The Early Renaissance

Italy during the Renaissance Europe during the Renaissance

Chapter 12: The Early Renaissance OUTLINE 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 Timeline Chapter 12: The Early Renaissance 1401 1420 1434 1435 1456 1469 1478-1482 1486 1486-1487 1489 1495-1498 1501-1504 1509 1513 Ghiberti wins Florence Baptistry competition Brunelleschi begins Florence Cathedral Dome van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride Alberti, Della Pictura (On Painting) Gutenberg prints Bible with movable type Lorenzo de' Medici rules Florence (1469-1492) Botticelli , Spring , (c.1478), The Birth of Venus (1482) Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man(Renaissance Humanism ) Cereta's humanist letters Savonarola preaches against Florentine immorality (d. 1498) Leonardo, Last Supper, Mona Lisa Michelangelo, David Erasmus, The Praise of Folly Machiavelli, The Prince

Focus on Florence 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 based in the complex and varied human resources of the city.

The Political and Economic Significance of 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 Social Fabric of Florence Other forces besides politics and economics in 15 th 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 Wealth of Artistic Talent in 15 th Century Florence Most puzzling about Florence in this period is the sheer enormity of artistic talent it produced. Florence was not a huge city; it often portrayed 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.

Masaccio 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.

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.

Madonna and Child with St. Anne c. 1424 Tempera on panel

GHIBERTI, Lorenzo (b. 1378, d. 1455) North Doors (Life of Christ) 1403-24 Gilded bronze, 457 x 251 cm Baptistry, Florence

Ghiberti

Last Supper 1403-24 Gilded bronze, 39 x 39 cm Baptistry, Florence

Brunelleschi

Dome of the Cathedral 1420-36 -Duomo, Florence Interior of the church begun 1436 -Santo Spirito, Florence

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The Medici Era

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

Lorenzo by Andrea del Verocchio, 1480 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 this slide and the slides that follow.)

David c. 1430 Bronze, height: 185 cm Florence

Donatello

St Mary Magdalen c. 1457 Wood, height: 188 cm Florence

Fra Angelico

The Naming of St. John the Baptist 1434-35 Tempera on panel, 26 x 24 cm Museo di San Marco, Florence Annunciation 1450 Tempera on wood, 38,5 x 37 cm Museo di San Marco, Florence

Botticelli

Adoration of the Magi c. 1475 Tempera on panel, 111 x 134 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence Primavera c. 1482 Tempera on panel St Sebastian 1474 Tempera on panel, 195 x 75 cm The Birth of Venus c. 1485 Tempera on canvas

Virgin of the Rocks 1483-86 Oil on panel

Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper, 1498 Mixed technique, 460 x 880 cm Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) c. 1503-5 Oil on panel, 77 x 53 cm

Bacchus 1497 Marble, 203 cm Florence Christ Carrying the Cross (detail) 1521 Marble Rome

Michelangelo (early work)

David 1504 Marble, 434 cm Florence

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 15

th

Century

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