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The Economy in Leonardo da Vinci’s Time

Author

Listed:
  • Brian A'Hearn
  • Stefano Chianese
  • Giovanni Vecchi

Abstract

This paper presents the main economic features, in quantitative terms, of the society in which Leonardo Da Vinci lived from the second half of the 15th century to the early 16th century. Using data from Florence’s Land Register of 1427 combined with new data on the household budgets of Leonardo and of his family, the paper proposes two hypotheses. The first regards the importance of the demand for goods linked to art and culture. The city’s economic élite managed to appropriate about two thirds of the economy’s surplus for itself (i.e. what was left after the population had been guaranteed a minimum level of subsistence) and it showed a growing demand for luxury goods that permitted and incentivized the work of talented individuals of the time. In this context, Leonardo’s genius fell on fertile ground. The second hypothesis regards pre-industrial social mobility (upward mobility in particular): Leonardo’s household accounts support the theory that the economic fluidity of renaissance Florence may have been considerably greater than the literature on economic history would have us believe.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian A'Hearn & Stefano Chianese & Giovanni Vecchi, 2019. "The Economy in Leonardo da Vinci’s Time," HHB Working Papers Series 17, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
  • Handle: RePEc:hbu:wpaper:17
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic inequality; Florence; household budgets; living standards; Reinassance; social mobility; Tuscany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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