The
renaissance
Leonardo Da Vinci
·
Born 1452
·
Illegitimate son of a Florentine Notary
·
Devoted life to proving the intellectual
legitimacy of art
“He who despises painting loves neither philosophy nor nature… If you despise
painting, which is the sole imitator of all the visible works of nature, you
will certainly be despising a subtle invention which brings philosophy and
subtle speculation to bear on the nature of all forms – sea and land, plants
and animals, grasses and flowers, which are enveloped in light and shade.” _ Da Vinci
·
Considered painting mans highest vocation
·
Notoriously reluctant to complete commissions
·
Spent his youth and completed an apprenticeship
in Florence, studying In the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio.
·
Utilises Donatello’s effects in painting,
transfusing principles of sculpture and painting subconsciously
·
Da Vinci’s life long distraction finding
solutions to technological challenges may have stemmed from his early contact with
Florentine sculptural tradition
·
Travelled first to Milan at the behest of
Lorenzo de’ Medici
·
Proceeded to work under the ruling Sforza
dynasty
·
Worked in Milan for 20 years
·
Whilst he was there he never won any of the
engineering or architectural commissions , and received only two significant
secular commissions for lasting works of
art.
(The bronze
Sforza horse and the decoration of the
Sala delle Asse)
·
Leonardo researched heavily into all his
subjects, to draw a man he first had to master anatomy , to draw plants, botany,
etc…
·
Could possibly be seen as the seed of thought
that lead to the universal questioning of the 17th cent
·
Introduced the term ‘ chiaroscuro’ into Italian painting
·
His quest for perfectionism often spoilt his
work
·
Notable works include:
The virgin of the Rocks c. 1483
The last supper
c. 1495-8
The Mona Lisa c.
1503
His Self
portrait c. 1513
·
Lived in Rome, Florence then France following
his time in Milan
·
Died 2nd May 1519 in France
Michelangelo
·
6th March 1475- 18th February
1564
·
Sculptor, painter, architect, poet and engineer·
Archetypal renaissance man·
Best documented artist of the 16th cent·
Best known works are:PietaDavidThe last
judgement·
Architect on st Peter’s Basilica·
Apprenticed to
Ghirlandaio·
From 1490 to
1492, Michelangelo attended the Humanist academy which the Medici had founded
along Neo Platonic lines.·
Lived in
Florence, Venice and Bologna
The end of the Avignon papacy in 1378 heralded a massive
campaign for restoration that took root in Rome, along with the returning
papacy. The low literacy rates of the general population placed a heavy
emphasis on visual culture. Fortunately Florence was well situated to
facilitate the Vatican’s desire to
re-establish itself following its absence that spanned almost seven successive
decades.
A vast majority of art during the early renaissance in Italy
was inspired and funded by the church, becoming the primary sponsor of
influential movements such as the Romanesque,
gothic, renaissance and baroque styles in art, architecture and music as
well as individual Renaissance artists
such as Fra Angelico and Botticelli.
As previously noted in the above discussion of Botticelli
and his shift in creative pursuit following the “harangues” of the Catholic
Church, the perceptions of artists and the bishops were not always compatible.
Fra Antonio the arch-bishop of Florence, 1446,
“had strong views about the spiritual purpose of art
and was highly critical of many
tendencies in the art of his time: “[painters] commit and offence,.. when they
create images provoking desire, not through beauty, but through their poses, as
of naked women and the like.””
Many attempts were made to enforce strictures passed by the
church to prevent artists from portraying “unorthodox representations”, however
they were fruitless, as shown by Gentile da Fabriano upon completing a
commission for the merchant Palla Strozzi, the ‘Adoration of the Magi’ which
displayed fashionably dressed characters, (as requested by the bishop),
alongside dogs and monkeys.
With the wealth of the banking and textiles trade
coupled with boasting one of the largest populations in Europe, harbouring around
70,000 people at the start of the Quattrocento, Florence became a prime target
for the Vatican’s’ religious propaganda. The elite of the population’s lust for
ostentation as a means of showcasing their newly acquired wealth provided the
church with a good supply of donors, under whose initiative a large amount of
new religious buildings and art were constructed.
Considered a masterpiece of renaissance architecture the
Pazzi Chapel is an example of such ostentation,
A donation of this scale was not only an opulent show of wealth but also a
means for the Pazzi family to curry favour politically, but also to serve as a
legacy to the family name, which is now recalled by history for wealth second
only to the Medici. Florence owes the churches of San Lorenzo, San Marco the
Badia and the Noviate of Santa Corce to
Cosimo de Medici.
“reconstructed thanks to Medici patronage, by the architect
who built their palace, Michelozzo”
The accumulated wealth and stability of the church in the
early renaissance period provided the security and setting to showcase and
nurture the visual arts and with it the earlier concepts of humanism, with
humanist popes such as Leo and Nicolas V the return of the papacy to Rome was a
deciding factor in the culmination of events in the lead up to the emergence of
the renaissance.
The demands of Patrons during the quattrocento were the
final a driving force behind the constant change and development within the
creative industries, the need to be seen to be patronising the most current
painters, architects and sculptors is not too wildly estranged from the modern
quest to be seen in the latest fashions and rubbing shoulders with the
glitterati of Hollywood. In the space of 100 years the vogues in art shifted
wildly, from the Arid simplistic works of Masaccio in the 1420’s, to the
embellished faintly gothic work of Fra Angelico in the 1930’s through to 40’s,
the melding of these two unique approaches in Paolo Uccello’s work a decade
later, only to finally collide with Sandro Botticelli’s Neoplatonist
mythological influences at the end of the century.
Patrons soon realised that the easiest way to find and
nurture new talent was to facilitate it, either through the church, as in Fra
Angelico and his fellow monks who lived in the convent San Marco, patronised by
the Medici family or by setting up workshops and schools,
“When Florence was torn by factional strife between the
great rival families, Botticelli’s ties with the Medici were further
strengthened and he became an intimate member of their circle of protégés .”
However patrons could set incredibly strict contracts to
ensure they got the most out of the artist for their money and maintained
control of the project. In 1457 Filipo Lippi demonstrates the bindings of
patronage in a letter to Cosimo de Medici requesting more money ,
“ I have scrupulously respected your instructions concerning
the picture and taken great care with each detail. The figure of St Nicael is
so close to completion that I have gone to see Bartolomeo Martelli for his
armour and other clothing are all to be painted in gold and silver. Martelli
told me to do exactly as you wished.”
This level of interface with the artist gave the patron a
very strong idea what the finished product would look like, often maintaining
direct contact with the artist throughout the project. Contracts at the begging of the Quattrocento
also specified the grade of pigment to be used aswell as directing the artist as
to how long he should spend on various aspects of the picture.
