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8/6/2019 Massaccio Ucello

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Mateo Palmieri (14061475)

Every man should thank God that

it has been permitted to him to beborn in this new age, so full of

hope and promise, which alreadyrejoices in a greater array of nobly-gifted souls than the world hasseen in the thousand years which

preceded it."


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1. Means rebirth coined by Vasariin the 16th C in writing his lifeof the artists history.

2. It was taken up again by theFrench writers in the 19th Cwho use the word Renaissance

3. The "Renaissance men" wethink of are the self-confident,multi-talented artists and

writers who brought classicalcivilization back to life, aftercenturies of hibernation.

4. Thus we mainly remember 14th-16th century Italy forindividuals like Petrarch,

Leonardo da Vinci,Michelangelo Buonarroti,Raphael, and NiccolMachiavelli.

5. +Self-portrait by Giorgio Vasari, oil oncanvas; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.


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These were theinventors of theterm "Dark Ages"to describe theperiod following

the fall of Rome


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1313 N. Italy gainsindependenceHenry VII losescontrol ofLombardy.


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Robert of Anjou attempts todominate all of Italy. Weakenshis hold on the south.City states are left to control

their own destinies.

Robert of Anjou King of Naples


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Advantage: the centre of the largest trading area between east and west.

Genoa and Venice become very important and wealthy.

Goods transported by sea are redistributed by land enabling cities likeFlorence and Milan to enter into the arena.


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Feudal Lords forced to become citizens ofthe nearest town.

By end of 13th C the urbanisation of powercomplete Florence could challenge thePope. (Boniface VIII)


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14th C Cities had become lavish patrons of the Arts. Florence builds a lavish CathedralSanta Maria del Fiore. The black plague in the mid 14th C did not stem the tide and capitalistpractice as we know it today was developed here.


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1. The building was begun bythe sculptor Arnolfo diCambio in 1296.

2. Numerous local artists

continued to work on itduring the following centuryand a half.

3. The painter Giotto designedthe campanile (bell tower) in

1334.

4. Yet, the massive octagonalcupola (1420-36) that trulydominates both the churchand the city was the proudachievement of

5. Filippo Brunelleschi architectand sculptor.


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The dome was not built until the early 15th century, Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmithand sculptor, began to make statues for the cathedral

In about 1415 he prepared a design for the dome that he daringly proposed to build

without the aid of formwork the design was accepted and built under his supervisionfrom 1420 to 1436.


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Filippo Brunelleschi (1377April 15, 1446)


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1. In 1409 Florence annexed Pisa, a move which eliminated a rival and gave it a portfor its growing commerce.

2. At the same time, the city government engaged in a conscious program of urban

renewal, replacing the congestion of dank, flimsy tenements with more openarchitecture, stone-paved streets, and a new city wall by 1299.


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Nor did the city's rulers

stop there, for they haddeveloped a taste for artand commissioned it on ascale previously unheard

of. In the first thirty years of

the fourteenth century,thirty-four statues ofsaints and prophets wentup in squares and publicbuildings, all carved withthe kind of skill that hadnot been seen in amillennium.

Above everything elserose a The cathedral'sred dome became the

symbol of Florence;Florentines travellingabroad said they sufferedfrom "dome-sickness"when they missed theirhome city.

O h Fl


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One reason why Florenceproduced so many artists wasbecause the Florentines realizedthat great art could serve aspropaganda.

It gave their city a good press

when Giotto was employedelsewhere, as far away as Naples.

By the time of, artists were thecity's cultural ambassadors.Lorenzo de Medici had that in mindwhen he recommended hisfavourite architect, Giuliano daSangallo, to the king of Naples,and suggested that DomenicoGhirlandaio and Botticelli paintfrescoes in the Sistine Chapel forPope Sixtus IV; he probably alsosupported Leonardo da Vinci's

application to work for the duke ofMilan.

The artists responded in kind;when Botticelli, for example,painted the Adoration of the Magi,he gave the Three Wise Men facesthat matched his Medici patrons!

A portrait of Lorenzo de' Medici by GirolamoMacchietti.


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Renaissance means rebirth

describes aperiod spanning 3centuries.

Artists scientistsphilosophers,architects andrulers believedthe way togreatness andenlightenmentwas through thestudy of thegolden ages ofthe ancient

Greeks andRomans. Prime importance

is given to reasonrather than Gods

revelation


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Humanistic Diplomacyseen in Machiavelli

Niccol Machiavelli, oilpainting by Santi di Tito; inthe Palazzo Vecchio,Florence


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The Prince (Italian: Il Principe) is a politicaltreatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and politicaltheorist Niccol Machiavelli.

Printed version not published until 1532 after he had

already died. most remembered of his works and the one most

responsible for bringing "Machiavellian" into wideusage as a pejorative term.

Since the first appearance of the Princein manuscript,controversy had swirled about his writings

written during 1513, the year after the Medici tookcontrol of Florence, and a few months afterMachiavelli's arrest, torture, and banishment by the in-coming Medici regime.

Machiavellianism is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "the employment ofcunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", Machiavelli emphasized the need for realism, as opposed to idealism. In The Prince he

does not explain what he thinks the best ethical or political goals are, except the controlof one's own fortune, as opposed to waiting to see what chance brings.

He treated not only stability, but also radical innovation, as possible aims of a prince in apolitical community. Managing major reforms can show off a Prince's virtue and give him

glory. He clearly felt Italy needed major reform in his time, and this opinion of his time iswidely share


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Erasmus the great theorist.- Holbein

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam(1467?1536) was the mostfamous and influential humanistof the Northern Renaissance, aman of great talent and

industriousness who rose fromobscure beginnings to becomethe leading intellectual figure ofthe early sixteenth century,

courted by rulers and prelateswho wanted to enhance their own

reputations by association withthe greatest scholar of the age.

He was his generation's finestLatin stylist, in a society thatrevered good Latin, even moreimpressive for his much rarermastery of Greek that nocontemporary could equal.

Th h t i idl b d


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Though most vividly rememberednow for his critical satires of abusesin the church and secular societyand for his work as editor of the firstpublished edition of the Greek NewTestament, he was a prolific and

influential author in many genres. He was a leading writer on

education, author of five influentialtreatises on humanist educationaltheory and even a greater number ofwidely used and often reprintedtextbooks taught in humanistic

schools throughout Europe,especially north of the Alps. The producer of excellent critical

editions of the works of classicalGreek and Latin authors, includingtranslations of Greek texts into theLatin that all educated people of his

time could read. The editor and translator of theworks of early Latin and GreekChurch Fathers, especiallyimportant for translations of Greekpatristic literature, which had beenlittle known to the Western church

during the Middle Ages Albrecht Durer - Erasmus


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Leon Battista Alberti

(February 18, 1404April 20, 1472

"Then in 1457, the year

when the GermanJohann Gutenbergdiscovered his veryuseful method forprinting books, Albertisimilarly discovered a

way of tracing naturalperspectives andeffecting the diminutionof figures, as well as amethod of reproducingsmall objects on a large

scale; these were veryingenious andfascinating discoveries,of great value for thepurposes of art." I-210

From 'De Pictura


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Leon Battista Alberti

The Florentine architect Leon Battista Alberta one of the first to construct a formula ofperspective that could be applied to two-dimensional paintings.

Filippo Brunelleschi scientifically plotted the laws of linear perspective for the first time. Masaccio used perspective in his works right away, and other artists found the concept so

interesting that they eagerly learned geometry, until even second-rate painters knew enoughmathematics to draw the relative size of objects correctly.

The same quest for realism also encouraged artists to study human anatomy; a few overcame

their revulsion and dissected dead bodies, so that they would literally know their subjectsinside and out


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Culture is nourished by money but itsnucleus is a wider circle of learninghigher level of Education.

Law becomes the ultimate necessity,professors of law enjoyed the mosthighly paid salaries, and this is thereason for Latin rhetoric still prevalent inlaw today.

A more practical education than that ofthe medieval theological studies isrequired. The humanistic programme isdeveloped to accommodate them

,

studia humanitatis or


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studia humanitatis orhumanities List includes ancient authors.

Reading of grammar, rhetoric,history and moral philosophy.Late 15th C. this is known as

the studia humanitatis orhumanities.

Humanism today is differentwhilst in those times it meantaccepting the world view asChristian but includes the

elements of a pagan past. Mans role interest inaesthetics, saw theusefulness of Historicalknowledge. The importance ofthe noble life of the Greek andRoman predecessors was the

basis of the art that was tofollow. The Christian themesalready in use weresubordinated to Greco-Romanphilosophy.


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How did the renaissance changethe life of an artist Working in the shops of craft guilds

the artists got no respect, they werepaid by the amount of work they put

out, and had to follow strictguidelines on how paintings,armour, wooden chests, etc. shouldlook.

They couldn't even sign theircreations.

It would have been unthinkable for

an artist to put a self-portrait in hiswork, the way Lorenzo Ghiberti didwhen he made the bronze doors forthe baptistery of Florence.

By the end of the 15th C the artisthad become elevated in Status topoint of being rich and influential.

Michelangelo became known asThe divine Michelangelo and Titian

was treated as an equal by KingCharles

While the king was sitting for two portraits to


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While the king was sitting for two portraits toTitian, the artist one day dropped his brush. Theking looked at the courtiers who were loungingabout watching the work, but none of thempicked it up, so the king himself did so. Titianwas distressed over this and apologised to theking. "There may be many kings," said Charles,"butthere will never be more than one Titian--and hedeserves to be served by Caesar himself." Afterthat he would allow no other artist to painthis portrait, declaring that Titian alone could do

it properly, and for the two pictures Titianreceived two thousand scudi in gold, wasmade a Count of the Lateran Palace, of the AulicCouncil and of the Consistory; with the title ofCount Palatine and all the advantages attachedto those dignities. His children were thereby

raised to the rank of nobles of the empire, withall the honours appertaining to families withfour generations of ancestors. He was alsomade Knight of the Golden Spur, with the rightof entrance to court. This was great return fortwo portraits of a king, but it shows what a king

could do if he chose.Titian.Portrait of Charles V. 1533

How long did it


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How long did ittake beforeGiottos ideaswere developedfurther?


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Masaccio (1401-1427?), the first great painter ofthe Italian Renaissance, whose innovations inthe use of scientific perspective inaugurated themodern era in painting.

Masaccio, originally named Tommaso Cassai, wasborn in San Giovanni Valdarno, near Florence, onDecember 21, 1401.

He joined the painters guild in Florence in 1422. Hisremarkably individual style owed little to otherpainters, except possibly the great 14th-century

master Giotto. He was more strongly influenced by the architect

Brunelleschi and the sculptor Donatello, both of whom were his contemporaries inFlorence.

From Brunelleschi he acquired a knowledge of mathematical proportion that was

crucial to his revival of the principles of scientific perspective. From Donatello he imbibed a knowledge of classical art that led him away from the

prevailing Gothic style. He inaugurated a new naturalistic approach to painting that was concerned less

with details and ornamentation than with simplicity and unity, less with flat surfacesthan with the illusion of three dimensionality.

Together with Brunelleschi and Donatello, he was a founder of the Renaissance.


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Masaccio (1401-28) did not live long,but he led the way in technicaldevelopment.

By adding the effects of light and

shading (chiaroscuro), Masacciosuccessfully duplicated the effect ofdraping clothing and made hisfigures stand out from thebackground, which was now paintedwith less detail so that it would not

distract the eye from the mainsubject.

This is seen in his expulsion fromParadise in which a weighty Adamand Eve stride from the entrance to

the Garden of Eden

Masaccio's painting of the Trinity


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Masaccio s painting of the Trinity Explain their significance. How has he used

the new inventions of perspective to divide upthe space of his painting?

Six human images, central are the Father and

son. They are realistically portrayed as realhumans, made accessible by theirrepresentation.

We can accept these 2 figures are divine. Underneath the main figures are the non-

divine participants in the drama. Only one,

Mary, is looking out of the picture. Balancing her is the figure of ST. John looking

towards Christ. Beyond them, not participating in the scene,

but still part of the picture are the donors.They are included but no part of the inner

scene placed on a lower step but still sharingthe light that lights the interior of the vaultform part of a tradition of representation withthe divine.


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The seventh character is the skeleton representing Adam and everyman. The perspective inside the scene is described as a barrel vault drawn in

perspective, and divided into squares with rosettes that diminish and areforeshortened in order to create the illusion of a hole in the wall.


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The Trib te Mone


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The Tribute Money

Masaccio has included the three different moments of the story in the same scene: thetax collector's request, with Jesus's immediate response indicating to Peter how to find

the money necessary, is illustrated in the centre; Peter catching the fish in Lake Genezaret and extracting the coin is shown to the left;and, to the right,

Peter hands the tribute money to the tax collector in front of his house. This episode,stressing the legitimacy of the tax collector's request, has been interpreted as a referenceto the lively controversy in Florence at the time on the proposed tax reform;

the controversy was finally settled in 1427 with the institution of an official tax register,

which allowed a much fairer system of taxation in the city.


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Donatellos David

The sculptors and architects had moreclassical-era examples to study than thepainters did; their challenge was discoveringhow the ancients did it.

Here the main pioneers were Ghiberti (1378-1455), Donatello (1386-1466, his real namewas Donato di Niccol di Betto Bardi) andAndrea del Verrocchio (1435-88).

Andrea del Verrocchio's bronze statue of David was


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most likely made between 1473 and 1475. commissioned by the Medici family. It is

sometimes claimed that Verrocchio modelled thestatue after a handsome pupil in his workshop, theyoung Leonardo da Vinci.

Florentines considered David to be not unlikethemselves as they felt they had also conquered agiant when they revolted from tyrannical rule.

David saw Goliath as a mortal man defying theliving God.

Andrea del Verrocchio's work, with its defiantstance, is a masterpiece of bravado.

Florence's ruling council so admired this work thatthey placed it in the seat of government, where itremained until Michelangelo's David displaced it.


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Ghiberti's main work was the set of

bronze doors we mentioned previously Featuring twenty-eight panels decorated

with New Testament scenes This project took forty-four years to

complete.

Masolino who though older than


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Masolino who though older thanMasaccio still learned from himparticularly in the two paintings,that they collaborated on.

If one looks at Masolinos

Annunciation, Masolino, 20 years

older than Masaccio but was stillclosely linked with the Gothic worldas we can see in the decorative,elegant and flowing style of workssuch as the annunciation.

A comparison in the two panels of

St Jerome and St John the Baptistby Masaccio and St Liberius and StMatthias.

All four of the saints stand withtheir feet on the ground and havethe solidity that was introduced byMasaccio

The symbol of the Republic


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Marzocco

The symbol of the Republicof Florence was a Heraldiclion known as the Marzocco

holding a fleur de lys. The example was made by

Donatello and wascommissioned for the papalapartments at Santa MariaNovella.

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