italian renaissance essay

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Italian Renaissance

By: History.com Editors

Updated: July 17, 2020 | Original: October 18, 2010

Toward the end of the 14th century A.D., a handful of Italian thinkers declared that they were living in a new age. The barbarous, unenlightened “ Middle Ages ” were over, they said; the new age would be a “rinascità” (“rebirth”) of learning and literature, art and culture. This was the birth of the period now known as the Renaissance. 

For centuries, scholars have agreed that the Italian Renaissance (another word for “rebirth”) happened just that way: that between the 14th century and the 17th century, a new, modern way of thinking about the world and man’s place in it replaced an old, backward one. In fact, the Renaissance (in Italy and in other parts of Europe) was considerably more complicated than that: For one thing, in many ways the period we call the Renaissance was not so different from the era that preceded it. However, many of the scientific, artistic and cultural achievements of the so-called Renaissance do share common themes, most notably the humanistic belief that man was the center of his own universe.

The Italian Renaissance in Context

Fifteenth-century Italy was unlike any other place in Europe. It was divided into independent city-states, each with a different form of government. Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent republic. It was also a banking and commercial capital and, after London and Constantinople , the third-largest city in Europe. Wealthy Florentines flaunted their money and power by becoming patrons, or supporters, of artists and intellectuals. In this way, the city became the cultural center of Europe and of the Renaissance.

Did you know? When Galileo died in 1642, he was still under house arrest. The Catholic Church did not pardon him until 1992.

The New Humanism: Cornerstone of the Renaissance

Thanks to the patronage of these wealthy elites, Renaissance-era writers and thinkers were able to spend their days doing just that. Instead of devoting themselves to ordinary jobs or to the asceticism of the monastery, they could enjoy worldly pleasures. They traveled around Italy, studying ancient ruins and rediscovering Greek and Roman texts.

To Renaissance scholars and philosophers, these classical sources from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome held great wisdom. Their secularism, their appreciation of physical beauty and especially their emphasis on man’s achievements and expression formed the governing intellectual principle of the Italian Renaissance. This philosophy is known as “humanism.”

Renaissance Science and Technology

Humanism encouraged people to be curious and to question received wisdom (particularly that of the medieval Church). It also encouraged people to use experimentation and observation to solve earthly problems. As a result, many Renaissance intellectuals focused on trying to define and understand the laws of nature and the physical world. 

Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci created detailed scientific “studies” of objects ranging from flying machines to submarines. He also created pioneering studies of human anatomy. 

Likewise, the scientist and mathematician Galileo Galilei investigated one natural law after another. By dropping different-sized cannonballs from the top of a building, for instance, he proved that all objects fall at the same rate of acceleration. He also built a powerful telescope and used it to show that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun and not, as religious authorities argued, the other way around. (For this, Galileo was arrested for heresy and threatened with torture and death, but he refused to recant: “I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use,” he said.)

However, perhaps the most important technological development of the Renaissance happened not in Italy but in Germany, where Johannes Gutenberg invented the mechanical movable-type printing press in the middle of the 15th century. For the first time, it was possible to make books–and, by extension, knowledge–widely available.

Renaissance Art and Architecture

Michelangelo’s “David.” Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” Sandro Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” During the Italian Renaissance, art was everywhere. (Just look up at Michelangelo’s “The Creation” painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel!) Patrons such as Florence’s Medici family sponsored projects large and small, and successful artists became celebrities in their own right.

Renaissance artists and architects applied many humanist principles to their work. For example, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi applied the elements of classical Roman architecture–shapes, columns and especially proportion–to his own buildings. The magnificent eight-sided dome he built at the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence was an engineering triumph–it was 144 feet across, weighed 37,000 tons and had no buttresses to hold it up–as well as an aesthetic one.

Brunelleschi also devised a way to draw and paint using linear perspective. That is, he figured out how to paint from the perspective of the person looking at the painting, so that space would appear to recede into the frame. After the architect Leon Battista Alberti explained the principles behind linear perspective in his treatise “Della Pittura” (“On Painting”), it became one of the most noteworthy elements of almost all Renaissance painting. Later, many painters began to use a technique called chiaroscuro to create an illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat canvas.

Fra Angelico, the painter of frescoes in the church and friary of San Marco in Florence, was called “a rare and perfect talent” by the Italian painter and architect Vasari in his “Lives of The Artists.” Renaissance painters like Giotto, Raphael and Titian and Renaissance sculptors like Donatello, Michelangelo and Lorenzo Ghiberti created art that would inspire generations of future artists.

The End of the Italian Renaissance

By the end of the 15th century, Italy was being torn apart by one war after another. The kings of England, France and Spain, along with the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, battled for control of the wealthy peninsula. At the same time, the Catholic Church, which was itself wracked with scandal and corruption, had begun a violent crackdown on dissenters. In 1545, the Council of Trent officially established the Roman Inquisition . In this climate, humanism was akin to heresy. The Italian Renaissance was over.

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Italian Renaissance Art – What Was the Italian Renaissance?

The Italian Renaissance period was a revival of the ideals and culture lost during previous years of war, as well as a resurgence in the various social and political differences within Europe during the Medieval age. This revival led to a complete shift in perspectives – quite literally and figuratively – in Italian art and culture. Overall, it was a new time for Europe, and it became a period of history that would live on for ages to come.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 A “Rebirth”
• 1.2.1 Humanism
• 1.2.2 The Medici Family
• 2.1 Naturalism and Realism
• 2.2 Contrapposto
• 2.3 Chiaroscuro
• 2.4 Linear Perspective (One-Point Perspective)
• 3.1.1 Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 – 1337)
• 3.2.1 Donatello (c. 1386 – 1466)
• 3.2.2 Masaccio (1401 – 1428)
• 3.2.3 Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510)
• 3.3.1 Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
• 3.3.2 Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)
• 3.3.3 Raphael (1483 – 1520)
• 4 Renaissance Beyond Italy and Into the Future
• 5.1 What Was the Italian Renaissance?
• 5.2 When Did the Italian Renaissance Start?
• 5.3 What Characterized the Italian Renaissance?

What Was the Italian Renaissance?

Below, we will discuss the origins of the term renaissance , as well as an overview of how this period in Italy emerged from prior historical events like the Medieval ages, which catalyzed the growth and development of this movement.

A “Rebirth”

The Renaissance is said to have started in Italy during the 1300s. It was a revival in arts, architecture, literature, music, culture, technology, science, theology, geography, and politics. The Renaissance was a period of “rebirth”, which found its way throughout numerous countries in Europe.

This “rebirth” also sought to reawaken what is referred to as “classical antiquity” from the ancient times of Greek and Rome. The Italian Renaissance was a new discovery of the humanities, and really, of humanity itself.

Italian Renaissance artists focused more on the ideas of humanism and naturalistic portrayals of the world and people around them.

In fact, the word renaissance itself is a French word, but its origins come from the Italian word rinascita , which means “rebirth”. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), a man of many talents (he was an artist, art theorist, architect, writer, and engineer), first introduced this term to describe this new period of awakening in Italy in his publication Le Vite , meaning “The Lives”.

Le Vite was considered one of the best publications about art history , especially during the Italian art period. It was written in a biographical format about various artists, architects, and sculptors (its longer title is Le vite de’ pi ù eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori, which means “The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects”).

Historical Perspectives About the Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance period is said to have started during the 1300s (the 14 th Century). This was during the Medieval period in Italy’s history, also called the Middle Ages, which is said to have occurred during the 400s to late 1400s in Europe. The Middle Ages can be looked at from the Early Middle Age, High Middle Age, and Late Middle Age. Each stage had its own challenges politically, environmentally, and economically, which impacted the whole of Europe and the world.

The Middle Ages is also known as the “Dark Ages” because of widespread wars, pandemics like the Black Death , and famines as a result of climate changes and economic upheavals. There were many significant events during the Middle Ages. The Fall of the Roman Empire (c. 476 CE) and the overthrow of Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus in the west led to the start of the Middle Ages, including the rise of Christianity and Catholicism and widespread invasions and migrations of people across the countries.

From the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance became a period of transition into a lighter age of existence.

Early Italian Renaissance art started in Florence, Italy, due to the movement’s roots in the Roman Empire as well as the wealthy families willing to support the arts. There were two important contributing factors during the Renaissance period, namely, the movement of philosophical ideals called Humanism, and the influence of wealthy families, specifically the Medici family.

Humanism started during the 1300s, and is referred to as an “intellectual movement” of the time. It was deeply rooted in philosophical ideas around the importance of man and his place in society. This opposed the Medieval ideals that focused more on the importance of the spiritual and divine – it focused on the role of the centrality of the above two figures, namely man and God.

Renaissance Humanism explored and studied different schools of thought, such as grammar, history, moral philosophy, poetry, and rhetoric – this was known as the studia humanitatis. These topics of study were considered acceptable towards the study of classical values. This new form of education was also open not only to elites but the public as well, including new humanist libraries.

The Humanists placed man as the central deciding figure of personal power. In other words, man was at the heart of new intellectual pursuits like logic, aesthetics, classical principles, the arts, and sciences like mathematics. The rule of the Church, which was such a large part of European society, was redefined in terms of its efficacy in determining what man should do or who man should be.

The term “Renaissance Man” became a popular description for people with this newfound power.

There was a large resurgence and revisiting of Greek and Latin literature on various subjects during the beginning stages of the Renaissance. Many of these classical texts informed the new approaches taken in painting, architecture, and the principles of perspective and beauty.

An example of a classical text was the work done by Vitruvius, who was a Roman architect. Vitruvius wrote about his ideals during the 1 st Century BC, namely his “Vitruvian Triad”, which was based on the principles of beauty, unity, and stability. This placed a focus on applying mathematical proportions to the faculties of arts like painting, architecture, and especially the proportions of the human body.

Petrarch (1304-1374), the well-known poet, was known as the “father of the Renaissance” as he was the leading figure who catalyzed the Humanist movement. Although the Catholic Church had a large role of power during this time, and Petrarch was a Catholic himself, he nonetheless believed that humans had been given power by God to realize their potential – this form of thought was at the heart of Humanism.

It is important to note that Petrarch found the writings of early Roman, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), which he translated.

Plato (428/427 BCE-348/347 BCE), a Greek philosopher, was another influential figure for the Renaissance Humanists. Plato’s philosophies were introduced at the Council of Florence during the years 1438 to 1439 by George Gemistus Plethon, or Pletho (c. 1355-1450/1452), who was a philosopher during the Byzantine era. The importance of this was that it influenced Cosimo de’ Medici, who was a significant figure of economic power in Florence.

It is believed that Cosimo de’ Medici sponsored the Accademia Platonica, “Platonic Academy”, where Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), an Italian Catholic priest, translated Plato’s works. However, this has been disproved by several scholarly sources, who have stated that Ficino’s writings were not translated correctly. Ficino called Plethon the “the second Plato” due to his influence in bringing Plato’s works to the west.

The Medici Family

This brings us to the Medici family, or House of Medici, important influencers on art, economy, politics, and general Italian society during the Renaissance. This took place mostly in Florence, which became the capital for following the ideas from the Classical era – it was also known as the “New Athens”.

During the 1200s, the Medici family began worked in banking and commerce in Florence after they moved from their home in Tuscany. The Medici Bank was started by Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (c. 1360-1429), who was the father of Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–1464), who ruled Florence.

What is important to know about the Medici family is their patronage of the art world. Cosimo de’ Medici commissioned many artists to produce paintings and also started the public library in Florence, among other endeavors that supported the development of the arts in Florence. Cosimo de’ Medici’s love of art, and collecting it, is often elaborated by his quote:

“All those things have given me the greatest satisfaction and contentment because they are not only for the honor of God, but are likewise for my own remembrance. For fifty years, I have done nothing else but earn money and spend money, and it became clear that spending money gives me greater pleasure than earning it”.

Italian Renaissance Characteristics

There are a number of themes and motifs found within many Renaissance paintings, as well as certain techniques used by many of the artists of the time. It is by locating these characteristics that one is able to identify a Renaissance piece of art.

Naturalism and Realism

Naturalism in Italian art depicted subject matter in a more realistic manner. In other words, it reflected the external world and people as they appeared. This was also characteristic of Greek and Roman art , and something that the Italian Renaissance artists sought to emulate. Another word for this is termed Realism.

The element of realism was at its best evident in how artists chose to depict anatomy, whether in paintings or sculpture. Many artists studied the human figure, in fact, to gain a better understanding of how the human body worked and looked. Some artists like Leonardo da Vinci even studied real corpses.

Contrapposto

There are various painting techniques that artists started utilizing to increase the effect of realism in human figures. One example is contrapposto , which means “counterpoise” in Italian. Figures would be placed with one side of the body leaning dominantly on one foot while the other side of the body, feet, and hips, would appear lower – otherwise understood as the center of gravity being heavier on one side than the other. This technique of portraying a figure made it appear more life-like and dynamic. Additionally, the figure would appear to convey more emotion due to the indication of body language.

Chiaroscuro

Another artistic technique used was the contrast between light and dark, otherwise known as chiaroscuro , an Italian word meaning “light-dark”. Artists used this technique to convey depth and dramatic emphasis in their compositions. This would also create a sense of realism by depicting the way light and shadow would appear in the real environment, thus giving the whole composition a three-dimensionality, which was a considerable change from the two-dimensional spaces from earlier art periods.

Linear Perspective (One-Point Perspective)

The use of linear perspective, or one-point perspective, also enhanced the sense of realism in paintings giving it a three-dimensionality. This technique was first pioneered by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446), an Italian architect and designer. He was also considered as one of the “fathers” of the Renaissance period because of his pioneering discoveries in design and architecture from a scientific and mathematical point of view.

It is believed that Brunelleschi also studied ancient Roman architectural structures and sculptures. The one-point perspective focused on a chosen single viewpoint of lines converging on the horizon. This was different from how the multiple viewpoints were shown in paintings during the Middle Ages.

The dome of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore , or “Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower” (1377-1446), is a well-known structure in Florence engineered by Brunelleschi. The dome moved away from the well-known Flying Buttresses used during the Medieval Ages’ Gothic Architecture . It was created using various self-sustaining reinforcements with a large lantern at the top tip of the dome, otherwise known as the cupola .

Distinguishable Italian Art Periods and Artists

The Italian Renaissance can be easier understood by looking at it in different periods. While some divide it into four periods, the fourth being Mannerism, here we will look at the three primary divisions that took place related to the Italian Renaissance periods. Below, we will discuss the timeframes and prominent artists.

Proto-Renaissance ( Trecento )

The Proto-Renaissance period occurred during the 1300s, and is otherwise referred to as Trecento in Italian, meaning “300”. The exact years fall between 1300 and 1425. The Proto-Renaissance began as the first transition into the Renaissance period . What started characterizing this period of art (painting, sculpture, and architecture) were the naturalistic portrayals of subjects.

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 – 1337)

One of the pioneering artists during the Proto-Renaissance period was Giotto di Bondone , born in Florence, Italy. He was a painter and architect and considered to be one the best painters of his time. He was an apprentice to the artist Bencivieni (Cenni) di Pepo, also known as Cimabue (c. 1240-1302) who was known for exploring the very first elements of naturalism during the Byzantine period before the Renaissance. Giotto, however, is reported by scholarly sources to have overtaken Cimabue in his skill to portray nature around him with an increased sense of realism and a keen eye for detail.

He is known as emphasizing humanity in his paintings, enhanced by his use of perspective, emotive details in his figures, and the lavish costumes worn by them.

Giotto’s subject matter was of Christian narratives and figures, and he was commissioned by the Church for several frescoes, namely, Isaac Blessing Jacob (c. 1290-1295), which is in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Giotto painted the biblical story from the Old Testament depicting Jacob giving his father food with Rebekah, Jacob’s mother, standing next to Jacob and Isaac.

A key work by Giotto is Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ) (1305), which is a fresco done for the Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) located in Padua, which is a city in Italy. This fresco is not a stand-alone painting, it is part of a series of frescoes that Giotto painted for the chapel about Christ and Mother Mary’s lives.

Lamentation depicts the events when Christ was taken from the cross, and we can see the surrounding figures grieving over his death as Mother Mary holds him in her arms. We can see around 10 figures in the foreground receding into more in the background. Above the crowd are 10 grieving angels also twisting in apparent sadness.

What makes this painting unique and a grand example of the beginnings of the Early Italian Renaissance art is how Giotto portrayed detail in the faces of the surrounding figures, as well as their arms and hands clearly visible in their gesticulation. The sloping of the rock on the right almost moves down to create more emphasis on Christ on the floor.

The above elements all create a sense of perspective and depth to the painting, including the receding figures to the left of the background. It is almost as if Giotto is connecting heaven and earth with the sloping rock in the middle, which creates more realism and a sense of connectedness with the divine.

Ognissanti Madonna (c. 1300-1306) is another important work by Giotto depicting the naturalistic style characteristic of the Renaissance period. It depicts Madonna with the Christ Child seated on her left leg, holding his right hand up in a gesture of blessing. The two central figures, Madonna and the Christ Child are depicted considerably larger than the surrounding figures.

The throne is also depicted larger with two angels kneeling by its steps. We also notice how all the surrounding angelic figures are looking at the Madonna with Child, which indicates how the artist uses perspective and spatial distance to lead the viewer to the focal point.

Furthermore, Giotto painted the Madonna and Child more realistically by the way their fine clothing, almost see-through, folds around their body, indicating the flesh underneath. This shows us the human aspects of the divine, making it easier to relate to these hallowed figures.

Cimabue may have painted the same scene before Giotto, however, what makes Giotto’s painting of the Madonna and Child unique is his realism and detailed depiction of not only the human figures and their expressions, but also the architectural detail of the throne.

Giotto inspired many more sculptors and painters during the Early Renaissance period because of the above stylistic innovations.

Early Renaissance ( Quattrocento )

The Early Renaissance period occurred during the 1400s, and is also referred to as Quattrocento , which means “400” in Italian. The exact years can fall between 1425 and 1495. When we look at paintings from this period, we notice how artists started to portray a keener eye to detail in their subject matter.

Influenced by the forerunners of Renaissance paintings like Cimabue and Giotto, artists focused on the realistic depiction of human figures and anatomical correctness. Artists also utilized more intentional perspectives of figures and buildings and their placements within the space around them. This mastery of the mathematically aligned perspective and placement of various religious subject matter is particularly evident in Pierro della Francesca’s work, such as  The Baptism of Christ (c. 1448-1450) and The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1455).

Although the Early Renaissance artists still portrayed scenes from the Bible and narratives around what the Church valued, they started to incorporate mythological subject matter as well as everyday occurrences and people, which shifted the focus off of the holy and onto the ordinary – ultimately making art more relatable for the everyone.

Alongside new subject matter, we will also notice how artists depicted more emotion and human-like qualities in their subject matter. This reinforced the notion of Humanism that many artists strove to emphasize, again bridging the divide between the divine and man, placing man as the central figure experiencing life, nature, and God.

Some of the leading painters and sculptors during this period were Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, mostly known as Masaccio (1401-1428), and Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, named Donatello (c. 1386-1466). Masaccio is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of Renaissance painting, especially for his use of linear perspective and creating true-to-nature depictions of his human figures. He was influenced by other prominent artists like Brunelleschi and Donatello .

Donatello (c. 1386 – 1466)

Born in Florence, Donatello became one of the best sculptors during this period of the Renaissance. He was exposed to a rich education growing up and his education as an artist started with tutelage from a goldsmith. He also worked as a goldsmith while he pursued his artistic career. He was close friends with Brunelleschi and traveled with him to various Greek and Roman ruins where he found considerable inspiration for his work as an artist.

What set Donatello apart as one of the forerunners of Renaissance sculpture was the way in which he utilized perspective in his sculptures. He also used various subject matters, ranging from Mary Magdalene as we see in his hyper-realistic wooden carved statue, The Penitent Magdalene (c. 1453) to political figures as we see in the Bust of Niccolo da Uzzano (c. 1433).

Donatello introduced new techniques in his sculptures, namely referred to as bas-relief, which is also called low relief. This depicted a sense of three-dimensionality due to the part of the sculpture being slightly raised from the surface, otherwise characterized as having “shallow depth”. This is evident in his earlier relief titled, St. George Killing the Dragon (1416-1417), which makes up the base of his marble statue , St . George (1415-1417).

David (1440-1443) is one of the more famous sculpted masterpieces by Donatello. Made of bronze, this depicts David standing at five feet in height wearing a hat and boots, a sword in his right hand, and the helmet of Goliath partly between his legs. Donatello revolutionized the image of David during this time by depicting him as a young man in the nude, which was the first nude sculpture created since the Greek and Roman period.

Furthermore, this sculpture denotes a sense of gentleness and femininity in the depiction of David, and many scholarly sources discuss Donatello’s reason for portraying the biblical figure in this manner. An important point to note about this sculpture is that it was made as a freestanding statue and not part of an architectural structure. The figure also stands in the characteristic contrapposto pose , making him more life-like and relatable as a human being instead of a biblical character removed from the everyday experiences of the people.

We will see this character revisited in Michelangelo’s similarly titled statue during the later Renaissance periods.

Masaccio (1401 – 1428)

Masaccio was born in the Arezzo province in Tuscany and was considered the first Early Renaissance painters to utilize linear perspective. Influenced by how the architect Brunelleschi utilized perspective, Masaccio started to use these techniques in his paintings, which revolutionized the way artists composed paintings from the two-dimensional depictions of the past. He also used other techniques like chiaroscuro to emphasize depth and three-dimensionality, including achieving a deeper realism in his paintings.

Masaccio’s San Giovenale Triptych (1422) is an early work from the artist. The Vanni Castellani family commissioned this work. It depicts religious scenes of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child at the center, with two saints on both the left and right panels. From inscriptions below the triptych, it is indicated that the Saints Bartholomew and Blaise are on the left, and Saints Antony and Juvenal are on the right.

We also notice how Masaccio introduces an intentional perspective within the composition by the throne receding in the background in contrast to the figures appearing larger in the foreground. One of his later works, Payment of the Tribute Money (1425 – 1427), epitomizes his success with using linear perspective and more mathematically correct placements of his figures to indicate a sense of unity and harmony.

This work was done as a fresco for the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine located in Florence. It depicts what is referred to as a “continuous narrative” – in other words, there are three stories portrayed in one fresco painting. It tells the story of Christ and St. Peter paying the tax collector.

We will notice how the first part of the narrative is portrayed in the center of the fresco, depicting Christ with his apostles in conversation with the tax collector, who has his back to the viewer. We see how Christ points his finger to the left with Peter on his left, also pointing his finger to the left.

This almost moves us to the left side of the fresco, the second part of the narrative, where we see Peter bending down by the river getting money from the mouth of a fish. This narrative is easily understood from the Gospel of Matthew about the account of Jesus paying tax at the fishing village called Capernaum. During the conversation Jesus says to Peter, as accounted in the bible, “Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours”.

When we look at the right side, the third part of the narrative of the fresco, we notice Peter again, but this time it is only himself and the tax collector, who is receiving the tax money taken from the fish’s mouth. The way in which the figures are gesticulating and talking with one another, as well as the detail on their facial expressions, gives the painting its realism.

We also see the three-dimensionality indicated from the way in which the mountains recede in the background, including the tax collector with his back to us. Furthermore, Masaccio also included light and dark, evident in the shadows created by the standing figures and the light coming from a specific side of the painting.

The fresco almost invites us into its space, which is wholly different from the flatness and two-dimensionality of more Gothic art prior to this period .

Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 – 1510)

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (c. 1445-1510), otherwise known simply as Sandro Botticelli , was born in Florence and was an apprentice to the well-known painter Fra Filippo Lippi (c. 1406-1469) during his early years. Botticelli is extremely well-known; he was also one of the first artists to create paintings that not only depicted the use of perspective and anatomical naturalism, but also combined aesthetics and beauty.

He did not only paint religious subject matter, but also portrayed many mythological figures and characters, specifically Venus, the Roman Goddess. We notice this in his popular paintings, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, titled  Primavera (1477-1482) and The Birth of Venus (1485-1486).

Both paintings are of mythological subjects.  Primavera , which means “Spring” in Italian, depicts Venus as the central figure, surrounded by various other mythological characters. This painting was the first European painting with a subject matter unrelated to Christian narratives.

The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess Venus again as the central figure, only here she stands on a large shell coming in from the ocean onto the beach. She is met by a female figure to the right and the god Zephyr to the left, blowing her onto the shore.

Botticelli painted this as almost life-size, which further created a dramatic emphasis upon viewing it. Venus is also portrayed as nude, only slightly covering herself with her long hair – this was another revolutionary depiction of the female form.

Venus is not portrayed with the anatomical realism we so often see in paintings from this period, which indicates how Botticelli shifted between symbolism and realism when painting his figures. He also painted for the sheer pleasure of depicting beauty.

High Renaissance ( Cinquecento )

The High Renaissance period took place during the 1500s and is referred to as Cinquecento , which means “500” in Italian. The exact years can fall between 1495 – 1520. While this period continued using the new advancements in methods of perspective and humanism seen from the earlier Renaissance periods, it is considered the peak of the Renaissance.

While Florence was the capital for the start of the Renaissance period, the High Renaissance took place predominantly in Rome due to the push from Pope Julius II during his reign between the years 1503 and 1513. He sought to have all the cultural and artistic works in Rome and not in Florence, with this he commissioned many of the well-known artists of the time to paint for him.

New innovations and artistic techniques like sfumato and quadratura were discovered during the High Renaissance. Artists also started using oil paint , which was a new medium for painting compared to the earlier periods. It also gave a richer color to the subject matter portrayed.

We will notice a higher level of refinement of principles like perspective, how figures are positioned, form, and color in the paintings from this period.

While there were many artists (painters, sculptors, and architects) during the High Renaissance, we will recognize some names with more familiarity than others, for example, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520). The above “trio” created a vast array of artworks and inventions that still live on to this day.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

Leonardo da Vinci was a master of his time, he was not only adept as an artist, but he was also an inventor, scientist, engineer, and more. Many of his drawings indicate more modern mechanics like the helicopter. He was born in Tuscany and started his career as an artist at age 14. He was taught by another great artist and goldsmith called Andrea del Verrocchio (1435 – 1488) and at a later age worked at Verrocchio’s school in Florence.

Some of da Vinci’s famous artworks include Virgin of the Rocks (1483-1486), The Vitruvian Man (c. 1485), The Last Supper (1498), Salvatore Mundi (c. 1500), and the Mona Lisa (c. 1503). We will notice that with most of da Vinci’s paintings and drawings, he depicted a heightened sense of realism and naturalism in his subjects. He also pioneered the sfumato technique, which is an Italian word meaning “smoked” due to the smoky effect caused by layers of paint and color gently layered and blended over one another.

When we look at the Mona Lisa , otherwise also known as La Gioconda , da Vinci used various techniques to emphasize the realism we are so used to seeing from Italian Renaissance painters. The use of sfumato gives an additional softness to the composition. Da Vinci also utilized chiaroscuro as we notice in the background, creating more depth.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)

Michelangelo was born in Tuscany and moved to Florence from a young age as an apprentice under the Medici family. His artistic career evolved over time, where he eventually also moved to Rome. He was another prodigy of his time and a rival of Leonardo da Vinci. He was a sculptor and painter depicting high levels of realism in his sculptures and artworks.

Some of Michelangelo’s famous artworks include the well-known Sistine Chapel ceiling where we will find The Creation of Adam (1508-1512), which depicts Adam on the left and God on the right, both as strong, muscular men. This portrayal of both man and God showed Michelangelo’s expression of the Humanist philosophy, one of the primary Italian Renaissance characteristics.

We also notice this keen attention to detail in his sculptures, for example, his earlier statue called Bacchus (1496-1497), the Piet à (1498-1499), and the popular David (1501-1504). The Piet à was carved out of one block of marble within a timeframe of two years. It depicts the Mother Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ. What is different from other depictions of this religious scene is the calmness Michelangelo chose to portray. Mother Mary is portrayed as a younger female and her facial expression has a tenderness that enhances the emotional aspects of the sculpture when viewing it.

Michelangelo also constructed the sculpture according to a pyramid’s shape – the top tip starts at Mother Mary’s head and the widening from her robes creates the downward movement, and sides of the pyramid, and the foundation is indicated by the base the figures are on.

When we look at Michelangelo’s statue, David, the artist portrayed the biblical figure in the nude as a strong young man. We can see how he confidently stands in a contrapposto stance, one of the typical Italian Renaissance characteristics. What is particularly evident from this statue is Michelangelo’s proficient attention and understanding of the human form and anatomy carved in marble. Although there have been many sculptors during the Renaissance who carved the character of David, Michelangelo’s rendition has stood strong above all the others.

Raphael (1483 – 1520)

Raphael ( Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino ) was another master of the Renaissance period and rival to Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He grew up in Urbino and started his artistic career from childhood taught by his father who was also a painter. He eventually moved to Florence because of various artistic endeavors and commissions. Artistic techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci influenced Raphael, namely sfumato and chiaroscuro .

What set Raphael apart from other Renaissance artists was the way he created his own style, which while still based on the classical principles of the time, also depicted a sense of beauty and grandeur, notably in his use of vibrant colors.

Some of Raphael’s famous artworks include two frescoes, namely, Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (1510), and The School of Athens (1509 – 1511), both painted in the Stanza della Segnatura, which is one of four rooms with frescoes painted by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City – these rooms are also known as the “Raphael Rooms”.

The School of Athens is an iconic work by Raphael, it depicts a group of philosophers standing in a great hall. As the name suggests, these are philosophers from the Classical era. In the center are Plato and Aristotle, with various other renowned figures around them like Pythagoras, Ptolemy, and others.

This fresco is an ideal example of the Italian Renaissance characteristics because of the use of linear perspective and architectural structures creating depth and three-dimensionality. Raphael depicts light and dark in a way where it creates a further three-dimensionality, specifically noticeable from the light entering the building from the background, with a hint of blue clouds visible through the windows.

We also notice a depth of architectural and structural skill from the artist in the surrounding building, arches, and vaulted ceiling. The large arc in the foreground creates a frame-like effect, and it is as if the stage is set, and we are a part of the scene of contemplative and arguing philosophers. Additionally, Raphael did not focus on any one area with a richer color than the other, making the composition easier to witness and unifying all the elements.

Renaissance Beyond Italy and Into the Future

While Italy was the cultural hub for the development of the Renaissance, it undoubtedly spread to other European countries with prominent artists like German Albrecht Dürer and the Dutch / Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel. Furthermore, the Venetian School was established in Venice with prominent artists like Titian who influenced artists from later art movements like the Baroque.

The Italian Renaissance period reached an end around 1527 due to many factors like war, specifically the Fall of Rome. The period that came after the Renaissance was called Mannerism, which started around 1520 in Rome and Florence. Mannerism was another branch of Italian art that sought to move away from the classical and naturalistic ideals established by the Italian Renaissance artists – art became more symbolic and figurative.

It is no doubt that the Italian Renaissance as a historical period and an Italian art period left an imprint on the cultural footprints for centuries to come. With new discoveries and inventions across almost all the humanities and intellectual faculties, it was the epitome of a “rebirth” as the name suggests. Furthermore, Italian Renaissance artists set the stage and standards of art in the future, as we still see the masterpieces of antiquity emblazoned in our contemporary pop culture – the “Renaissance Man” lives on.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Italian Renaissance was a period in European history that made a dynamic transition from the Medieval period. It was a period of “rebirth”, which is also the definition of the term Renaissance . It ushered in a new way of seeing life, man, and God. It was a cultural movement that incorporated all the disciplines like art, science, religion, geography, astronomy, architecture, literature, music, and more. It sought to reestablish the classical ideals that were forgotten from the Greek and Roman periods.

When Did the Italian Renaissance Start?

The Renaissance started during the 14 th century and lasted for several decades. Italian Renaissance art is categorized into three periods, namely the Proto-Renaissance period (1300s), the Early Renaissance period (1400s), and the High Renaissance (1500s).

What Characterized the Italian Renaissance?

The Italian Renaissance characteristics were primarily centered on new perspectives from discoveries made in the arts and sciences. Humanism became one of the main philosophies, placing man at the center and redefining the relationship with the Divine. This was especially noticed in how art became more humanized and naturalistic, reverting to the classical ideals of perspective and proportion in how human figures were portrayed.

Isabella studied at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature & Language and Psychology. Throughout her undergraduate years, she took Art History as an additional subject and absolutely loved it. Building on from her art history knowledge that began in high school, art has always been a particular area of fascination for her. From learning about artworks previously unknown to her, or sharpening her existing understanding of specific works, the ability to continue learning within this interesting sphere excites her greatly.

Her focal points of interest in art history encompass profiling specific artists and art movements, as it is these areas where she is able to really dig deep into the rich narrative of the art world. Additionally, she particularly enjoys exploring the different artistic styles of the 20 th century, as well as the important impact that female artists have had on the development of art history.

Learn more about Isabella Meyer and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Isabella, Meyer, “Italian Renaissance Art – What Was the Italian Renaissance?.” Art in Context. April 30, 2021. URL: https://artincontext.org/italian-renaissance-art/

Meyer, I. (2021, 30 April). Italian Renaissance Art – What Was the Italian Renaissance?. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/italian-renaissance-art/

Meyer, Isabella. “Italian Renaissance Art – What Was the Italian Renaissance?.” Art in Context , April 30, 2021. https://artincontext.org/italian-renaissance-art/ .

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A-level: Renaissance in Italy

Beginner's guide.

Start with these introductions to Italian Renaissance art

• How to recognize Italian Renaissance art
• Florence in the early renaissance
• Types of renaissance patronage
• Venetian art, an introduction
• Toward the High Renaissance, an introduction
• A beginner's guide to Mannerism
• The Protestant Reformation
• Introduction to gender in renaissance Italy

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Touch an artwork? Sandro Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal helped viewers to think about touch and physical experience.

A-level: Types of renaissance patronage

Patrons mattered during the renaissance. Find out why.

A-level: Introduction to gender in renaissance Italy

Throughout Europe women’s relegation to the domestic sphere was rooted in Christian tradition that placed blame for humanity’s fall from grace upon Eve, the first woman.

A-Level: Sample set of works for the Renaissance in Italy

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A-level: Renaissance art

A-level: Toward the High Renaissance, an introduction

Proficient in anatomy and perspective, artists aimed at complex poses, ideal beauty—and spiritual transcendence.

A-level: How to recognize Italian Renaissance art

Look for a revival of classical forms, increasingly precise anatomy, naturalistic movement, and convincing space.

A-level: Florence in the Early Renaissance

The city-state of Florence distributed political power, celebrated individualism, and invested in civic monuments.

A-level: The many meanings of Michelangelo’s David

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A-level: Michelangelo, Medici Chapel (New Sacristy)

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A-level: Michelangelo, David

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The Renaissance in Italy Essay

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Introduction

The spirit of the renaissance age, how humanistic ideals impacted the renaissance, piece of art that is the clearest expression of the spirit of the age, works cited.

The Italian Renaissance marked the end of one era in Europe and the start of a new one. For many people who lived in Italy between 1350 and 1550 Renaissance completely revolutionized Italy and established a new nation. It ushered in a moment in the history of Italy when people rediscovered a number of things, including effective learning. In addition, it was accompanied by various innovations and discoveries such as nicely constructed buildings.

For some people, Renaissance was regarded as a period of recovery from various disasters that rocked Italy in the fourteenth century that included a poor political landscape and economic recession. As noted by Bartlett (25), Renaissance Italy represented an active and fast-growing nation that created numerous opportunities for the Italian people. Apparently, Italian cities were quickly transformed into political, economic, and social centers. During the Renaissance, people were mostly recognized for their abilities.

Clearly, the spirit of the people during the Renaissance age was that of progressive growth as individuals were mainly concerned with building a better future that they could be happy with. With a positive attitude, it became obvious that everyone was capable of accomplishing so much.

The Renaissance was affected by humanistic ideals in a number of ways. First, individuals started to slowly detach themselves from their social classes and eventually broke down the feudal system. Scores of people also relocated to cities and opened businesses to sustain them. Individuals also embrace the art of reading as well as writing and no single person wanted to be seen as being lazy. The different business ventures that were started by those who moved to live in the cities later became very instrumental in producing a variety of products for consumers in the cities.

Arguably, the growth witnessed during the Renaissance period was mainly a result of people’s mindset and manner of thinking (Ruggiero 15). Many were open to changes and had a strong desire to try out new things and this helped to engineer the much-needed growth. At the start of the Renaissance, scholars in Europe discovered early writings of the Romans and Greeks and this helped to inspire growth among the people.

As noted by Bayer (5), the most famous artworks of the Renaissance were made to celebrate love, marriage, and family. The one piece of art that best represents the spirit of the age is the Dome of Florence Cathedral. It was a public symbol of Florentine superiority during the early days of the Italian Renaissance. Furthermore, the structure demonstrates the importance of the Catholic Church in the Italy. Apparently, the Dome of Florence was an important symbol of Renaissance culture in Italy and was regarded highly by many. The Dome of Florence Cathedral is depicted by figure 1.

The discussion in this paper clearly indicates that historically, development has been as a result of the desire of men and women to explore new ways of living and doing things. To a large extent, the development agenda was driven by individuals at different levels in the society with a vision and motivated by the need to experience a better future.

Bartlett, Kenneth. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook . Ontario, CA: University of Toronto Press, 2011. Print.

Bayer, Andrea. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy . New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. Print.

Ruggiero, Guido. The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, August 26). The Renaissance in Italy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-renaissance-in-italy/

"The Renaissance in Italy." IvyPanda , 26 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-renaissance-in-italy/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Renaissance in Italy'. 26 August.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Renaissance in Italy." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-renaissance-in-italy/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Renaissance in Italy." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-renaissance-in-italy/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Renaissance in Italy." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-renaissance-in-italy/.

Italian Renaissance Learning Resources

In collaboration with the national gallery of art, virgin and child, introduction.

If you imagine a museum gallery filled with Renaissance art, do you see a room of religious paintings and sculpture? Very likely. From the early fifteenth century, humanistic influences prompted such new subjects as portraits, mythological scenes, and lyrical poesie . Most works of art, however, continued to depict religious themes. This is true of painting as well as sculpture, and public and private commissions. Although surviving records are imperfect and woefully incomplete, a sample of just over two thousand works having identifiable subjects that were inventoried between 1420 and 1539 showed that 87 percent had religious themes (67 percent of the remainder were portraits). 1 The numbers also point to an increased interest in images of the Virgin and Child (Mary with the infant Jesus) over those of saints or even episodes from the life of Christ.

Images, mostly paintings, of the Virgin and Child are the focus of this essay. The first section examines their early history, beginning with icons that came to Italy from the Byzantine East. We consider the sources and impact of their enormous religious authority. The miraculous origin of many of the images, together with their miracle-working power, helped ensure the important place of religious images in the West. Moreover, their physical form as painted panels influenced the greater use of that technique in Western painting. The following sections look at images of the Virgin and Child created up to the early decades of the sixteenth century in Venice and Florence, respectively, and the different artistic traditions of the two cities reflected in them. We explore the ways the images functioned in public and private devotions and how icons were transformed into more intimate kinds of devotional objects. Finally, we glance briefly ahead, to indications that the venerable half-length Madonna would yield to new types of religious scenes in succeeding years and that the authority of religious imagery, indeed all imagery, would shift toward a new locus: the artist and his artistry.

The Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance was a name given to period of history. Renaissance means a ‘rebirth’. The Renaissance movement that originated in Italy during the end of the middle Ages, explains “Medieval and Modern History. ” It served as a rebirth in education, art, and technology . this created a new culture. One must wonder why Italy was the perfect setting for a Renaissance to create a new era of time. Italy was in a great location on the map and easy sea trade routes.

In the city-states area had easy water and land access, were prime spots located in Europe, and the people would benefited from a system of roads that remained from the Roman Empire army. Italian city-states conducted their own trade like silk, ships and iron work, collected their own taxes, and made their own laws. Which would make for a very rich country. The trade had created a great amount of income. For the towns to be so close on the Mediterranean Sea, made it a perfect setting for selling or trade routes or making an income.

People from all over Europe came to northern Italy to buy, sell, and do their banking. Many city-states developed specializations. For example, Milan made iron and weapons for the armies. Genoa was a trading center for ivory and gold. Venice ships controlled the trade routes in the Mediterranean Sea, and silk, spices, and many more things. This is why I believe it started in Italy due to the increase for traded led to a new living economy for Italy. Another factor was teaching of Humanism in Italy was a crucial movement to the Renaissance, according to author R. A. Guisepi, (2016) “To Renaissance scholars and philosophers, these classical sources held great wisdom.

Their secularism, their appreciation of physical beauty and especially their emphasis on man’s own achievements and expression formed the governing intellectual principle of the Italian Renaissance. This philosophy is known as “humanism. ”) (pg1) Many people lost faith in the church ability’s and wanted more control of their own lives. Humanism again favoritism and taught the people to follow their own mind and instinct and figure out issues in the world instead of going straight to the church for help.

Humanism helped in education and science and more. Another big factor was that Italy allowed the Renaissance to happen in each city –sate, which is why a wealthy merchant class developed. In some parts of Europe small towns the political weren’t talked about as much this meant more people could be involved in the political side of everyday life. This in turn would create a class for merchants the higher up class of men. Many merchants’ business men took advantage of their power and used their wealth from the community to use it for bad choices.

With Florence in particular, came under the influence of a powerful merchant family the Medici, family was no doubt the foundation of prosperity for Florence. The rise of the Medici is partly explained by their involvement in social affairs and political influences. According to website themedicifamily. com (2016), (“The contributions of the Medici to the culture and history of the Renaissance are hard to ignore. Florence was home to many Renaissance figures, men like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Niccolo Machiavelli, all while the city was under Medici administration.

Despite the fact that Florence was a republic, the Medici were so powerful that they essentially ruled the city, even representing it diplomatically. The family’s rise from obscure peasantry to a leading house in Europe highlights certain aspects of what scholars have come to define as the “Renaissance. ” For example, Renaissance thinkers believed that humans had the potential to change their situation, and improve their lives through education and diligence.

Often reflected in the art and writing of the Renaissance is the idea that educated, worldly individuals were better able to serve and improve society, The Medici used their talents not only to gain power and reputation for themselves, but also used their influence to improve the quality of life of those in their charge, to sponsor cultural endeavors, and to keep Florence free from foreign domination. ’’). (pg1) The Medici handled the money that came into Italy by the banks control. Their money in turn help to transform the city they lived in the most beautiful and architectural for its era of this time.

Many artists were invited and paid to come to create many lavish buildings and paint art in them, some art would take years to complete. Artists had many factors on the renaissance in Europe because many talented artist lived in Italy at the time such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. There for was an unspoken rivalry between the artists to create the best art or to come up with new creative ideas. Art was a major thing that was developed during the time of the renaissance.

Towns competed with each other making their town or city the most talked about or lavish, Italy was massively populated country. Due to the amount of people and the size of the towns there was bigger need for everything such as trade. With the amount of money being brought in from the trade it made many unknown towns more advanced in this era. The attitude towards women, their rights and how they were treated underwent many changes during the renaissance. Women were thought of as property, owned first by their fathers and then their husbands.

However during medieval times women were given more rights and enjoyed their freedoms. They could own land and had many of the same rights that men had. This time the church had made major changes, but many women took many steps back for their struggles for equality. In those days women did not get to pick their husbands a male from their family made the choice for her like a brother uncle or a male in the family if the father was gone, and if the women had enough dowry to attract a husband with highest social status.

Men could leave their wife if they were unhappy with the marriage and remarry elsewhere but the women would have no right and be consider as good as trash . According to Encyclopedia (2016), (“Abuse could be found everywhere, and among all classes. Wife-beating was permissible, as was the physical punishment of children and servants. Some moralists urged moderation and others deplored the use of beatings altogether. Men might, furthermore, imprison, starve, and degrade their wives and other family members’’), (pg1). Women were destined to chastity until their wedding night.

They were always to remain faithful, even though their husbands were urged to cheat outside of marriage. Girls had to stay a virgin or the shame would come on her and her family, which in turn they would banish her from the family and cut all ties with the girl. Lower class women still has many rights and shared many of the responsibilities with their husbands. The women would help in all aspect of their husbands business or land . Upper class women had education expectation pushed on them. However forced to give up their studies once married.

A women’s first priority was to be a good wife, house keeper, mother, and to please her husband. The thoughts and feeling of women’s were not considered important during this era. This is especially the case of rape, many poor girls were raped many of the time it was the wealthy men who would force rape on young girls or they would cover it up, or force the girl to keep up the sexual abuse. Larceny was consider a worse crime than rape. Such girls were reflected as “used property. ” A rape was only consider outrageous if it was the rape of a noblewomen.

According to Encyclopedia (2016), (“Increasingly in the Renaissance era, the concept of honor also depended on virginity. The violation of a daughter’s virginity brought dishonor not only on the girl, but also on all of her male kin. Therefore, a young woman was usually held responsible for being raped (forced to have sexual relations) because this assault meant she was no longer a virgin and she had thus dishonored her family. Even though the young women was the victim of the rape, she was the one who was punished.

Punishment often varied with the social standing of the woman’s male relatives. For example, the daughter of a nobleman was punished more severely than the daughter of a laborer because the (history-world. org, 2016) (history-world. org, 2016)nobleman had a more honored place in society. When some young girls lost their virginity through rape or seduction, they were then abandoned by their male kin and often turned to prostitution (having sexual intercourse in exchange for money), which was the only way they could support themselves’’). (pg1)

Racism was a part of the renaissance as well, it showed a social hierarchies. Race was not talked about by the color of your skin but more of gender and religious group they were associated with at the time. Slavery was part of the renaissance you can see painting with high ranking white females with their black slave child. Black servants were much sought after, it was consider exotic to have a slave. In Italy slaves could work almost any job they seek after. To own a slave was more for the rich however some blacks were free as well to do as they wish.

It wasn’t the same way blacks were treated in America when they were slaves. The slaves were free to participate in music, art and partake in festivals. A famous author Sally McKee wrote, according to Genoa: (2008) (Whereas huge shipments of grain used to arrive by ship annually in this city, now they arrive laden with slaves, sold by their wretched families to alleviate their hunger. An unusually large and countless crowd of slaves of both sexes has af? icted this city with deformed Scythian faces, just like when a muddy current destroys the brilliance of a clear one). pg1)

Not only were the social reputes of women and slavery lowered during this time or the “rebirth. ” However, we cannot tell exactly what they though during this time frame, we can only hope to learn from this infraction. Last but not least as the French forces began to prey on the Italians according to history. com (2010) (On February 16, 1808, under the pretext of sending reinforcements to the French army occupying Portugal, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain.

Thus began the Peninsular War, an important phase of the Napoleonic Wars that was fought between France and much of Europe between 1792 and 1815. During the first few weeks after their 1808 invasion of Spain, French forces captured Pamplona and Barcelona and on March 19 forced King Charles IV of Spain to abdicate. Four days later, the French entered Madrid under Joachim Murat. In early May, Madrid revolted, and on June 15 Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, was proclaimed the new king of Spain, leading to a general anti-French revolt across the Iberian Peninsula. ) (pg1)

After losing control of the church with the Pope, and Spain taking over the culture changed and forcing that the Italian to cooperate with the Spanish and French the Renaissance came to an end in Italy due to the economy. In conclusion all these events played a significant part on why the renaissance took place in Italy. Italy had all the things needed for a revival and the people of Italy took resourcefulness and used what they had. This shaped the renaissance and without it we may still have been living like people in the Middle Ages. The rebirth is a very significant period of history in which changed the way we live today.

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Donatello: Revealing the Birth of a Renaissance Maestro

This essay about Donatello the renowned Italian sculptor born around 1386 in Florence highlights his significant impact on Renaissance art. It explores his formative years collaboration with artists like Lorenzo Ghiberti and his innovative approach to sculpture. Donatello’s works such as the marble statue of David showcase his ability to capture emotion and realism. His contributions left a lasting mark on Renaissance art exemplifying the transformative power of creativity and innovation.

How it works

Donatello Italian sculptor famous revival noticed light around 1386 in florence Italy. While date his exact birth remains mystery circumstances offer his early life weak lights in a tapestry revival florence prosperous. Born so as Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi he later accepted the name Donatello name that became synonymous with artistic innovation and authority.

Information in words from childhood Donatello thin man intrigue adds air to his formative years. Increases in florence in one flow from 14 – ?? a move century assured one immersive teaching in an art encadré position prosperity the city tilled and artistic.

This environment certainly brought up his artistic inclinations and early aspirations.

In one flow from his youth Donatello obviously gave out a doctrine in seminaries the Florentine artists one inhale technical and lights up his habits under direction canonical masters. This period educating was critical for cultivating his artistic sensitivenesses and appendix foundation for his in arrives implementations in a sculpture.

Early in his career Donatello cooperated with elegant persons so as for example Lorenzo Ghiberti whose influences deeply reacts his artistic display. Competense Ghiberti in a sculpture relief influenced access Donatello despite prolate composition and narrative proof marks a central phase in his artistic evolution. 15 – ? beginning century there is Donatello placed itself so as leading innovateur in the artistic Florentine circles. His opens the use prospect and his inclination to fill his sculptures with emotional basis placed him no talks already ? his the contemporary. In the type of exception his a medallion awards judgement David marble completed around 1408-1409 appears an example bring up his authority and his inclination to catch an emotion and human anatomy with striking realism.

In one flow from his career Donatello continued to push borders artistic proof makes meat various work that equalized from similar sculptures despite monumental commissions. His holding drew out he after a sculpture covers decorations and revival architectural classic leit-motifs abandons indelible mark on revival the article.

In conclusion while the exact details of Donatello’s birth remain elusive his impact on Renaissance art is indisputable. From his upbringing in Florence’s artistic epicenter to his emergence as a seminal figure in Western art history Donatello’s journey exemplifies the transformative power of creativity and innovation. His legacy continues to inspire and resonate underscoring his enduring influence on the evolution of art and culture.

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Reviving ancient egypt in the renaissance hieroglyph: humanist aspirations to immortality.

1. Introduction

maintained that each nation knew only its own alphabet and that eventually all knowledge of it would be lost—as has happened with our own Etruscan: we have seen sepulchers uncovered in city ruins and cemeteries throughout Etruria inscribed with an alphabet universally acknowledged to be Etruscan; their letters look not unlike Greek, or even Latin, yet no one understands what they mean. The same, the Egyptians claimed, would happen to all other alphabets, whereas the method of writing they used could be understood easily by expert men all over the world, to whom alone noble matters should be communicated. ( Alberti [1452] 1991, p. 256 )

2. Complex Origins, Humanist Hubris, and Polysemous Hieroglyphs

Since the original meaning of the [ancient Egyptian] hieroglyphs was only understood to some small degree, contemporaries [of the Renaissance] combined, naively and directly, single symbols or sign language, with classical literature, with medieval symbolism and with the Bible, in a form not in any way in the strict Egyptian style but nevertheless in a single idiom, in what was, above all, a peculiarly Renaissance style. ( Volkmann 2018, pp. 6–7 )

3. Remembering the Etruscans and Reviving the Egyptians

4. new endeavors and divine truth in the renaissance hieroglyph.

The crown is an emblem of gladness and glory. There is nothing more powerful, swift, or worthy than the eye. In short, it is the foremost of the body’s members, a sort of king or god. Didn’t the ancients regard God as similar to the eye, since he surveys all things and reckons them singly? ( Alberti [1429] 1987, pp. 213–14 )

5. Hieroglyphs and Pseudo-Hieroglyphs in Stone, Paint, and Print

First, the horned skull of a bull with two agricultural tools tied to the horns; then an altar resting on two goat’s feet, with a burning flame and, on its face, an eye and a vulture. Next, a washing basin and a ewer; then a ball of string transfixed by a spindle, and an antique vase with its mouth stopped. There was a sole with an eye, crossed by two branches, one of laurel and the other of palm, neatly tied; an anchor, and a goose; an antique lantern, with a hand holding it; an ancient rudder, bound up together with a fruited olive-branch; then two hooks, a dolphin, and lastly a closed coffer. ( Colonna 1999, p. 41 )

6. Conclusions: The Renaissance Hieroglyph and Its Descendants

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Howard, R.M. Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality. Arts 2024 , 13 , 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116

Howard RM. Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality. Arts . 2024; 13(4):116. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116

Howard, Rebecca M. 2024. "Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality" Arts 13, no. 4: 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116

The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Nuptial furnishings in the italian renaissance.

Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement

Fra Filippo Lippi

Case (étui) with an amorous inscription

Cassone with painted front panel depicting the Conquest of Trebizond

Attributed to workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso

The Story of Esther

• Marco del Buono Giamberti

Portrait of a Man, possibly Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Gozzadini

Attributed to the Maestro delle Storie del Pane

Border with Strozzi emblems

The Story of Joseph

• Biagio d'Antonio

Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia

Casket (cassetta)

Tabernacle mirror frame

De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diversi parti del mondo, libri due ...

Cesare Vecellio

Deborah L. Krohn The Bard Graduate Center

November 2008

The language of love and desire that radiates from the group of objects surveyed here parallels the rituals of betrothal and marriage described by anthropologists and historians. No one knows how many gift objects achieved the desired goals, but marriages engendered the creation of new furnishings and decoration that expressed the dynastic and political aspirations of the families that purchased or commissioned them.

After the terms of the marriage had been agreed upon publicly by members of both the bride’s and the groom’s family in the giuramento , a series of celebrations took place. The time between the contractual arrangement and the wedding itself allowed for the provision of the material trappings of marriage. Chief among these was the cassone or forziere —two terms found in contemporary documents for a large storage chest—often ornamented with panels painted with lively narratives such as the Conquest of Trebizond by Apollonio di Giovanni ( 14.39 ). Although chests associated with marriage are now commonly described as cassoni, recent archival research has suggested that inventories from the fifteenth century used the term forzieri da sposa , or betrothal chests, to refer to the chests commissioned in pairs for the dowry goods of the bride. The term cassone may refer to a subset of forzieri , specifically, to those shaped like antique sarcophagi . There were often three to six months between the giuramento and the anellamento (ring day) and consummation, when the couple went to live on their own. During this interval, a pair of cassoni and other painted or carved furnishings for the nuptial chamber, including spalliere (wainscoting panels), lettucci (daybeds), and lettiere (beds), sometimes hung with specially woven fine textiles , might be created.

As the wonderful Strozzi cassone ( 14.39 ) demonstrates, marriage chests could be elaborate creations that demanded the coordination of several different craftsmen: carpenters, gilders, painters, and perhaps locksmiths to provide the hardware. It took about a month to paint a cassone front, thus two months for two. The most important source for our knowledge of wedding chests—an account book known from a 1670 copy documenting an eighteen-year period in the workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni—has confirmed that they were indeed commissioned in pairs. Since so few cassoni have survived with their carpentry and gilding intact, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the process of construction, but we know from Vasari’s life of Dello Delli that painters such as Apollonio di Giovanni probably specialized in the creation of these panels.

Vasari tells us that many people owned cassoni, and not just the wealthiest. He reports that in addition to cassoni having the form of a sarcophagus, like the Strozzi chest, there were examples with various other types of covers. He also confirms what can be deduced from the panels known today: the subject matter for the painted fronts was secular rather than religious, with stories taken from classical or chivalric sources. Vasari also connects the creation of cassoni with the making of other furnishings, suggesting that they were viewed in the same light.

By the mid-sixteenth century, the fashion for interiors had evidently changed. Vasari speaks of the decoration on cassoni and other household objects as a thing of the past: “And that this is true can be seen up to our own day from some chests, chair-backs, and mouldings, besides many other things, in the apartments of the Magnificent Lorenze de’ Medici, the Elder, whereon there were painted—by the hand, not of common painters, but of excellent masters, and with judgment, invention, and marvellous art —all the jousts, tournaments, chases, festivals, and other spectacles that took place in his times. Of such things relics are still seen, not only in the palace and the old houses of the Medici, but in all the most noble houses in Florence; and there are men who, out of attachment to these ancient usages, truly magnificent and most honourable, have not displaced these things in favour of modern ornaments and usages.”

What of these other things, the lettucci , spalliere , and cornici ? Lettucci were daybeds, precursors of modern-day couches, and may have included storage areas to hang clothing. Together with cassoni and spalliere , they would have been made for the camera , or nuptial chamber, often furnished about the time that a man married. When Vasari refers to spalliere , he is probably referring to wainscoting or moldings. Cornici were presumably wall-mounted decorations that were placed above eye level. Both cassone and spalliere panels are horizontal in format, but art historian Anne Barriault has argued that a clear distinction between the two can be made based on size as well as on stylistic grounds. She suggests further that spalliera panels, after the Italian term spalla (shoulder), are the ancestors of modern easel paintings created for domestic display. Scholars agree that spalliera panels, such as The Story of Cupid and Psyche by Jacopo del Sellaio or  The Story of Joseph by Biagio d’Antonio ( 32.100.69 ), were not intended to be placed close to the floor on great chests or cassoni, but there is no consensus on just how high spalliere were to hang. The painted panels that viewers now experience in museums as individual works of art once functioned as elements in complex and dazzling interior ensembles that would have been fitting monuments to lasting dynastic alliances created through marriage.

Krohn, Deborah L. “Nuptial Furnishings in the Italian Renaissance.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nupt/hd_nupt.htm (November 2008)

Further Reading

Ajmar-Wollheim, Marta, and Flora Denis, eds. At Home in Renaissance Italy . Exhibition catalogue. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2006.

Barriault, Anne B. Spalliera Paintings of Renaissance Tuscany: Fables of Poets for Patrician Homes . University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.

Baskins, Cristelle L. Cassone Painting, Humanism, and Gender in Early Modern Italy . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Bayer, Andrea, ed. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy . Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. See on MetPublications

Currie, Elizabeth. Inside the Renaissance House . London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2006.

Additional Essays by Deborah L. Krohn

• Krohn, Deborah L.. “ Birth and Family in the Italian Renaissance .” (November 2008)
• Krohn, Deborah L.. “ Courtship and Betrothal in the Italian Renaissance .” (November 2008)
• Krohn, Deborah L.. “ Weddings in the Italian Renaissance .” (November 2008)

Related Essays

• Birth and Family in the Italian Renaissance
• Courtship and Betrothal in the Italian Renaissance
• Paintings of Love and Marriage in the Italian Renaissance
• Profane Love and Erotic Art in the Italian Renaissance
• Weddings in the Italian Renaissance
• Art and Love in the Italian Renaissance
• Domestic Art in Renaissance Italy
• European Tapestry Production and Patronage, 1400–1600
• Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe
• Japanese Weddings in the Edo Period (1615–1868)
• Northern Italian Renaissance Painting
• Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
• The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity
• Roman Sarcophagi
• Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Florence and Central Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Rome and Southern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.
• 15th Century A.D.
• Eros / Cupid
• European Decorative Arts
• Floral Motif
• Gilded Wood
• Head Ornament
• High Renaissance
• Italian Literature / Poetry
• Musical Instrument
• Painted Object
• Renaissance Art
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Artist or Maker

• Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso
• Della Robbia, Giovanni
• Lippi, Fra Filippo
• Maestro delle Storie del Pane
• Vecellio, Cesare

635th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment

635-й зенитно-ракетный полк

Military Unit: 86646

Activated 1953 in Stepanshchino, Moscow Oblast - initially as the 1945th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment for Special Use and from 1955 as the 635th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment for Special Use.

1953 to 1984 equipped with 60 S-25 (SA-1) launchers:

• Launch area: 55 15 43N, 38 32 13E (US designation: Moscow SAM site E14-1)
• Support area: 55 16 50N, 38 32 28E
• Guidance area: 55 16 31N, 38 30 38E

1984 converted to the S-300PT (SA-10) with three independent battalions:

• 1st independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (Bessonovo, Moscow Oblast) - 55 09 34N, 38 22 26E
• 2nd independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion and HQ (Stepanshchino, Moscow Oblast) - 55 15 31N, 38 32 23E
• 3rd independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (Shcherbovo, Moscow Oblast) - 55 22 32N, 38 43 33E

Disbanded 1.5.98.

Subordination:

• 1st Special Air Defence Corps , 1953 - 1.6.88
• 86th Air Defence Division , 1.6.88 - 1.10.94
• 86th Air Defence Brigade , 1.10.94 - 1.10.95
• 86th Air Defence Division , 1.10.95 - 1.5.98

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Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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