""One must put himself in the period... crime had a certain familiarity from its repetition through time.... That's what they were like, unscrupulous. So was I. And since we are speaking about it, so was the Renaissance.""
""I was a man of my time and circumstances had made me worse than average. The aristocratic caste rejected present-day equalitarian calmness [and] individual rights.""
Bomarzo, a 700-page novel by Manuel Mujica Lainez, delves into the Renaissance era through the eyes of Pier Francesco Orsini. The narrative emphasizes that concepts of a good life are shaped by inherited values. Orsini reflects on the unscrupulous nature of his time, where crime was commonplace among the elite. The story intertwines historical events and figures, showcasing Orsini's life and his creation of the Sacro Bosco, a garden filled with grotesque monuments, while also highlighting the limitations of contemporary moral perspectives.
Read at The Nation
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