The Early Renaissance

Europe during the Renaissance

Italy during the Renaissance

Chapter 12: The Early RenaissanceOUTLINE

Toward the Renaissance The First Phase:

Masaccio, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi The Medici Era Cosimo de' Medici Piero de' Medici Lorenzo the Magnificent The Character of Renaissance Humanism Pico della Mirandola Printing Technology and the

Spread of Humanism Women and the Renaissance Two Styles of Humanism Machiavelli Erasmus Music in the Fifteenth Century Guillaume Dufay Music in Medici Florence

Outline Chapter 12

Timeline Chapter 12: The Early Renaissance

1401 Ghiberti wins Florence Baptistry competition 1420 Brunelleschi begins Florence Cathedral Dome 1434 van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride1435 Alberti, Della Pictura (On Painting)1456 Gutenberg prints Bible with movable type 1469 Lorenzo de' Medici rules Florence (1469-1492)1478-1482 Botticelli , Spring , (c.1478), The Birth of Venus (1482)1486 Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man(Renaissance

Humanism ) 1486-1487 Cereta's humanist letters1489 Savonarola preaches against Florentine immorality (d. 1498)1495-1498 Leonardo, Last Supper, Mona Lisa 1501-1504 Michelangelo, David1509 Erasmus, The Praise of Folly 1513 Machiavelli, The Prince

Timeline Chapter 12

The main focus of this chapter is on the city of Florence in the fifteenth century. There are two basic reasons for this attention, one rooted in politics and economics and the other basedin the complex and varied human resources of the city.

Focus on Florence

Florence was not a feudal city governed by a hereditary prince; it had a species of limited participatory government that was in the hands of its landed and monied peoples. It was the center of European banking in the fifteenth century and the hub of international wool and cloth trade. The vast monies in Florentine hands combined with a great sense of civic pride to give the city unparalleled opportunities for expansion and public works. The results can be seen in the explosion of building, art, sculpture, and learning that stretched throughout the century. The great banking families of Florence built and supported art to enhance their reputations, that of their cities, and, partly, as a form of expiation for the sin of taking interest on money, a practice forbidden by the church. We tend to see Florence today from the perspective of their generosity.

The Political and Economic Significance of Florence

Other forces besides politics and economics in 15th century Florence were, of course, at work. The urban workers were exploited; they had rioted during the end of the fourteenth century and were ready for further protest. An undercurrent of medieval religiosity in the city manifested itself most conspicuously in the rise of Savonarola, who not only appealed to the common people but who had a reputation for sanctity that could touch the lives of an educated man like Pico della Mirandola and a powerful one like Lorenzo the Magnificent. Every Florentine could visit the Duomo or see the art in the city's churches, but not everyone was equally touched by the great renaissance in ideas and art that bubbled up in Florence.

The Social Fabric of Florence

Most puzzling about Florence in this period is the sheer enormity of artistic talent it produced. Florence was not a huge city; it oftenportrayed itself as a David in comparison to a Roman or Milanese Goliath. Yet this relatively small city produced a tradition of art that spanned the century: In sculpture Donatello and Michelangelo bridged the generations, as did Masaccio and Botticelli in painting. Part of the explanation, of course, was native talent, but part of it also lies in the character of a city that supported the arts, nurtured artists, and enhanced civic life with beauty and learning.

The Wealth of Artistic Talent in 15th Century Florence

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

Masaccio

Madonna and Child with St. Annec. 1424Tempera on panel

Masaccio. Trinity with the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist, and Donors, fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. 1425-28(?)

…used full perspective for the first time in Western art.

GhibertiGHIBERTI, Lorenzo

(b. 1378, d. 1455)

North Doors (Life of Christ)1403-24Gilded bronze, 457 x 251 cmBaptistry, Florence

Last Supper1403-24Gilded bronze, 39 x 39 cmBaptistry, Florence

Brunelleschi

Dome of the Cathedral1420-36-Duomo, Florence

Interior of the churchbegun 1436-Santo Spirito, Florence

The Medici Era• Cosimo de’ Medici - Patron• Donatello• Fra Angelico• Piero de’Medici - Patron• Boticelli• Lorenzo the Magnificent - Patron• Boticelli• Leonardo• Michelangelo

The patronage of the Medici family gave sustenance to many of the most important Artists of the early Renaissance in Florence.

The artists above are grouped according to their respective Medici patrons.

(See the Notes section for each patron and artist for biographical information on thisslide and the slides that follow.)

Lorenzo by Andrea del Verocchio, 1480

Donatello

Davidc. 1430Bronze, height: 185 cmFlorence

St Mary Magdalenc. 1457Wood, height: 188 cmFlorence

Fra Angelico

The Naming of St. John the Baptist1434-35Tempera on panel, 26 x 24 cmMuseo di San Marco, Florence

Annunciation 1450Tempera on wood, 38,5 x 37 cmMuseo di San Marco, Florence

Botticelli

Adoration of the Magic. 1475Tempera on panel, 111 x 134 cmGalleria degli Uffizi, Florence

St Sebastian1474Tempera on panel, 195 x 75 cm

Primaverac. 1482Tempera on panel

The Birth of Venusc. 1485Tempera on canvas

Leonardo da Vinci

Virgin of the Rocks1483-86Oil on panel

The Last Supper, 1498Mixed technique, 460 x 880 cm

Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)c. 1503-5Oil on panel, 77 x 53 cm

Michelangelo (early work)

Bacchus1497Marble, 203 cmFlorence

David1504Marble, 434 cmFlorence

Christ Carrying the Cross (detail)1521MarbleRome

The Character of Renaissance Humanism

• Renaissance = rebirth• Rebirth of classical aesthetics and human (secular) values• Democratization• Quest for worldly fame• Emphasis on learning and science• Pico della Mirandola – synthesis of learning yeilding elemental

truth • Printing technology – spread of learning and human values• Role of Women – ideal of beauty and “nature” – education of

women

Two Styles of Humanism

Machiavelli – “The Prince” - principles of political action – amoral pragmatism

Erasmus – Christian humanism – synthesis of learning and “internalized” Christian morality – “Praise of Folly” - social critique of corruption in society and the church

Music in the 15th Century

See text, Pages 307, 308 and discussion of musical selections in class )