University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well

University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium

4-2014

Economic Underpinning of Renaissance Italian Art Economic Underpinning of Renaissance Italian Art

Katherine Jacobson University of Minnesota - Morris

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/urs_2014

Part of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, and the

Economic History Commons

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Jacobson, Katherine, "Economic Underpinning of Renaissance Italian Art" (2014). Undergraduate Research Symposium 2014. 3. https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/urs_2014/3

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Katie Jacobson

Undergraduate Research Symposium

April 12, 2014

1

2

Aby Warburg, 1902

3 Quoted in: Reiss, 2013.

Main Question

Historical Context

Demand and Competition

Patronage Main players

Principal-Agent Relationship

Status signaling

Summation

http://img3.rnkr-static.com/list_img/1721/301721/full/famous-italian-renaissance-artists-u2.jpg

Da Vinci, 1512 Self Portrait

4

How was the relationship between wealth and artistic talent developed through Renaissance Italian patronage, and how is this evident today?

5

Study emphasizing kinship bonds, self-fashioning, the communication of social status, …network[ing], and the promotion of individual, family, and collective agendas

6 Reiss, 2013

Renaissance: 14th-17th century

Measurements of wealth Bank value vs. Public

display

Magnificenza

“Gift culture” Symbolic value of luxury

display Dowries

http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_all_listing/2/104

Uffizi Museum Florence, Italy

7 Cited in: Golthwaite, 1993

Largest concentration of urban populations in Europe Politically

fragmented

Urban, regional economies

8

http://www.ilibrarian.net/history/italian_city_states_1494_lg.jpg

Cited in: Goldthwaite, 1993; Kent, 1987

9

The Church Foreign policy: symbols

Community - advertising

Material requirements

“…people transformed individual needs into corporate demand.”

Vatican City http://foundwalls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Vatican-City-Rome-Italy-Europe.jpg

10 Cited in: Goldthwaite, 1993

11

Governments, Professional groups, Individuals, Families

Political ambition Power

Responsibility

Social position

Prestige

12 Cited in: Goldthwaite, 152

https://www.google.com/search?q=increase+demand+graph&espv=210&es_sm=91&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=30HrUvuZNMmwyQGq4ICwAQ&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1215&bih=551#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=YLjtaGmVi35uOM%253A%3B4IcjEMgOoxapjM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.raybromley.com%252Fnotes%252Fnoteimages%252Fequilibrium%252Fincrdemandeq.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.raybromley.com%252Fnotes%252Fequilchange.html%3B415%3B318

13

(Patrons)

(Artists)

(Patrons)

http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/Firenze_Skylines/900/Florence-Duomo-Nov07-RAW4827AR900.jpg

14

Collective groups Governmental:

“[t0 provide] focal points for public spaces & proclaim the communes’ beneficence towards their citizens”

Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy, 1588

Summer, 2013 15 Quoted in: Reiss, 2013

Confraternities Buildings to meet and worship

Décor

Families & Individuals Wealthy bankers, merchants

Celebrated, of noble houses

Secular rulers of various Italian courts

Renaissance popes, cardinals

16

Cosimo de Medici: “…responsible for making it trendy to invest in the arts.”

Commissioned: Donatello

Michelangelo

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Cosimo_di_Medici_(Bronzino).jpg

17 Quoted in: Widden, 2010

http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/Firenze_Skylines/900/Florence-Duomo-Nov07-RAW4827AR900.jpg

18

1) Contemporary

2) Future “Conspicuous consumption that lasts through many

generations”

3) Heavenly “…patrons wanted God and the saints to see their

devotion, and hoped that their commissions would help them reduce their time in Purgatory…”

19

Why demand increased in this time period -> world now values art -> art produced by patronage system -> who were patrons; motivations -> who were artists; motivations -> keeping in check (P-A)

Quoted in: Nelson, Zeckhauser, 2008

“The frequent and prominent displays of personal emblems indicate that patrons had a second audience in mind, namely viewers here on earth…”

http://www.wikipaintings.org/pt/lorenzo-lotto/virgin-and-child-with-two-donors

Lorenzo Lotto, Florence, 1525-1530 Madonna and Child with Two Donors

20 Quoted in: Nelson, Zeckhauser, 2008

“All the [commissioned works] have given and give me the greatest satisfaction and pleasure, because in part they serve the honor of God, as well as the honor of the city and the commemoration of myself.” Giovanni Rucellai, Memoir, 1473

21 Quoted in: Bohn, Saslow, 2014

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/foto/santa%20maria%20novella/image/facciata.jpg

Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, 1456

22

http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/Santa%20Maria%20Novella/800/Top-Facade-Jul05-D1147sAR80.jpg 23

Patrons commission art, go find artists Know that when employing people to work for us, can have this P-A problem Define problem

In order to achieve this -> not artist declaring this but patron

CEO Controls: Medium

Budget

Timing of ad campaign

Payroll

Together Discuss: Target audience

General message

Qualities to be signaled

Patron = Principal = CEO

Artist = Agent = Advertising Agency

24 Cited: Nelson, Zeckhauser, 2008

Principal-Agent Problem Separating ownership

and control of a firm allows one party to act in own interest rather than interest of firm.

http://girlfriendinacoma.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Journey-cartoon-.jpg 25

Had to overcome this problem. Talked about principal motivations (patron), but artists have to have their own motivations

Cited: Mishkin, 2013

Employment Court artist regular salaries

Grow and maintain honor, status networking

Incentive-based system

26 Cited: Nelson, Zeckhauser, 2008; Reiss, 2013

“…[R]eputation plays a major role in guaranteeing quality output from hard-to-monitor agents”

“…discouraged artists from skimping on effort, and from turning out work of low or unacceptable quality.”

http://www.raybromley.com/notes/noteimages/equilibrium/incrdemsup3.jpg 27

Alignment between P & A -> increase demand -> increase supply -> more output!! Flowering in art

(Artists)

(Artists)

(Patrons)

(Patrons)

28

Econ conclusion: increase demand (see graph) - Socioeconomic change,

increase demand, competition - Commissioning, patronage,

artist/patron interests aligned

29

Bart Finzel

Stacey Aronson

LeAnn Dean

Dr. Stephen Wharton, Richmond University, London

Family & Friends

30

Case, Karl E.; Fair, Ray C.; Oster, Sharon M. Principles of Macroeconomics. 10th. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.

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Goldthwaite, Richard A. Wealth and the Demand for Art in Italy: 1300-1600. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Print.

Jenkins, A. D. Fraser. "Cosimo De' Medici's Patronage of Architecture and the Theory of Magnificence."Journal of Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 33. (1970): 162-170. Print.

Kent, Dale. Cosimo De' Medici and the Florentine Renaissance. Singapore: Yale University Press, 2000. Print.

Kent, F.W.; Simons, Patricia. Patronage, Art, and Society in Renaissance Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print.

Lindermann, Berd. "Masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish Painting: The Historical Context." Rembrandt to Vermeer: Civil Values in 17th Century Flemish and Dutch Painting. (2008): n. page. Print.

31

Looper, Matthew G. "Political Messages in the Medici Palace Garden." Journal of Garden History. 12.4 (1992): 255-268. Print.

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"Medici Patronage: Magnificence and Splendor." n. page. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Arth213/Medici_patronage.html>.

Mishkin, Frederic S., and Frederic S. Mishkin. The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets. 10th. New York: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Nelson,, Johnathan K.; Zeckhauser, Richard J. The Patron's Payoff: Conspicuous Commissions in Italian Renaissance Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. Print.

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Reiss, Sheryl E. "A Taxonomy of Art Patronage in Renaissance Italy." Companion to Renaissance and Baroque Art. (2013): n. page. Print.

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