Early Italian Renaissance
History and views of Florence.The renaisance (or rebirth) is an Italian idea, and the Italian Renaissance generally covers the periods from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. The debate on it's beginning and end is largely immaterial, but for the purposes of this site we will begin at the start of the fourteenth. The fourteenth century, or Quattrocento, artists shed the mosaics associated with the Byzantine period and took inspiration from classical Greek and Roman sculptors. The Italians of the period considered themselves to be living in a golden age, superior to anything since the fall of the roman empire a thousand years earlier, with painting, sculpture, music, poetry and architecture all awakening to a revival after sleeping for centuries. We tend to assume that every age must be greater than the one that it preceded, but this is not always the case. The Roman Empire was the centre of world civilisation until its demise in 476. Europe had entered the Middle Ages or Dark Ages lasting for a thousand years. The lessons of classical antiquity, Greek and Roman sculpture, architecture and literature did not surface again until the start of the Renaissance in Italy. The beginnings of the Italian Renaissance centred on Tuscany and on Florence in particular. Italian Renaissance Art began with Giotto (c. 1267-1337) who is considered to be the first painter to have broken with the tradition of Byzantine art at the end of the middle ages. Giotto made advances in representing the human body in a more realistic way, and his technique was the first to realise this change since the times of classical antiquity.
Deposition. Giotto. (w)
Renaissance Influences and events.The Medici family was one of the wealthiest in Europe, and were the most important family to patronise the arts in Renaissance Italy.Go to the Medici page to see just how important their patronage was.
It is largely due to the Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari that we have such a wealth of information about the artists of the Italian Renaissance. His biographies have given us a valuable insight into the lives of the painters of the period and his influence cannot be overlooked. Go to
Vasari's
page to learn more about his work.
The Dome of Florence Cathedral by Brunelleschi. (P)
Florence was a major financial centre and was dominated by the Medici family for around sixty years, The Medici became patrons of art and lie at the heart of the early Renaissance. Almost all of the art of the period has a religious theme with scenes from the bible taking prominence.
Personal opinion. Some historians have questioned if the Renaissance really was an advance in art and culture from that of the middle ages. I tend to believe that the period does represent a clear break, especially in the advancement of painting techniques.
The black death swept across Europe in the fourteenth century, and it has been estimated that one third of the population died as a result of this pandemic. The result was that the innovation started by giotto was not taken up again until much later by such artists as Masaccio, Donatello,and Brunelleschi. In terms of painters, the renaissance artists developed realistic liner perspective, and studied light and shadow in the search for realism in their work.
View of Florence from the river. The Leading Powers In Italy were Florence, a financial centre, and Venice, then a major maritime power. The Papacy was in exile in Avignon and it is only when Rome was once again the seat of the rejuvenated Papacy that Italy's leadership began to pass to that city. The Italian Renaissance gave rise to many inovations in medicine and science and literature. The generation of artists after 1500 culminated in the flowering of the arts known as the High Renaissance and included such greats as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael. The High Renaissance features on this site, as an article in it's own right.
The Medici Page
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