any attempt to generalize about mankind. Renaissance studies of Classical antiquity not only stimulated a general interest in differences among men, they also provided models for describing such differences. The recognition was an achievement of the Italian Renaissance and, in fact, was the new idea which generated the greater part of the Renaissance movement. The distinction between a Classical and a Mediaeval period was an invention of the Renaissance which would have been incomprehensible to the people of earlier times. The founders of the Renaissance wanted to turn again to Classical models and restore the old tradition. The discovery, reproduction, and teaching of ancient literature occupied the energy of Renaissance intellectual leaders until well into the 15th century, allowing little opportunity for the development of systematic study.
