The book is dedicated to one of the greatest eras in the spiritual life of mankind. This short-lived era abounded in brilliant people, and for the first time individuality itself began to be perceived as the most valuable human quality. The author shows the tragic crisis of Renaissance individualism in Machiavelli’s treatise on the “wise sovereign”, introduces readers to the letters of Petrarch, the works of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Poliziano, and Ariosto’s poem “The Furious Orlando”. CONTENTS: Introduction 3 IMITATION AND NOVELTY Chapter 1. Oddities of the Renaissance idea of “imitation” of the ancients 321 Petrarch's letter to Boccaccio 322. “Invention” through “imitation” 403. Discovery of the principle of stylization 474. Firenzuola on the intrinsic value of novelty 54Chapter 2. Rhetoric and creative will 591. Humanists and rhetoric 592. On historical changes and rhetorical tradition 643. Attitude towards self-expression 704. Defamiliarization of the rhetorical device 775. Poetic disguises in the ancient style 866. Sketches from nature by the chronicler Velluti 907. Artistic experiments of Poliziano 97 ON THE WAY TO THE CONCEPT OF PERSONALITYChapter 3. The motive of “diversity” in the treatise of Lorenzo the Magnificent 1041. The appearance of Lorenzo the Magnificent 1042. About the individual's self-awareness 1093 The motive of “diversity” 1174. The difficulty of individuation 1285. On the way to the concept of personality 132Chapter 4. “Orlando Furious”: the world as an adventure 1381. The miracle of freedom 1382. Jumping on the hippogriff 1453. The world as an adventure 1484. The infinity of man 1525. The possibility of choice 157 CRISIS RENAISSANCE CONSCIOUSNESSChapter 5. “The Prince” of Machiavelli in the context of the new European idea of personality 1611. Statement of the problem 1612. Two understandings of individuality 1733. Cesare Borgia: the monster of universality 1804. ...And the simple villain Agathocles 1875. From Pico delpa Mirandola to Machiavelli 1916. Should Scipio to imitate Cyrus 1937. To seem is the same as to be 1988. Centaur 2039. Assumptions about logical and cultural consequences 20810. On the concept of personality from a historical point of view 21711. Personality as an act 23412. Conclusion 240Afterword 243Notes 248