ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Jacob Burckhardt in an Italian context, in terms of an unlikely but equally prominent nineteenth-century Italian counterpart, Ercole Ricotti. Ricotti was a notable historian, who, like Burckhardt, occupied a prestigious university chair. Burckhardt equated individualism with "unbridled egotism", which was characterized by self-reflection and illegitimacy. The temporal framework of Ricotti's discussion of individualism, however, mirrors that of Burckhardt. Ricotti's concept of individualism nevertheless comes through forcefully. As in Burckhardt, it is the result of political and social disorder and the lack of stable institutions in Italy. Individualism and corporatism are simultaneously opposing forces. They produce a synthesis in the form of mercenary companies that Ricotti then carefully compares to other corporate medieval forms. Scholars following the Burckhardtian tradition have investigated the calculating spirit of individualism and transcendent issues of Renaissance identity and personhood.
