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Chapter Twelve:

The Fifteenth Century

Toward the Renaissance

• Renewed interest in Classical texts

• New artistic realism

• New growth in economics/trade

• Florentine banking and commerce

12.2 Jan van Eyck,

Giovanni Arnolfini and

His Bride, 1434,

National Galalery,

London, England

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Art in Northern Europe

• Artistic language: International Style

– Reciprocity of style (Italy, Northern Europe)

• Court of the Duke of Burgundy, Dijon

– Claus Sluter’s Well of Moses

– Limbourg brothers, Trés Riches Heures

12.3 Claus Sluter, The

Well of Moses,

1395-1406

12.4 Limbourg

Brothers, “May,”

page from Tres

Riches Heures du

Duc de Berry,

1416

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Florence and the Renaissance

• Florentine “representative” government

– Arti, senior guilds

• Wool trade

• Banking, banking families

– Stable monetary system

• Revolutionary Florentine art

– Renaissance

The Medici Era

• Medici rule of Florence: 1434-1492

• Immense banking fortune

– Branch banks throughout Western Europe

• Extensive geographic, sociological

influence

– Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride (1434)

The Medici Era

Cosimo de’ Medici (1434-1464)

• Ancient manuscripts

• Greek language, philosophy

• Platonic Academy

– Search for truth and beauty

• Marsilio Ficino

– Platonic Love, Christian Platonism

• Pater Patriae

– Patron of the arts

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The Medici Era:

Lorenzo il Magnifico

• Accomplished vernacular poet

• Sponsored Ficino, Botticelli, Michelangelo

• Laurentian patronage of learning

– University of Pisa

– The Stadium of Florence

– Greek as export from Florence

The Medici Era:

Lorenzo il Magnifico

• Fra Savonarola (1452-1498)

– Dominican preacher, reformer

– Laurentian Florence vs. Medieval Piety

– Inspired many converts

– Defied papal excommunication, died publicly

12.31 The Execution of Savaronola, Italian School, ca. 1498,

Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy

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Renaissance Humanism

• When was the Renaissance?

– Jules Michelet

– Jakob Burkhardt

– Charles Homer Haskins

• Renaissance characteristics

– Artist as individual seeking fame

– Humanism as outgrowth of Classical learning

– Advancement of self and society through

intellectual efforts

Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)

• Lorenzo de’ Medici, Marsilio Ficino

• Synthesis of all learning yields truth

– Student of languages and cultures

• Oration on the Dignity of Man

– Man bridges gap between heaven and creation

– Humanity is a great miracle

• Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522)

– Biblical studies in original languages

– Martin Luther

The Export of Humanistic

Learning

• Johann Gutenberg

– Published first printed Bible, 1454

• Aldus Manutius (1449-1525)

– Humanists collated and corrected manuscripts

– Vast scope of Greek, Latin, vernacular texts

• William Caxton

• Print technology and the diffusion of ideas

– 6-9 million books, 13,000 editions before 1500

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Women and the Renaissance

• Humanist education

– Aristocratic families

– Families who saw education as priority

– Rise of printing / accessibility of books

• Woman writers

– Upper-class culture

– Convent life

• Women criticized for not following traditional societal roles

• Laura Cereta

Two Styles of Humanism:

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)

• The Prince

– Secular study of political theory

– Inspired by Republican Rome

• Realistic pragmatism

– Success in governing is key to power

– Wisdom and ruthlessness

– Christianity’s role in politics is disastrous

• “The end justifies the means”

Two Styles of Humanism:

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

• Wandering scholar, author

• Christian Humanism

– Classical learning + Christian living

• The Praise of Folly (1509)

– Attacked religious corruption

– Sweeping social criticism

– Outsold only by the Bible in the 16th century

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Renaissance Art in Italy

Sculpture

• Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455)

– Florence Baptistery, North Door competition

– Sentiment, mathematical perspective

– East Doors = “Gates of Paradise”

• Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1466)

– Renaissance architecture

– Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore

– Gothic + Classical Roman influences

• Donatello (1386-1466)

– Saint George, David, Mary Magdalene

12.13 Lorenzo Ghiberti,

East Doors (“Gates

of Paradise”) of the

Baptistry of the

Cathedral of

Florence, 1425-1452

12.15 Donatello, David,

ca 1440-1460, Museo

Nationale del

Bargello, Florence,

Italy

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Renaissance Art in Italy

Painting

• Characteristics of artistic change

• Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1427)

– Adoration of the Magi (1423)

– Conservative International Gothic style

• Tommaso Guidi, aka Masaccio (1401-1428)

– The Holy Trinity

– Clarity of line, perspective, realism, psychology

12.19 Gentile da

Fabriano, Adoration

of the Magi, 1423.

Altarpiece from

Santa Trinita,

Florence, Italy

12.20 Masaccio, The Holy

Trinity, 1428, Santa Maria

Novella, Florence, Italy

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Renaissance Art in Italy

Painting

• Masaccio

– Realistic depiction of human beings

• The Tribute Money (c. 1427)

– Profound sense of emotion

• Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden (c.

1425)

– “…brought into existence the modern

style”

12.23 Masaccio,

Expulsion of Adam

and Eve From Eden,

1425, Brancacci

Chapel, Santa Maria

del Carmine,

Florence, Italy

• Fra Angelico (1387-1455)

– Annunciation fresco

• Paolo Uccello (1397-1475)

– Medici Palace paintings

• Botticelli (1444-1510)

– La Primavera (Springtime), The Birth of Venus

– Platonic idealism, Christian mysticism

Renaissance Art in Italy

Painting

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12.24 Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1438-1447.

San Marco, Florence, Italy

12.25 Paolo Uccello, The Battle of San Romano, 1456.

National Gallery, London, England

12.27 Sandro Botticelli, La Primavera (Springtime)

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12.28 Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1482. Galleria degli Uffizi,

Florence, Italy

Art in Renaissance Italy

Architecture

• Filippo Brunelleschi

– Florence Cathedral Dome

– Foundling Hospital

– Pazzi Chapel

– Classical order

– Intricate mathematical proportions

– Serenity

12.32 Filippo Brunelleschi, loggia of the Ospedale degli

Innocenti (“Hospital of the Innocents”) Foundling Hospital

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12.33 Filippo Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel

Music in the 15th Century

• Guillaume Dufay (1400-1474)

– Secularization of the motet, Chanson masses

– Synthesis of secular and religious

• Johannes Ockeghem (1430-1495)

– Classical balance of intellect and emotion

• Music in Medici Florence

– No Classical models

– Platonic and Aristotelian significance

– Frittola, canto carnascialesco

Chapter 12: Discussion Questions

• Consider the role of art in Florentine politics. In what ways does artistic patronage serve as a vehicle for state propaganda? Explain, including principal discussions of the socio-religious works of Botticelli and Michelangelo.

• Contrast the medieval worldview with that of the Renaissance. What was the role of the individual during the Middle Ages? During the Renaissance? What was the role of the artist in each period? To what may we attribute the shift in perspective? Explain.

• Citing specific artwork from Chapter Twelve, explore the artistic balance between Classical and Christian prerogatives. Which of the artists in the chapter had the most success balancing and/or synthesizing the two ideologies?

• Compare the two styles of Humanism exemplified by Erasmus and Machiavelli. What variation on the theme does each provide? Consider the roles of Classicism and Christianity in their respective approaches.