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ITALY, 1400-1500
GARDNER CHAPTER 21-1
PP. 541-548
ITALY, 1400-1500 The blossoming of humanism
Emphasis on education and expanding knowledge
Individual potential
Desire to excel
Commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty
Artistic genius + spread of humanism + economic prosperity = the Renaissance
FLORENCE
Giovanni de Medici est. family fortune in early 15th century
Cosimo, his son, expands family dominance in finance and led to political power
Medici were avid humanists
Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) gathered about him a galaxy of artists and gifted men in all fields
THE BRONZE DOORS OF THE BAPTISTERY
Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel fro east doors of the baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1401-1402, gilded bronze, 1’9” x 1’5 ½ “
Competition in 1401 to design the east doors of the Baptistery
1. Patronage as both civic imperative and a form of self-promotion
2. The esteem accorded to individual artists
3. Development of a new pictorial realism
Brunelleschi’s entry -> one dense group, great drama -> emotional, lunging Abraham -> frantic angel makes it just in time -> figures spill out over the borders of the quatrefoil
BRUNELLESCHI AND GHIBERTI
The two finalists were Brunelleschi and Ghiberti -> used the same frames and same scene
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel for east doors of the baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1401-1402, gilded bronze, 1’9” x 1’5 ½”
Ghiberti emphasized grace and smoothness -> nude figure of Isaac -> acanthus scrolls on the altar he kneels on -> classical references
Spatial illusion
Technical superiority -> cast in only 2 pieces -> lighter and more cost effective
OR SAN MICHELE, Florence
OR SAN MICHELLE/NANI DI BANCO NANNI DI BANCO, Four Crowned Saints, Or
San Michele, Florence, Italy, marble, figures 6’ high
Built for the guild of wood and stone carvers, of which Nanni was a member
Depicts four matyred patron saints of the guild
Wearing togas, heads influenced by portraits of Roman emperors
Saints seem to be discussing their fate; feet placed outside of arch, stepping into our space
Figures are independent of the niche in which they stand
DONATELLO – SAINT MARK
DONATELLO, Saint Mark, Or San Michele, Florence, Italy, ca. 1411-1413, marble, 7’9” high
Commissioned for the guild of linen drapers
Contrapposto -> as the body moves, his garment moves with it -> the garment does not conceal, it accentuates movement
Stirring limbs, shifting, weight, mobile drapery -> suggests impending movement out of the niche
DONATELLO – SAINT GEORGE
DONATELLO, Saint George, Or San Michele, Florence, Italy, ca. 1410-1415, marble, 6’10” high
Made for the Or San Michele niche of the armorers’ and swordmakers’ guild
The warrior saint stands defiantly, ready to spring from his niche to defend Florence -> face filled w/nervous energy
DONATELLO – FEAST OF HEROD
DONATELLO, Feast of Herod, panel on the baptismal font of Sienna Cathedral, Sienna, Italy, 1423-1427, gilded bronze, 1’11 x 1’11”
New Testament scene -> kneeling executioner offers the head of John the Baptist to King Herod
The advent of rationalized perspective space -> two arched courtyards of diminishing size open the space of the action well into the distance
RENAISSANCE PERSPECTIVE SYSTEMS
Renaissance fascination with perspective -> constructing a convincing illusion of space in two-dimensional imagery
Linear perspective allows artists to determine mathematically the relative size of rendered objects to correlate them with the visual recession into space
Linear perspective can be either one-point or two-point
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