The Renaissance, Part IThe Renaissance, Part I

The resurgence of classical culture and the rise of a new

humanism

Florence, ItalyWhere the Renaissance begins…

Why was Florence important in the 14th century?

• Florentine “representative” government– Arti, senior guilds

• Center of wool trade• Banking, banking families

– Stable monetary system– For a century, the Medici family is a patron of the

arts, supporting such luminaries as Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo

• Revolutionary Florentine art– Renaissance

The Medici Era:Cosimo de’ Medici (1434-1464)

• Collected ancient manuscripts• Patron of arts to atone for usury• Fostered study of Greek language, philosophy• Founded a new Platonic Academy

– Search for truth and beauty

• Sponsored the priest Marsilio Ficino, who fused Platonism and Christianity– Platonic Love, Christian Platonism

• Known as Pater Patriae– Patron of the arts– Grandson Lorenzo funded rebuilding University of Pisa,

from which Greek texts were exported to the rest of Europe

Medieval Art

10th Century Russian Icon (left) and 14th Century Florentine Passion (right)

Medieval Art in the International Style

Note the bright colors, crowded composition, and rounded figures

No single-point perspective

Masaccio’s Holy Trinity

1. a concern with, and technical ability to handle, space and volume in a believable way

2. studious approach to model art from that of ancient Rome

3. departure from more ethereal mode of medieval otherworldliness to a greater concern for human realism

This is achieved through:1. clarity of line2. mathematically precise

perspective3. close observation of real

people4. concern for psychological

states5. uncluttered arrangements—

artist doesn’t fill up all available space

Florence Cathedralcombines Gothic buttressing with Roman dome

Brunelleschi’s Foundling Hospital, How is this different from Gothic style?

Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel; note the similarities to Rome’s domed pantheon

Ancient Rome’s Pantheon

Brunelleschi’s RenaissancePazzi Chapel

Botticelli’s Springtime; heavily infused with pagan symbolism

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus; note the idealism of the central figure

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus; modeled on Greek and Roman statues

Leonardo da VinciThe first “Renaissance Man”

1. He was a master painter

2. He was a keen scientist, mastering fields of geology, botany, and anatomy

3. He was a master engineer, designing airplanes and helicopters

4. He was a master mathematician

Leonardo’s Notebooks

From left to right:An underwater breathing machine; detailed studies of human anatomy; an artificial wing for human flight (just strap it on and jump off a cliff! [don’t try this at home])

Leonardo’s “The Last Supper”note the mathematical precision

Popes and Patronage

• Vatican as center of wealth, stability

• Pope Sixtus IV– Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Perugino

• Pope Julius II– Beginnings of High Renaissance (1503)– “il papa terribile”– Raphael, Michelangelo

Raphael, Pope Julius II’s favorite artist

“Madonna of the Meadow”

Pyramidal configurationRationally orderedModeling of human formsHuman quality of the divine

Quite a departure from medieval representations of Jesus

Late Medieval Virgin and Child in a more International Style

Michelangelo

Neo-Platonist sculptor

Moses

Michelangelesque•Masculine anatomy, musculature•Physical bulk, linear grace, emotionality

The Sistine Chapel

•“Michelangelo, Sculptor”•Architectural and thematic motifs•Interpretation

•Neo-Platonism•Old Testament and pagan prophets•Complex tree symbolism•Human wisdom + God’s revelation