Early Renaissance in Italy

• setting: Florence

medieval and classical come together

• humanists emerge: if there is no afterlife, then life should be enjoyed through the pursuit of happiness

  • human potential

• europe is exposed to philosophy and education

• christian and classic philosophy connects instead of cancelling out each other

• heirarchy of the arts:

  1. Painting

  2. Architecture

  3. Sculpture

• artists are considered to be intellectuals

(christ measuring the world) (rich guy)

• patrons were important since the rich funded the church and art

• byzantine artists run away to take refuge in Italy

  • byzantine art followed a formula

  • did not care about how realistic it can be

  • Visari says Giotto ends the front end mentality of 2d art

    • Giotto made art from observation

• north: surface texture focused

• italia: focused on body mass and form, perspective

  • the best gift of God is given through man

  • realistic psychologically (emotions)

masaccio painting

• fresco

• tells story of when peter finds coins in fish mouth

  • peter on left catching fish, paying tax collector on right

• roman style of story telling

• shadow shining onto the left since painting was next to the window on the right side

• this painting was considered a great model of form and figure

Battle of the nudes

• awkwardly tense: a teaching tool used to display anatomy and muscle

Botticelli’s Venus

• painted for the Medicii based on a classical sculpture he made

• made to remind you of medieval patentry (textiles)

Primavera

• venus is the goddess of sex

• foliage behind her make her a halo

• the three graces

• porus turns into flora is venus’ consort through zepher wind touches her

• oranges: medicci family

• nature always symbolizes sexuality and fertility

• mercury vs zepher, control vs lust

Camera Picta by Mantegna

• scenes of courtlife, meaning unknown

• used architecture to accentuate paintings

• perspective and foreshortening used

• Trompe l’oeil (fool the eye): optical illusions

• Di sotto in su (from below upwards)

• putti/putto (loggia): toddler angel

• crossing: long center aisle, intersected by the transept, aka the crossing like a cross

• architecture in florence was very important

  • did not want to have many north techniques

• Brunelleschi, a goldsmith, wins an architecture contest to succesfully make a dome over the church

  • octogonal dome: a completely rounded

  • focused the weight downward instead of sideways, did not need flying buttresses

  • made a dome within a dome, made the structure lighter

  • stone rings connect domes together

  • wooden support interior

  • used a herringbone brick pattern to help support weights

  → a northern AND Italian archtiecuture made

• Medici: very rich family that lived like kings but where kind of like the mafia

• helped make Palazzo Medici-Ricardi

  • buildings are made to be modest

  • 1: first floor bricks are rough (place where business is done)

  • 2. Smoother bricks (less formal, casual for parties)

  • 3. third floor smooth bricks (intimate bedroom setting)

• arcades: columns in a square in a courtyard, brunolecci invents this

Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti

• gilded bronze

• perspective used

• scenes of the bible

• very tall

David by Donatello

• first full figure nude since the roman times

• young childlike depiction of david who killed Goliath

• was not favored

  • too sensual cause he was a young boy when gays were prevalent (including Donatello)

  • wore a hat, culturally stolen hats would mean you had to submit (predatory)

Penitent Magdelene

• showed mary did not need vanity or beauty but God alone