Art, Architecture, and Historical Terms in Renaissance Italy

marble quarries

A marble quarry is a surface-based site where large blocks of marble are extracted from the earth through a process of site preparation, drilling, and cutting.

contrapposto

a graceful arrangement of the body based on tilted shoulders and hips and bent knees

guilds

Association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to protect their economic interests

fire-gilt bronze

A bronze object with a thin coating of gold produced by applying a mercury-gold amalgam to the bronze and then heating it to evaporate the mercury, leaving the gold behind.

lost-wax process of bronzecasting

A process that creates a metal sculpture by first making a wax model, encasing it in a fire-resistant mold, melting the wax out to create a cavity, and then pouring molten bronze into that cavity.

predella

the base of an altarpiece that is filled with small paintings, often narrative scenes

Golgotha Chapel

The church is built over Golgotha, or "the place of the skull," where Jesus was crucified, and it contains vital features such as the rock of Calvary, where the cross was placed, and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus's body was laid and later rose from the dead.

giornate (singular, giornata)

The area of new plaster in fresco painting which can be painted in one day. Comes from the Italian word for "a day's work"

piano nobile

An Italian term for the "noble floor" of a substantial house or palazzo, which is the principal floor containing the main reception rooms and bedrooms.

chivalric romance

A medieval literary genre that features tales of heroic knights, their quests, and their adherence to a code of chivalry.

Medici family; Cosimo de' Medici the Elder (1389-1464)

An Italian banker and politician who became the de facto first ruler of Florence during the Italian Renaissance

rustication

A style where stones or concrete blocks have their edges cut back, leaving the central part rough or projecting.

cornice

A cornice is a decorative molding that projects horizontally from the top of a building or wall

Portraits in Gozzoli's frescoes (aka The Medici Palace Chapel Frescoes)

Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464), Piero de' Medici (1416-69), self portrait of Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-97)

spalliera

A painted headboard of a marriage bed, or the front panel of a chest, or the back of a wooden bench

Neo-Platonism

A pagan school of thought based upon the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato that held the existence of a Supreme Being, "the One," who creates through an emanation of lesser beings, one of which is the logos.

tondo

a circular painting or relief sculpture

Characters in Primavera (right to left)

Zephyr, Chloris, Flora, Venus, Cupid, three Graces, Mercury

Marquisate

The rank, state, or territory of a marquis, a noble title in Europe that ranks below a duke and above an earl.

Gonzaga family

An Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.

court artist

an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work

sacra conversazione

an altarpiece in which the Madonna and Child are accompanied by saints and engaged in a "holy conversation"

courtier

a person who attends a royal court as a companion or adviser to the king or queen.

likeness

an image similar to someone or something

pendant

a decorative object that hangs from something, most commonly a necklace or an earring.

plaster casts

A copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form.

sfumato

the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.

Platonic love

to have strong feelings and intimacy with a person without having a romantic desire for them; a spiritual or familial connection with another person

Ludovico (il Moro) Sforza

An Italian nobleman who ruled as the Duke of Milan from 1494 to 1499.

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan (Dominican monastery)

Location of Leonardo's Last Supper

refectory

a room used for communal meals, especially in an educational or religious institution.

institution of the Eucharist

The institution of the Eucharist is the event at the Last Supper where Jesus established the Holy Communion sacrament by taking bread and wine and declaring them to be his body and blood, instructing his disciples to do this in remembrance of him.

Cartoon

a full-scale preliminary drawing or design for a larger work, such as a fresco, tapestry, or oil painting, rather than a humorous illustration