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118-510: Ridolfi belonged to a famous family of Florence , where he was born. As a banker he had business connections with England , and about 1555 he settled in London , where he soon became a person of some importance, consorting with William Cecil and other prominent men. In Trinity term 1564 he was recorded as "Robertus Ridolphy, of London, merchant stranger" in a case in Common Pleas. During

236-439: A humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ), tending to Mediterranean ( Csa ). It has hot summers with moderate or light rainfall and cool, damp winters. As Florence lacks a prevailing wind, summer temperatures are higher than along the coast. Rainfall in summer is convectional , while relief rainfall dominates in the winter. Snow is rare. The highest officially recorded temperature was 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) on 26 July 1983 and

354-724: A secundogeniture of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, who were deposed for the House of Bourbon-Parma in 1801. From 1801 to 1807 Florence was the capital of the Napoleonic client state Kingdom of Etruria . The Bourbon-Parma were deposed in December 1807 when Tuscany was annexed by France . Florence was the prefecture of the French département of Arno from 1808 to the fall of Napoleon in 1814. The Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty

472-529: A Roman city, and later, after a long period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune , it was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance . It was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe and the world from the 14th to 16th centuries. The language spoken in the city during the 14th century came to be accepted as the model for what would become

590-401: A boy pulling a thorn from his foot. Brunelleschi's creation is challenging in its dynamic intensity. Less elegant than Ghiberti's, it is more about human drama and impending tragedy. Ghiberti won the competition. His first set of Baptistry doors took 27 years to complete, after which he was commissioned to make another. In the total of 50 years that Ghiberti worked on them, the doors provided

708-679: A collection of Flemish paintings and setting up a Humanist Academy . Antonello da Messina seems to have had access to the King's collection, which may have included the works of Jan van Eyck . Recent evidence indicates that Antonello was likely in contact with Van Eyck's most accomplished follower, Petrus Christus , in Milan in early 1456 and likely learned the techniques of oil painting, including painting almost microscopic detail and minute gradations of light, directly from Christus. As well, his works' calmer expressions on peoples' faces and calmness in

826-587: A competition was held amongst seven young artists to select the artist to create a pair of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistery , the oldest remaining church in the city. The competitors were each to design a bronze panel of similar shape and size, representing the Sacrifice of Isaac . Two of the panels from the competition have survived, those by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Brunelleschi . Each panel shows some strongly classicising motifs indicating

944-585: A fair sector of Florence's economy. The city's income relies partially on services and commercial and cultural interests, such as annual fairs, theatrical and lyrical productions, art exhibitions, festivals and fashion shows, such as the Calcio Fiorentino . Heavy industry and machinery also take their part in providing an income. In Nuovo Pignone, numerous factories are still present, and small-to medium industrial businesses are dominant. The Florence-Prato-Pistoia industrial districts and areas were known as

1062-724: A fresco cycle of the Life of St. Peter in the chapel of the Brancacci family, at the Carmelite Church in Florence. They both were called by the name of Tommaso and were nicknamed Masaccio and Masolino , Slovenly Tom and Little Tom. More than any other artist, Masaccio recognized the implications in the work of Giotto. He carried forward the practice of painting from nature. His frescos demonstrate an understanding of anatomy, of foreshortening, of linear perspective, of light, and

1180-626: A legitimization of political expediency and even malpractice. Machiavelli was a political thinker, renowned for his political handbook The Prince , which is about ruling and exercising power. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli also wrote the Florentine Histories , the history of the city. In 1512, the Medici retook control of Florence with the help of Spanish and Papal troops. They were led by two cousins, Giovanni and Giulio de' Medici , both of whom would later become Popes of

1298-600: A location in the Piazza del Duomo. In October 2021, Florence was shortlisted for the European Commission 's 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism award along with Bordeaux , Copenhagen , Dublin , Ljubljana , Palma de Mallorca and Valencia . Food and wine have long been an important staple of the economy. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of

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1416-577: A major subject for High Renaissance painters such as Raphael and Titian and continue into the Mannerist period in works of artists such as Bronzino . With the growth of Humanism , artists turned to Classical themes, particularly to fulfill commissions for the decoration of the homes of wealthy patrons, the best known being Botticelli 's Birth of Venus for the Medici. Increasingly, Classical themes were also seen as providing suitable allegorical material for civic commissions. Humanism also influenced

1534-597: A new standard for narrative pictures. His Ognissanti Madonna hangs in the Uffizi Gallery , Florence, in the same room as Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna and Duccio's Ruccellai Madonna where the stylistic comparisons between the three can easily be made. One of the features apparent in Giotto's work is his observation of naturalistic perspective. He is regarded as the herald of the Renaissance. Giotto had

1652-527: A number of contemporaries who were either trained and influenced by him, or whose observation of nature had led them in a similar direction. Although several of Giotto's pupils assimilated the direction that his work had taken, none was to become as successful as he. Taddeo Gaddi achieved the first large painting of a night scene in an Annunciation to the Shepherds in the Baroncelli Chapel of

1770-421: A number of these in terra verde ("green earth"), enlivening his compositions with touches of vermilion. The best known is his equestrian portrait of John Hawkwood on the wall of Florence Cathedral . Both here and on the four heads of prophets that he painted around the inner clock face in the cathedral, he used strongly contrasting tones, suggesting that each figure was being lit by a natural light source, as if

1888-493: A programme of spraying church steps with water to prevent tourists from using such areas as picnic spots. While he values the benefits of tourism, he claims that there has been "an increase among those who sit down on church steps, eat their food and leave rubbish strewn on them", he explained. To boost the sale of traditional foods, the mayor had introduced legislation (enacted in 2016) that requires restaurants to use typical Tuscan products and rejected McDonald's application to open

2006-443: A result. In 2015, Mayor Dario Nardella expressed concern over visitors who arrive on buses, stay only a few hours, spend little money but contribute significantly to overcrowding. "No museum visit, just a photo from the square, the bus back and then on to Venice ... We don't want tourists like that", he said. Some tourists are less than respectful of the city's cultural heritage, according to Nardella. In June 2017, he instituted

2124-497: A richness of detail, and an idealised quality not compatible with the starker realities of Giotto's paintings. In the early 15th century, bridging the gap between International Gothic and the Renaissance are the paintings of Fra Angelico , many of which, being altarpieces in tempera, show the Gothic love of elaboration, gold leaf and brilliant colour. It is in his frescoes at his convent of Sant' Marco that Fra Angelico shows himself

2242-427: A shepherd boy from the hills north of Florence, became Cimabue's apprentice and emerged as the most outstanding painter of his time. Giotto, possibly influenced by Pietro Cavallini and other Roman painters, did not base the figures he painted upon any painterly tradition, but upon the observation of life. Unlike those of his Byzantine contemporaries, Giotto's figures are solidly three-dimensional; they stand squarely on

2360-523: A state of penitence and absolution. The inevitability of death, the rewards for the penitent and the penalties of sin were emphasised in a number of frescoes, remarkable for their grim depictions of suffering and their surreal images of the torments of Hell . These include the Triumph of Death by Giotto's pupil Orcagna , now in a fragmentary state at the Museum of Santa Croce, and the Triumph of Death in

2478-404: A training ground for many of the artists of Florence. Being narrative in subject and employing not only skill in arranging figurative compositions but also the burgeoning skill of linear perspective , the doors were to have an enormous influence on the development of Florentine pictorial art. The first Early Renaissance frescos or paintings were started in 1425 when two artists commenced painting

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2596-431: A vast patronage network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the gente nuova (new people). The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their ascendancy. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero , who was, soon after, succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo , Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli . Lorenzo

2714-518: Is a major production and commercial centre in Italy, where the Florentine industrial complexes in the suburbs produce all sorts of goods, from furniture, rubber goods, chemicals, and food. Traditional and local products, such as antiques, handicrafts, glassware, leatherwork, art reproductions, jewellery, souvenirs, elaborate metal and iron-work, shoes, accessories and high fashion clothes also occupy

2832-661: Is most often divided into four periods: the Proto-Renaissance (1300–1425), the Early Renaissance (1425–1495), the High Renaissance (1495–1520), and Mannerism (1520–1600). The dates for these periods represent the overall trend in Italian painting and do not cover all painters as the lives of individual artists and their personal styles overlapped these periods. The Proto-Renaissance begins with

2950-469: Is particularly strong, with world-renowned museums such as the Uffizi selling over 1.93 million tickets in 2014. The city's convention centre facilities were restructured during the 1990s and host exhibitions, conferences, meetings, social forums, concerts and other events. In 2016, Florence had 20,588 hotel rooms in 570 facilities. International visitors use 75% of the rooms; some 18% of those were from

3068-446: Is the most significant industry in central Florence. From April to October, tourists outnumber the local population. Tickets to the Uffizi and Accademia galleries are regularly sold out and large groups regularly fill the basilicas of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella , both of which charge for entry. Tickets for The Uffizi and Accademia can be purchased online prior to visiting. In 2010, readers of Travel + Leisure magazine ranked

3186-490: Is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula , which was at that time divided into many political states, some independent but others controlled by external powers. The painters of Renaissance Italy , although often attached to particular courts and with loyalties to particular towns, nonetheless wandered

3304-471: Is thought he aided Masaccio in the creation of his famous trompe-l'œil niche around the Holy Trinity he painted at Santa Maria Novella . According to Vasari, Paolo Uccello was so obsessed with perspective that he thought of little else and experimented with it in many paintings, the best known being the three The Battle of San Romano paintings (completed by 1450s) which use broken weapons on

3422-667: The Maestà , in the Palazzo Pubblico , Siena . Portraiture was uncommon in the 14th and early 15th centuries, mostly limited to civic commemorative pictures such as the equestrian portraits of Guidoriccio da Fogliano by Simone Martini , 1327, in Siena and, of the early 15th century, John Hawkwood by Uccello in Florence Cathedral and its companion portraying Niccolò da Tolentino by Andrea del Castagno . During

3540-572: The CW series, Reign , Archbishop Ridolfi is thought to be Roberto di Ridolfi. Florence Florence ( / ˈ f l ɒr ən s / FLORR -ənss ; Italian : Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany . It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 364,073 inhabitants in 2024, and 990,527 in its metropolitan area . Florence

3658-570: The Camposanto Monumentale at Pisa by an unknown painter, perhaps Francesco Traini or Buonamico Buffalmacco who worked on the other three of a series of frescoes on the subject of Salvation. It is unknown exactly when these frescoes were begun but it is generally presumed they post-date 1348. Two important fresco painters were active in Padua in the late 14th century, Altichiero and Giusto de' Menabuoi . Giusto's masterpiece,

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3776-552: The Historic Centre of Florence a World Heritage Site in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti , and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, Forbes ranked it as one of

3894-731: The Italian Social Republic . Hitler declared it an open city on 3 July 1944 as troops of the British 8th Army closed in. Except for the Ponte Vecchio , in early August, the retreating Germans decided to demolish all the bridges along the Arno linking the district of Oltrarno to the rest of the city, making it difficult for troops of the 8th Army to cross. Florence was liberated by New Zealand , South African and British troops on 4 August 1944 alongside partisans from

4012-510: The Italian language . Thanks especially to the works of the Tuscans Dante , Petrarch and Boccaccio , the Florentine dialect, above all the local dialects, was adopted as the basis for a national literary language. Starting from the late Middle Ages , Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin —financed the development of industry all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges , to Lyon and Hungary . Florentine bankers financed

4130-724: The Sassetti Chapel at Santa Trinita and the Tornabuoni Chapel at Santa Maria Novella . In these cycles of the Life of St Francis and the Life of the Virgin Mary and Life of John the Baptist there was room for portraits of patrons and of the patrons' patrons. Thanks to Sassetti's patronage, there is a portrait of the man himself, with his employer, Lorenzo il Magnifico , and Lorenzo's three sons with their tutor,

4248-710: The Tuscan Committee of National Liberation (CTLN). The Allied soldiers who died driving the Germans from Tuscany are buried in cemeteries outside the city (Americans about nine kilometres or 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles south of the city, British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometres east of the centre on the right bank of the Arno). At the end of World War II in May 1945, the US Army's Information and Educational Branch

4366-460: The illusionistic pierced balustrade that surrounds a trompe-l'œil view of the sky that decks the ceiling of the chamber. Mantegna's main legacy in considered the introduction of spatial illusionism, carried out by a mastery of perspective, both in frescoes and in sacra conversazione paintings: his tradition of ceiling decoration was followed for almost three centuries. In 1442 Alfonso V of Aragon became ruler of Naples , bringing with him

4484-444: The urban area of Florence. The Metropolitan Area of Florence, Prato and Pistoia , constituted in 2000 over an area of roughly 4,800 square kilometres (1,850 sq mi), is home to 1.5 million people. Within Florence proper, 46.8% of the population was male in 2007 and 53.2% were female. Minors (children aged 18 and less) totalled 14.10% of the population compared to pensioners, who numbered 25.95 percent. This compares with

4602-742: The 'Third Italy' in the 1990s, due to the exports of high-quality goods and automobile (especially the Vespa ) and the prosperity and productivity of the Florentine entrepreneurs. Some of these industries even rivalled the traditional industrial districts in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto due to high profits and productivity. In the fourth quarter of 2015, manufacturing increased by 2.4% and exports increased by 7.2%. Leading sectors included mechanical engineering, fashion, pharmaceutics, food and wine. During 2015, permanent employment contracts increased by 48.8 percent, boosted by nationwide tax break. Tourism

4720-415: The 1460s, Cosimo de' Medici had established Marsilio Ficino as his resident Humanist philosopher, and facilitated his translation of Plato and his teaching of Platonic philosophy , which focused on humanity as the centre of the natural universe, on each person's personal relationship with God, and on fraternal or "platonic" love as being the closest that a person could get to emulating or understanding

4838-414: The 15th and first half of the 16th centuries, one workshop more than any other dominated the production of Madonnas. They were the della Robbia family, and they were not painters but modellers in clay. Luca della Robbia , famous for his cantoria gallery at the cathedral, was the first sculptor to use glazed terracotta for large sculptures. Many of the durable works of this family have survived. The skill of

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4956-531: The 15th century portraiture became common, initially often formalised profile portraits but increasingly three-quarter face, bust-length portraits. Patrons of art works such as altarpieces and fresco cycles often were included in the scenes, a notable example being the inclusion of the Sassetti and Medici families in Domenico Ghirlandaio 's cycle in the Sassetti Chapel . Portraiture was to become

5074-481: The 6th century and Florence was in turn conquered by Charlemagne in 774 becoming part of the March of Tuscany centred on Lucca . The population began to grow again and commerce prospered. Margrave Hugo chose Florence as his residency instead of Lucca around 1000 AD. The Golden Age of Florentine art began around this time. In 1100, Florence was a " commune ", meaning a city-state. The city's primary resource

5192-477: The Catholic Church, (Leo X and Clement VII, respectively). Both were generous patrons of the arts, commissioning works like Michelangelo 's Laurentian Library and Medici Chapel in Florence, to name just two. Their reigns coincided with political upheaval in Italy, and thus in 1527, Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a theocratic republic on 16 May 1527, (Jesus Christ

5310-718: The Church of Santa Croce, Florence. The paintings in the Upper Church of the Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi , are examples of naturalistic painting of the period, often ascribed to Giotto himself, but more probably the work of artists surrounding Pietro Cavallini . A late painting by Cimabue in the Lower Church at Assisi, of the Madonna and St. Francis , also clearly shows greater naturalism than his panel paintings and

5428-660: The Concert by Lorenzo Costa of about 1490. Important events were often recorded or commemorated in paintings such as Uccello's Battle of San Romano , as were important local religious festivals. History and historic characters were often depicted in a way that reflected on current events or on the lives of current people. Portraits were often painted of contemporaries in the guise of characters from history or literature. The writings of Dante , Voragine's Golden Legend and Boccaccio 's The Decameron were important sources of themes. In all these subjects, increasingly, and in

5546-539: The English kings during the Hundred Years' War . They similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European history's most important noble families. Lorenzo de' Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in

5664-463: The English throne. With the aid of John Lesley , bishop of Ross , he gained the consent of these high personages to the conspiracy, and then in 1571 he visited the Duke of Alva at Brussels , Pope Pius V at Rome , and Philip II at Madrid to explain to them his scheme and to gain their assistance. However, his messenger to Lesley, Charles Baillie (1542–1625), was seized at Dover and revealed

5782-608: The Eremitani , near the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Unfortunately, the building was mostly destroyed during World War II, and they are only known from photographs which reveal an already highly developed sense of perspective and a knowledge of antiquity, for which the ancient University of Padua had become well known, early in the 15th century. Mantegna's last work in Padua was a monumental San Zeno altarpiece , created for

5900-434: The Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Florence resident is 49 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Florence grew by 3.22 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The birth rate of Florence is 7.66 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births. As of 2009 , 87.46% of

6018-460: The Madonna and Child. These two painters, with their contemporaries, Guido of Siena , Coppo di Marcovaldo and the mysterious painter upon whose style the school may have been based, the so-called Master of St Bernardino, all worked in a manner that was highly formalised and dependent upon the ancient tradition of icon painting. In these tempera paintings many of the details were rigidly fixed by

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6136-540: The Renaissance period . The following is a summary of points dealt with more fully in the main articles that are cited above. A number of Classical texts, that had been lost to Western European scholars for centuries, became available. These included Philosophy, Poetry, Drama, Science, a thesis on the Arts and Early Christian Theology. The resulting interest in Humanist philosophy meant that man's relationship with humanity,

6254-537: The U.S. In 2014, the city had 8.5 million overnight stays. A Euromonitor report indicates that in 2015 the city ranked as the world's 36th most visited in the world, with over 4.95 million arrivals for the year. Tourism brings revenue to Florence, but also creates certain problems. The Ponte Vecchio, The San Lorenzo Market and Santa Maria Novella are plagued by pickpockets. The province of Florence receives roughly 13 million visitors per year and in peak seasons, popular locations may become overcrowded as

6372-598: The abbot of the Basilica of San Zeno , Verona from 1457 to 1459. This polyptych of which the predella panels are particularly notable for the handling of landscape elements, was to influence the further development of Renaissance art in Northern Italy. Mantegna's most famous work is the interior decoration of the Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal palace, Mantua , dated about 1470. The walls are frescoed with scenes of

6490-786: The art of painting. The establishment of the Medici Bank and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city, Florence . Cosimo de' Medici set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy. The serendipitous presence within the region of Florence of certain individuals of artistic genius, most notably Giotto , Masaccio , Brunelleschi, Piero della Francesca , Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo , formed an ethos that supported and encouraged many lesser artists to achieve work of extraordinary quality. A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in Venice through

6608-521: The artistic disciple of Giotto. These devotional paintings, which adorn the cells and corridors inhabited by the friars, represent episodes from the life of Jesus , many of them being scenes of the Crucifixion . They are starkly simple, restrained in colour and intense in mood as the artist sought to make spiritual revelations a visual reality. The earliest truly Renaissance images in Florence date from 1401, although they are not paintings. That year

6726-419: The centre, damaging many art treasures. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point. Florence lies in a basin formed by the hills of Careggi , Fiesole , Settignano , Arcetri , Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo (Florence). The Arno river , three other minor rivers (Mugnone, Ema and Greve) and some streams flow through it. Florence has

6844-429: The city as their third favourite tourist destination. In 2015, Condé Nast Travel readers voted Florence as the best city in Europe. Studies by Euromonitor International have concluded that cultural and history-oriented tourism is generating significantly increased spending throughout Europe. Florence is believed to have the greatest concentration of art (in proportion to its size) in the world. Thus, cultural tourism

6962-518: The death of Gian Gastone de' Medici in 1737. The Kingdom of Italy , which was established in 1861, moved its capital from Turin to Florence in 1865, although the capital was moved to Rome in 1871. Florence was established by the Romans in 59 BC as a colony for veteran soldiers and was built in the style of an army camp . Situated along the Via Cassia , the main route between Rome and

7080-534: The decoration of the Padua Baptistery , follows the theme of humanity's Creation, Downfall, and Salvation, also having a rare Apocalypse cycle in the small chancel. While the whole work is exceptional for its breadth, quality and intact state, the treatment of human emotion is conservative by comparison with that of Altichiero's Crucifixion at the Basilica of Sant'Antonio , also in Padua. Giusto's work relies on formalised gestures, where Altichiero relates

7198-428: The della Robbias, particularly Andrea della Robbia , was to give great naturalism to the babies that they modelled as Jesus , and expressions of great piety and sweetness to the Madonna. They were to set a standard to be emulated by other artists of Florence. Among those who painted devotional Madonnas during the Early Renaissance are Fra Angelico , Fra Filippo Lippi , Verrocchio and Davide Ghirlandaio . The custom

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7316-458: The direction that art and philosophy were moving, at that time. Ghiberti used the naked figure of Isaac to create a small sculpture in the Classical style. The figure kneels on a tomb decorated with acanthus scrolls that are also a reference to the art of Ancient Rome. In Brunelleschi's panel, one of the additional figures included in the scene is reminiscent of a well-known Roman bronze figure of

7434-469: The dome which was not built until the following century. During the later 14th century, International Gothic was the style that dominated Tuscan painting. It can be seen to an extent in the work of Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, which is marked by a formalized sweetness and grace in the figures, and Late Gothic gracefulness in the draperies. The style is fully developed in the works of Simone Martini and Gentile da Fabriano , which have an elegance and

7552-508: The early years of Elizabeth 's reign he began to take a more active part in politics, associating with the discontented Roman Catholics in England and communicating with their friends abroad. In 1570, he set to work on a plot against Elizabeth I which usually bears his name: the Ridolfi plot . His intention was to marry Mary, Queen of Scots , to the Duke of Norfolk and to place her on

7670-519: The eclipse of Florence's formerly powerful rival Pisa . The growing power of the merchant elite culminated in an anti-aristocratic uprising, led by Giano della Bella , resulting in the Ordinances of Justice which entrenched the power of the elite guilds until the end of the Republic. At the height of demographic expansion around 1325, the urban population may have been as great as 120,000, and

7788-402: The existence of the plot under torture. Consequently, Norfolk and Lesley were arrested, the former being condemned to death in January 1572. Ridolfi, who was then in Paris , could do nothing when he heard the news that his scheme had collapsed. Afterwards he served the Pope , but much of his later life was spent in Florence, where he became a senator , and where he died on 18 February 1612. In

7906-413: The first half of the 15th century, the achieving of the effect of realistic space in a painting by the employment of linear perspective was a major preoccupation of many painters, as well as the architects Brunelleschi and Alberti who both theorised about the subject. Brunelleschi is known to have done a number of careful studies of the piazza and octagonal baptistery outside Florence Cathedral and it

8024-481: The gentle and pretty figures painted by Masolino on the opposite side of Adam and Eve receiving the forbidden fruit . The painting of the Brancacci Chapel was left incomplete when Masaccio died at 26 in 1428. The Tribute Money was completed by Masolino while the remainder of the work in the chapel was finished by Filippino Lippi in the 1480s. Masaccio's work became a source of inspiration to many later painters, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo . During

8142-460: The ground, and fields on the distant hills to give an impression of perspective. In the 1450s Piero della Francesca , in paintings such as The Flagellation of Christ , demonstrated his mastery over linear perspective and also over the science of light. Another painting exists, a cityscape, by an unknown artist, perhaps Piero della Francesca, that demonstrates the sort of experiment that Brunelleschi had been making. From this time linear perspective

8260-414: The ground, have discernible anatomy and are clothed in garments with weight and structure. But more than anything, what set Giotto's figures apart from those of his contemporaries are their emotions. In the faces of Giotto's figures are joy, rage, despair, shame, spite and love. The cycle of frescoes of the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin that he painted in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua set

8378-405: The high altar and created a series of bronze panels in which he achieved a remarkable illusion of depth, with perspective in the architectural settings and apparent roundness of the human form all in very shallow relief. At only 17 years old, Mantegna accepted his first commission, fresco cycles of the Lives of Saints James and Christopher for the Ovetari Chapel in the transept of the church of

8496-602: The incidents surrounding Christ's death with great human drama and intensity. In Florence, at the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella , Andrea di Bonaiuto was commissioned to emphasise the role of the Church in the redemptive process, and that of the Dominican Order in particular. His fresco Allegory of the Active and Triumphant Church is remarkable for its depiction of Florence Cathedral , complete with

8614-488: The late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century: Leo X and Clement VII . Catherine de' Medici married King Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de' Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future King Louis XIII . The Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany , starting with Cosimo I de' Medici in 1569 and ending with

8732-473: The latter works of Giovanni Bellini , and Titian . The Mannerist period, dealt with in a separate article, included the latter works of Michelangelo, as well as Pontormo , Parmigianino , Bronzino , and Tintoretto . The influences upon the development of Renaissance painting in Italy are those that also affected architecture, engineering, philosophy, language, literature, natural sciences, politics, ethics, theology, and other aspects of Italian society during

8850-588: The length and breadth of Italy, often occupying a diplomatic status and disseminating artistic and philosophical ideas. The city of Florence in Tuscany is renowned as the birthplace of the Renaissance , and in particular of Renaissance painting, although later in the era Rome and Venice assumed increasing importance in painting. A detailed background is given in the companion articles Renaissance art and Renaissance architecture . Italian Renaissance painting

8968-457: The life of the Gonzaga family , talking, greeting a younger son and his tutor on their return from Rome, preparing for a hunt and other such scenes that make no obvious reference to matters historic, literary, philosophic or religious. They are remarkable for simply being about family life. The one concession is the scattering of jolly winged putti , who hold up plaques and garlands and clamber on

9086-586: The love of God. In the Medieval period, everything related to the Classical period was perceived as associated with paganism. In the Renaissance it came increasingly to be associated with enlightenment . The figures of Classical mythology began to take on a new symbolic role in Christian art and in particular, the Goddess Venus took on a new discretion. Born fully formed, by a sort of miracle, she

9204-468: The lowest was −23.2 °C (−9.8 °F) on 12 January 1985. In 1200 the city was home to 50,000 people. By 1300 the population of the city proper was 120,000, with an additional 300,000 living in the Contado . Between 1500 and 1650 the population was around 70,000. As of 31 October 2010 , the population of the city proper is 370,702, while Eurostat estimates that 696,767 people live in

9322-591: The manner in which religious themes were depicted, notably on Michelangelo's Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel . Other motifs were drawn from contemporary life, sometimes with allegorical meaning, some sometimes purely decorative. Incidents important to a particular family might be recorded like those in the Camera degli Sposi that Mantegna painted for the Gonzaga family at Mantua . Increasingly, still lifes and decorative scenes from life were painted, such as

9440-735: The more recently developed Supertuscan blends. Within 32 km (20 mi) to the west is the Carmignano area, also home to flavourful sangiovese-based reds. The celebrated Chianti Rufina district, geographically and historically separated from the main Chianti region, is also few kilometres east of Florence. More recently, the Bolgheri region (about 150 km or 93 mi southwest of Florence) has become celebrated for its " Super Tuscan " reds such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia . Italian Renaissance painting Italian Renaissance painting

9558-1441: The most beautiful cities in the world in 2010. Florence plays an important role in Italian fashion , and is ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world by Global Language Monitor ; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. Firenze comes from Florentiae , locative form of Florentia , in turn a name conveying good luck, from Latin : florēre , lit.   'to blossom'.   Roman Republic , 59–27 BC   Roman Empire , 27 BC–AD 285   Western Roman Empire , 285–476   Kingdom of Odoacer , 476–493   Ostrogothic Kingdom , 493–553   Eastern Roman Empire , 553–568   Lombard Kingdom , 570–773   Carolingian Empire , 774–797   Regnum Italiae , 797–1001   March of Tuscany , 1002–1115 [REDACTED] Republic of Florence , 1115–1532 [REDACTED] Duchy of Florence , 1532–1569 [REDACTED] Grand Duchy of Tuscany , 1569–1801 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Etruria , 1801–1807 [REDACTED] First French Empire , 1807–1815 [REDACTED] Grand Duchy of Tuscany , 1815–1859 [REDACTED] United Provinces of Central Italy , 1859–1860 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Italy , 1861–1943 [REDACTED]   Italian Social Republic , 1943–1945 [REDACTED]   Italy , 1946–present Florence originated as

9676-490: The most influential painters of northern Italy was Andrea Mantegna of Padua , who had the good fortune to be in his teen years at the time in which the great Florentine sculptor Donatello was working there. Donatello created the enormous equestrian bronze, the first since the Roman Empire, of the condotiero Gattemelata , still visible on its plinth in the square outside the Basilica of Sant'Antonio . He also worked on

9794-529: The north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno , the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre and in AD 285 became the capital of the Tuscia region. In centuries to come, the city experienced turbulent alternate periods of Ostrogoth and Byzantine rule, during which the city was fought over, helping to cause the population to fall to as low as 1,000 people. Peace returned under Lombard rule in

9912-426: The number of visitors had increased by 5.5% from the previous year. In 2013, Florence was listed as the second best world city by Condé Nast Traveler . Manufacturing and commerce remain highly important. Florence is Italy's 17th richest city in terms of average workers' earnings, with the figure being €23,265 (the overall city's income is €6,531,204,473), coming after Mantua , yet surpassing Bolzano . Florence

10030-578: The objects would have excited Piero della Francesca . In Florence, in the later 15th century, most works of art, even those that were done as decoration for churches, were generally commissioned and paid for by private patrons. Much of the patronage came from the Medici family, or those who were closely associated with or related to them, such as the Sassetti, the Ruccellai, and the Tornabuoni. In

10148-483: The paintings of Masaccio and Paolo Uccello . Simultaneous with gaining access to the Classical texts, Europe gained access to advanced mathematics which had its provenance in the works of Byzantine and Islamic scholars. The advent of movable type printing in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, and an increasing number of books were written for a broad public. The development of oil paint and its introduction to Italy had lasting effects on

10266-508: The population belonging to the Archdiocese of Florence . As of 2016, an estimated 30,000 people, or 8% of the population, identified as Muslim. Foreign-born population (31.12.2019) Tourism is, by far, the most important of all industries and most of the Florentine economy relies on the money generated by international arrivals and students studying in the city. The value tourism to the city totalled some €2.5 billion in 2015 and

10384-462: The population was Italian. An estimated 6,000 Chinese live in the city. The largest immigrant group came from other European countries (mostly Romanians and Albanians ): 3.52%, East Asia (mostly Chinese and Filipino ): 2.17%, the Americas: 1.41%, and North Africa (mostly Moroccan ): 0.9%. Much like the rest of Italy most of the people in Florence are Roman Catholic , with more than 90% of

10502-550: The powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy . The Florentine dialect forms the base of standard Italian and it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri , Petrarch , Giovanni Boccaccio , Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini . The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and UNESCO declared

10620-409: The present name) was significantly widened and a large triumphal arch was constructed at the west end. A museum recording the destruction stands nearby today. The country's second capital city was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the French troops allowed the capture of Rome . During World War II the city experienced a year-long German occupation (1943–1944) being part of

10738-461: The professional life of the painter Giotto and includes Taddeo Gaddi , Orcagna , and Altichiero . The Early Renaissance style was started by Masaccio and then further developed by Fra Angelico , Paolo Uccello , Piero della Francesca , Sandro Botticelli , Verrocchio , Domenico Ghirlandaio , and Giovanni Bellini . The High Renaissance period was that of Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , Raphael , Andrea del Sarto , Coreggio , Giorgione ,

10856-484: The remains of his earlier frescoes in the upper church. A common theme in the decoration of Medieval churches was the Last Judgement , which in northern European churches frequently occupies a sculptural space above the west door, but in Italian churches such as Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel it is painted on the inner west wall. The Black Death of 1348 caused its survivors to focus on the need to approach death in

10974-522: The rural population around the city was probably close to 300,000. The Black Death of 1348 reduced it by over half, about 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's wool industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers ( ciompi ), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi . After their suppression, Florence came under

11092-643: The size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, he had to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. These made the Florentines rebel, and they expelled Piero II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government. During this period, the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola had become prior of the San Marco monastery in 1490. He

11210-410: The small painting is framed by a late Gothic arch, through which is viewed an interior, domestic on one side and ecclesiastic on the other, in the centre of which the saint sits in a wooden corral surrounded by his possessions while his lion prowls in the shadows on the floor. The way the light streams in through every door and window casting both natural and reflected light across the architecture and all

11328-533: The source was an actual window in the cathedral. Piero della Francesca carried his study of light further. In the Flagellation he demonstrates a knowledge of how light is proportionally disseminated from its point of origin. There are two sources of light in this painting, one internal to a building and the other external. Of the internal source, though the light itself is invisible, its position can be calculated with mathematical certainty. Leonardo da Vinci

11446-492: The study of drapery. In the Brancacci Chapel , his Tribute Money fresco has a single vanishing point and uses a strong contrast between light and dark to convey a three-dimensional quality to the work. As well, the figures of Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden , painted on the side of the arch into the chapel, are renowned for their realistic depiction of the human form and of human emotion. They contrast with

11564-574: The subject matter, the precise position of the hands of the Madonna and Christ Child, for example, being dictated by the nature of the blessing that the painting invoked upon the viewer. The angle of the Virgin's head and shoulders, the folds in her veil, and the lines with which her features were defined had all been repeated in countless such paintings. Cimabue and Duccio took steps in the direction of greater naturalism, as did their contemporary, Pietro Cavallini of Rome. Giotto (1266–1337), by tradition

11682-481: The sway (1382–1434) of the Albizzi family, who became bitter rivals of the Medici. In the 15th century, Florence was among the largest cities in Europe, with a population of 60,000, and was considered rich and economically successful. Cosimo de' Medici was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from

11800-561: The talented Bellini family, their influential inlaw Mantegna , Giorgione , Titian and Tintoretto . Much painting of the Renaissance period was commissioned by or for the Catholic Church . These works were often of large scale and were frequently cycles painted in fresco of the Life of Christ , the Life of the Virgin or the life of a saint, particularly St. Francis of Assisi . There were also many allegorical paintings on

11918-657: The theme of Salvation and the role of the Church in attaining it. Churches also commissioned altarpieces , which were painted in tempera on panel and later in oil on canvas . Apart from large altarpieces, small devotional pictures were produced in very large numbers, both for churches and for private individuals, the most common theme being the Madonna and Child . Throughout the period, civic commissions were also important. Local government buildings were decorated with frescoes and other works both secular, such as Ambrogio Lorenzetti 's The Allegory of Good and Bad Government , and religious, such as Simone Martini 's fresco of

12036-458: The universe and with God was no longer the exclusive province of the Church. A revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello . The revival of a style of architecture based on classical precedents inspired a corresponding classicism in painting, which manifested itself as early as the 1420s in

12154-509: The works of almost all painters, certain underlying painterly practices were being developed: the observation of nature, the study of anatomy, of light, and perspective. The art of the region of Tuscany in the late 13th century was dominated by two masters of the Italo-Byzantine style, Cimabue of Florence and Duccio of Siena . Their commissions were mostly religious paintings, several of them being very large altarpieces showing

12272-806: The works' overall composition also appears to be a Netherlandish influence. Antonello went to Venice in 1475 and remained there until the fall of 1476 so it is likely that Antonello passed on the techniques of using oil paints, painting the gradation of light, and the principles of calmness to Venetian painters , including Giovanni Bellini, one of the most significant painters of the High Renaissance in Northern Italy, during that visit. Antonello painted mostly small meticulous portraits in glowing colours. But one of his most famous works, St. Jerome in His Study , demonstrates his superior ability at handling linear perspective and light. The composition of

12390-437: Was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics to have been the birthplace of the Renaissance , becoming a major artistic, cultural, commercial, political, economic and financial center. During this time, Florence rose to a position of enormous influence in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by

12508-547: Was an accomplished poet and musician and brought composers and singers to Florence, including Alexander Agricola , Johannes Ghiselin , and Heinrich Isaac . By contemporary Florentines (and since), he was known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" (Lorenzo il Magnifico). Following Lorenzo de' Medici's death in 1492, he was succeeded by his son Piero II . When the French king Charles VIII invaded northern Italy , Piero II chose to resist his army. But when he realised

12626-591: Was continued by Botticelli, who produced a series of Madonnas over a period of twenty years for the Medici ; Perugino , whose Madonnas and saints are known for their sweetness and Leonardo da Vinci , for whom a number of small attributed Madonnas such as the Benois Madonna have survived. Even Michelangelo , who was primarily a sculptor, was persuaded to paint the Doni Tondo , while for Raphael , they are among his most popular and numerous works. One of

12744-476: Was destroyed by fire, but replaced with a new image in the 1330s by Bernardo Daddi , set in an elaborately designed and lavishly wrought canopy by Orcagna . The open lower storey of the building was enclosed and dedicated as Orsanmichele . Depictions of the Madonna and Child were a very popular art form in Florence. They took every shape from small mass-produced terracotta plaques to magnificent altarpieces such as those by Cimabue , Giotto and Masaccio . In

12862-502: Was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his teachings, turned against him and arrested him. He was convicted as a heretic, hanged and burned on the Piazza della Signoria on 23 May 1498. His ashes were dispersed in the Arno river. Another Florentine of this period was Niccolò Machiavelli , whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as

12980-449: Was famed for his penitential sermons, lambasting what he viewed as widespread immorality and attachment to material riches. He praised the exile of the Medici as the work of God, punishing them for their decadence. He seized the opportunity to carry through political reforms leading to a more democratic rule. But when Savonarola publicly accused Pope Alexander VI of corruption, he was banned from speaking in public. When he broke this ban, he

13098-525: Was named Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569; in all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy ) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence. The extinction of the Medici dynasty and the accession in 1737 of Francis Stephen , duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa of Austria , led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. It became

13216-518: Was named King of Florence). The Medici returned to power in Florence in 1530, with the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the blessings of Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici). Florence officially became a monarchy in 1531, when Emperor Charles and Pope Clement named Alessandro de' Medici as Duke of the Florentine Republic . The Medici's monarchy would last over two centuries. Alessandro's successor, Cosimo I de' Medici ,

13334-514: Was ordered to establish an overseas university campus for demobilised American service men and women in Florence. The first American university for service personnel was established in June 1945 at the School of Aeronautics. Some 7,500 soldier-students were to pass through the university during its four one-month sessions (see G. I. American Universities ). In November 1966, the Arno flooded parts of

13452-603: Was restored on the throne of Tuscany at the Congress of Vienna but finally deposed in 1859. Tuscany became a region of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Florence replaced Turin as Italy's capital in 1865 and, in an effort to modernise the city, the old market in the Piazza del Mercato Vecchio and many medieval houses were pulled down and replaced by a more formal street plan with newer houses. The Piazza (first renamed Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II , then Piazza della Repubblica ,

13570-492: Was the Arno river , providing power and access for the industry (mainly textile industry), and access to the Mediterranean sea for international trade, helping the growth of an industrious merchant community. The Florentine merchant banking skills became recognised in Europe after they brought decisive financial innovation (e.g. bills of exchange , double-entry bookkeeping system ) to medieval fairs. This period also saw

13688-686: Was the new Eve , symbol of innocent love, or even, by extension, a symbol of the Virgin Mary herself. We see Venus in both these roles in the two famous tempera paintings that Botticelli did in the 1480s for Cosimo's nephew, Pierfrancesco de' Medici , the Primavera and the Birth of Venus . Meanwhile, Domenico Ghirlandaio , a meticulous and accurate draughtsman and one of the finest portrait painters of his age, executed two cycles of frescoes for Medici associates in two of Florence's larger churches,

13806-564: Was to carry forward Piero's work on light. The Virgin Mary , revered by the Catholic Church worldwide, was particularly evoked in Florence, where there was a miraculous image of her on a column in the corn market and where both the Cathedral of "Our Lady of the Flowers" and the large Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella were named in her honour. The miraculous image in the corn market

13924-554: Was understood and regularly employed, such as by Perugino in his Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter (1481–82) in the Sistine Chapel . Giotto used tonality to create form. Taddeo Gaddi in his nocturnal scene in the Baroncelli Chapel demonstrated how light could be used to create drama. Paolo Uccello , a hundred years later, experimented with the dramatic effect of light in some of his almost monochrome frescoes. He did

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