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The article discusses the cultural phenomenon of the Florentine Renaissance in relation to the aesthetic program of the art association "Mir Iskusstva" ("World of Art"). As Russian modernism reflects the transformation of artistic and spiritual culture that took place in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century, the author attempts to point out and analyze the main philosophical and aesthetic principles of the Italian Renaissance discussed among some of the important voices of the "World of Art" with particular attention on Sergej Djagilev and Aleksandr Benois. The author considers the logic of the continuity of artistic ideas of the Renaissance in the aesthetic concept of the founders of the "World of Art". In order to demonstrate the strong link between the Renaissance past and the pre-revolutionary present the author analyzes the main literary, philosophical and memoir sources related to the legacy of Sergej Djagilev and Alexander Benois.