Neither link disproves his point, which is about pre-modern life. His claim is what I've always understood too, admittedly without questioning it. But in my u

Neither link disproves his point, which is about pre-modern life. His claim is what I've always understood too, admittedly without questioning it. But in my university studies of art history, it is common to read about Renaissance masters in their 60s and 70s. It's so common that no contemporaneous authors remark on it, which I imagine they would do otherwise.