171-531: The Renaissance in Rome occupied a period from the mid-15th to the mid-16th centuries, a period which spawned such masters as Michelangelo and Raphael , who left an indelible mark on Western figurative art. The city had been a magnet for artists wishing to study its classical ruins since the early 15th century. A revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by
342-464: A German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political and social organization, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from feudalism so that its society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking, represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (painted 1338–1340), whose strong message
513-465: A citizen and official, as well as a theorist and philosopher and also Quintilian . Perhaps the most succinct expression of his perspective on humanism is in a 1465 poetic work La città di vita , but an earlier work, Della vita civile , is more wide-ranging. Composed as a series of dialogues set in a country house in the Mugello countryside outside Florence during the plague of 1430, Palmieri expounds on
684-404: A combination of reasoning and empirical evidence . Humanist education was based on the programme of Studia Humanitatis , the study of five humanities: poetry , grammar , history , moral philosophy , and rhetoric . Although historians have sometimes struggled to define humanism precisely, most have settled on "a middle of the road definition... the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate
855-547: A connection with the powerful Buonaccorso Pitti , whose diary records a fight in Pisa in 1380 in which Niccolò intervened, giving Pitti's opponent a fatal blow. Vasari's claim that Donatello was raised and educated in the house of the prominent Martelli family is probably baseless, and given for literary, even political reasons. They were certainly later keen patrons of Donatello, and also commissioned work from Vasari himself. Donatello's first appearance in any documentary records
1026-603: A continuous learning from antiquity). Sociologist Rodney Stark , plays down the Renaissance in favor of the earlier innovations of the Italian city-states in the High Middle Ages , which married responsive government, Christianity and the birth of capitalism . This analysis argues that, whereas the great European states (France and Spain) were absolute monarchies , and others were under direct Church control,
1197-578: A cultural rebirth at the close of the Middle Ages and rise of the Modern world. One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) is credited with first treating a painting as a window into space, but it was not until the demonstrations of architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) and the subsequent writings of Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) that perspective
1368-553: A faster propagation of more widely distributed ideas. In the first period of the Italian Renaissance , humanists favored the study of humanities over natural philosophy or applied mathematics , and their reverence for classical sources further enshrined the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic views of the universe. Writing around 1450, Nicholas of Cusa anticipated the heliocentric worldview of Copernicus , but in
1539-550: A good deal of his output was architectural reliefs for pulpits , altars and tombs, as well as Madonna and Child s for homes. Broad, overlapping, phases can be seen in his style, beginning with the development of expressiveness and classical monumentality in statues, then developing energy and charm, mostly in smaller works. Early on he veered away from the International Gothic style he learned from Lorenzo Ghiberti , with classically informed pieces, and further on
1710-548: A highly important architect, while Donatello began his career in sculpture. Donatello is recorded as working as an apprentice, and for the last few months on a salary, in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1404–1407, apparently working on the workshop's main project, the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery , and from 1406 on he began stone carving at the cathedral for the Porta della Mandorla on its north side,
1881-520: A large project that was still some years from completion. He was paid in November 1406 for a figure of a prophet on the door, most probably the one for the left pinnacle (now in the Museo dell' Opera del Duomo , the cathedral museum). Giovanni d'Ambrogio , whose work, according to Kreytenberg, "provided a decisive impetus for the emergence of Renaissance sculpture", has been described by Manfred Wundram as
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#17327722139152052-443: A large workshop like that of Ghiberti, seems to have had at most times a relatively small number of experienced assistants, some of whom became significant masters in their own right. The technical quality of his work can vary, especially in bronze pieces, where casting faults may occur; even the bronze David has a hole under his chin, and a patch on his thigh. Donatello certainly made drawings, probably especially for reliefs. In
2223-406: A long and complex historiography , and in line with general skepticism of discrete periodizations, there has been much debate among historians reacting to the 19th-century glorification of the "Renaissance" and individual cultural heroes as "Renaissance men", questioning the usefulness of Renaissance as a term and as a historical delineation. Some observers have questioned whether the Renaissance
2394-463: A long time. Another type of work for sculptors was coats of arms and other heraldic pieces for the outsides of the palazzi of the great families of the city, of which Donatello made a number. Donatello also restored antique sculptures for the Palazzo Medici . The breakup of the partnership with Michelozzo seems to have been partly precipitated by Donatello's delays in doing his part in
2565-493: A love of books. In some cases, cultivated library builders were also committed to offering others the opportunity to use their collections. Prominent aristocrats and princes of the Church created great libraries for the use of their courts, called "court libraries", and were housed in lavishly designed monumental buildings decorated with ornate woodwork, and the walls adorned with frescoes (Murray, Stuart A.P.). Renaissance art marks
2736-613: A milestone for the character developments of the late 15th century. The last part of this century was dominated by the figure of Pope Alexander VI , from the Spanish family Borgia . He first turned his attention to the defence of the Eternal City. He changed the Mausoleum of Hadrian into a fortress, likewise Torre di Nona, to secure the city from naval attacks. His Via Alessandrina, now called Via della Conciliazione , remains to
2907-532: A more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform . It saw myriad artistic developments and contributions from such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo , who inspired the term "Renaissance man". In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning . The period also saw revolutions in other intellectual and social scientific pursuits, as well as
3078-643: A new monastery, assigned to the Benedictines. The pavement of the basilica and the columns were designed as signature pieces of the Colonna family . When Cosimo de' Medici was exiled from Florence, Donatello returned to Rome, remaining until 1433. The two works that testify to his presence in this city, the Tomb of Giovanni Crivelli at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and the ciborium at St. Peter's Basilica , bear
3249-551: A number of stark, even brutal pieces. The sensuous eroticism of his most famous work, the bronze David , is very rarely seen in other pieces. All accounts describe Donatello as amiable and well-liked, but rather poor at the business side of his career. Like (not only) Michelangelo in the next century, he tended to accept more commissions than he could handle, and many works were either completed some years late, handed to other sculptors to finish, or never produced. Again like Michelangelo, he enjoyed steady support and patronage from
3420-511: A peasant, at which Donatello challenged him to do something better; he then produced the Brunelleschi Crucifix . At the time Brunelleschi's more classical figure was probably considered to have won the contest, but modern tastes may dispute this. Donatello became famous for his reliefs , especially his development of a very "low" or shallow relief style, called stiacciato (literally "flattened-out"), where all parts of
3591-432: A perfect mind and body, which could be attained with education. The purpose of humanism was to create a universal man whose person combined intellectual and physical excellence and who was capable of functioning honorably in virtually any situation. This ideology was referred to as the uomo universale , an ancient Greco-Roman ideal. Education during the Renaissance was mainly composed of ancient literature and history as it
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#17327722139153762-403: A philosophical fashion. Science and art were intermingled in the early Renaissance, with polymath artists such as Leonardo da Vinci making observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Leonardo set up controlled experiments in water flow, medical dissection, and systematic study of movement and aerodynamics, and he devised principles of research method that led Fritjof Capra to classify him as
3933-494: A relatively new medium for him. Ghiberti had been involved from 1417 for a project for the font at the Siena Baptistery ; it seems to have been his idea to have six bronze, rather than marble, reliefs, and these were allocated to him, Jacopo della Quercia , and a local father and son team. By 1423 Ghiberti had not even started work, and one relief, The Feast of Herod was given to Donatello instead (the overall subject
4104-656: A series of frescoes in the Old St. Peter's Basilica, which testifies to the presence of the nascent interest in Flemish painting and the Nordic generally. Although the duration of the pontificate of Eugene IV did not allow for the full implementation of his plans, Rome became a fruitful meeting ground for artists of different schools. This would soon spawn a common style, which for the first time be defined as "Roman". The collaboration between Alberti and Pope Nicholas V gave rise to
4275-517: A series of theses on philosophy, natural thought, faith, and magic defended against any opponent on the grounds of reason. In addition to studying classical Latin and Greek, Renaissance authors also began increasingly to use vernacular languages; combined with the introduction of the printing press , this allowed many more people access to books, especially the Bible. In all, the Renaissance can be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve
4446-637: A strong stamp of classical influence. Brunelleschi also returned several times to find inspiration for what was the Renaissance art . While in Florence, Masaccio , first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento , became friends with Brunelleschi and Donatello, and at their prompting in 1423 travelled to Rome, along with his mentor Masolino . From that point he was freed of all Gothic and Byzantine influence, as may be seen in his altarpiece for
4617-425: A style rich in details, erudite, and where his "Christian humanism" is expressed in its vertices. The scenes are set in majestic architecture, born from the suggestions of ancient Rome and early Christian times, but not slavish, perhaps mindful of the projects that then circulated in the papal court for the restoration of St. Peter. The figures are solid, calm and solemn, the tone was generally more stately, exemplifying
4788-494: A sword or lance; the client would have been able to supply these pieces in bronze. The gilt-bronze Saint Louis of Toulouse dates to some years later, 1423–25. It is now in the museum of the Basilica di Santa Croce , having been replaced in 1460 by the bronze Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Verrocchio . It is technically very unusual, as it was built up from a number of sections cast and gilded separately, necessitated by
4959-414: A tightly-stretched unified skin-plane which is scarcely broken in surface relief to suggest a deep, though not limitless, space". The relief does not provide a "completely coherent system of perspective" (nor did any Italian work for some five or six years after), but the arcaded hall on the right represents a partial scheme of perspective. His next major development in this direction was in bronze, still
5130-709: A total overhaul of the building, which retained what was already built. Work began around 1450, but with the death of the Pope had no further development, and stagnated until Julius II decided for a complete reconstruction. The renewal of the Apostolic Palace was a first step in the decoration of the private chapel of the Pope, the Niccoline Chapel , by Fra Angelico and his assistant Benozzo Gozzoli . The decoration includes stories of St. Lawrence and St. Stephen , which were interpreted by Fra Angelico in
5301-579: A trade fair that was important for the city's economy. The commission began in 1428, but Donatello did not begin work on his allotted areas for years, despite relentless chasing by the Prato authorities, and finally Cosimo de' Medici . Donatello's reliefs of dancing children for the pulpit, "a veritable bacchanalian dance of half-nude putti, pagan in spirit, passionate in its wonderful rhythmic movement", were finally delivered in 1438, and it seems that though designed by Donatello, perhaps using his first idea for
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5472-620: A variant of these traditionally called spiritelli (" imps " or "sprites"). Putti were not new in Italian sculpture, but were given a rather unusual prominence by Donatello. Some early examples are three out of a group of six freestanding bronze spiritelli on the cover for the font of the Siena Baptistery (1429), standing over his earlier relief of the Feast of Herod discussed above. One dances and two play musical instruments. They have been said to be "the first true free-standing figurines of
5643-546: A variety of depths and sizes, and in different materials. Around 1425 Donatello entered into a formal partnership with Michelozzo , who is mainly remembered as an architect, but was also a sculptor, especially of smaller-scale works in metal. He had trained with the mint making dies for coins, where he still had a salaried position. Michelozzo was the younger by about ten years, and they had probably known each other for years. Michelozzo wanted to extract himself from an arrangement with Ghiberti, and Donatello had too much work, and
5814-531: A wall in the form of pilasters. One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Brunelleschi. Arches, semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental, are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch. Alberti was one of the first to use
5985-459: A wide range of writers. Classical texts could be found alongside humanist writings. These informal associations of intellectuals profoundly influenced Renaissance culture. An essential tool of Renaissance librarianship was the catalog that listed, described, and classified a library's books. Some of the richest "bibliophiles" built libraries as temples to books and knowledge. A number of libraries appeared as manifestations of immense wealth joined with
6156-554: Is 1401, when the rival geniuses Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract to build the bronze doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti won). Others see more general competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello , and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why
6327-485: Is a period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and surpass the ideas and achievements of classical antiquity . Associated with great social change in most fields and disciplines, including art , architecture , politics, literature , exploration and science ,
6498-525: Is about the virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many defences of liberty such as the Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not only in art, sculpture and architecture, but "the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political philosophy that occurred in Florence at
6669-438: Is now in the cathedral museum. This was placed with the base about 3 metres from the ground, and Donatello adjusts his composition with this in mind; since 2015 it and other cathedral sculptures have been displayed at their original heights. In 1415 the cathedral authorities decided to revive and complete medieval projects, and add eight lifesize marble figures for the niches of the higher levels of Giotto's Campanile adjoining
6840-522: Is presented to two figures, one presumably Herodias. It does not represent a full one-point perspective scheme, as there are two vanishing points , perhaps intended to create subliminal impressions of tension and disharmony in the viewer, reflecting the grisly subject. Other stiacciato reliefs include The Assumption of the Virgin in the wall-tomb in Sant'Angelo a Nilo , Naples, (1426-1428, see below),
7011-420: Is shallower than the others, but Donatello turns this to his advantage, pushing the figure forward into space, and with the "anxious look" on the face suggesting alertness or prontezza , "the quality above all others singled out for praise in the successive Renaissance eulogies of the work". Holes and the shape of a hand suggest that the figure was originally fitted with a wreath or helmet on his head, and carried
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7182-546: Is that the devastation in Florence caused by the Black Death , which hit Europe between 1348 and 1350, resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th century Italy. Italy was particularly badly hit by the plague, and it has been speculated that the resulting familiarity with death caused thinkers to dwell more on their lives on Earth, rather than on spirituality and the afterlife . It has also been argued that
7353-446: Is the biography of Brunelleschi by Antonio Manetti (1423–1497), who knew both men, but it was written after their deaths in the 1470s. Vasari just repeats a shorter version of Manetti's account, according to which both men were able to support themselves by jobs for Roman goldsmiths , which probably represented important training for Donatello. Perhaps they were also able to sell excavated sculptures. Brunelleschi subsequently became
7524-441: Is unknown. After the final result in late 1402, or early 1403, they seem to have left for Rome together, staying until at least the next year, to study the artistic and architectural remains left by Ancient Rome , then very abundant, though for the most part still buried. They were very early in this effectively archaeological pursuit, which included measuring remains, and hiring labourers to excavate. The main source for this period
7695-650: Is unpromising; in January 1401, at the age of about 15, he was accused in Pistoia , 25 miles from Florence and then controlled by it, of hitting a German with a stick, drawing blood. He was probably there with his father, who had an official job in Pistoia at the time, while Buonaccorso Pitti was the Captain, or governor. While there Donatello appears to have befriended, and perhaps worked with, Filippo Brunelleschi , who
7866-513: The Virgin and Child , mostly for homes, had long been a staple for Italian painters, and becoming affordable ever lower down the income scale. Now sculptors were producing them as reliefs, in a variety of materials, and with the cheaper terracotta or plaster ones often painted. The attribution of the large numbers of such images is often difficult, especially as the style of Donatello and contemporaries such as Ghiberti continued to be used for them for
8037-678: The Carolingian Renaissance (8th and 9th centuries), Ottonian Renaissance (10th and 11th century), and the Renaissance of the 12th century . The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period . Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in art , architecture , philosophy , literature , music , science , technology , politics, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed
8208-845: The High Middle Ages in Western Europe and in the Islamic Golden Age (normally in translation), but Greek literary, oratorical and historical works (such as Homer , the Greek dramatists, Demosthenes and Thucydides ) were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Islamic worlds ; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by Byzantine scholars. Some argue that the Timurid Renaissance in Samarkand and Herat , whose magnificence toned with Florence as
8379-747: The Late Middle Ages have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a political entity in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller city-states and territories: the Neapolitans controlled the south, the Florentines and the Romans at the center, the Milanese and the Genoese to
8550-765: The Levant . Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Iberia and Sicily , which became important centers for this transmission of ideas. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, many schools dedicated to the translation of philosophical and scientific works from Classical Arabic to Medieval Latin were established in Iberia, most notably the Toledo School of Translators . This work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of
8721-655: The Madonna of the Clouds and Pazzi Madonna , both c. 1425−1430 and domestic pieces respectively with and without a carved background, The Ascension with Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter (1428–30), for an unknown location but in the Medici collection by the end of the century, and a small Virgin and Child (perhaps 1426, probably by his workshop). At all times Donatello and his workshop made more conventional reliefs, at
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#17327722139158892-662: The Mannerist style. The so-called Counter-Maniera style was a reaction to Mannerist excesses supported by several patrons around the mid-century, with plainer and more naturalist depictions in the spirit of the Counter-Reformation . Rome once again became a driving centre of art at the end of the century, with the start of the Baroque . Renaissance The Renaissance ( UK : / r ɪ ˈ n eɪ s ən s / rin- AY -sənss , US : / ˈ r ɛ n ə s ɑː n s / REN -ə-sahnss )
9063-712: The Medici , and the migration of Greek scholars and their texts to Italy following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire . Other major centers were Venice , Genoa , Milan , Rome during the Renaissance Papacy , and Naples . From Italy, the Renaissance spread throughout Europe and also to American, African and Asian territories ruled by the European colonial powers of the time or where Christian missionaries were active. The Renaissance has
9234-415: The Medici family . All sources agree that he carved stone and modelled clay or wax for bronzes very quickly and confidently, and art historians feel able to distinguish his hand from that of others, even within the same work. Italian Renaissance sculptors nearly always used assistants, with the master often giving parts of a piece over to them, but Donatello, who would perhaps not have been good at managing
9405-561: The Northern Renaissance , the Spanish Renaissance , etc. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a "long Renaissance" may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century. The traditional view focuses more on the Renaissance's early modern aspects and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it
9576-724: The Old St. Peter's Basilica , completed in 1445. In 1443–1445, Leon Battista Alberti , whose many talents truly epitomised the " Renaissance Man ", wrote the Descriptio urbis Romae , where he proposed a system for a geometric arrangement of the city centred on the Capitoline Hill . He later became the architectural advisor to Pope Nicholas V and was involved in a number of projects at the Vatican. Shortly after they arrived in town, Beato Angelico and French Jean Fouquet began
9747-499: The Pisa Baptistry , demonstrates that classical models influenced Italian art before the Renaissance took root as a literary movement. Applied innovation extended to commerce. At the end of the 15th century, Luca Pacioli published the first work on bookkeeping , making him the founder of accounting . The rediscovery of ancient texts and the invention of the printing press in about 1440 democratized learning and allowed
9918-457: The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII in the Florence Baptistery ; the executors were Giovanni de' Medici and Medici supporters. Donatello made the recumbent bronze figure of the deceased, and Michelozzo, with assistants, the several figures in stone. The tomb, elegantly integrating a variety of elements into a narrow vertical space, in a classicizing style, made a great impact and "became the model for
10089-435: The linen -weavers guild. Viewing the finished statue at ground level, the weavers did not like it. Donatello got them to put it in its niche and cover it up while he worked to improve it. After two weeks under cover, he showed it in position, without having done any work on it, and they happily accepted it. It has a contrapposto pose, with the robe on the leg bearing the weight in straight "vertical drapery folds resembling
10260-639: The republic , who placed in the seat of government, the Palazzo Vecchio . It was "one of the early cases in monumental sculpture where he is portrayed as a youth", rather than the King of Israel, and "teeters between the Gothic and Renaissance worlds". In 1409–1411 he executed the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist , which occupied a niche of the old cathedral façade until 1588, and
10431-592: The "father of modern science". Other examples of Da Vinci's contribution during this period include machines designed to saw marbles and lift monoliths, and new discoveries in acoustics, botany, geology, anatomy, and mechanics. A suitable environment had developed to question classical scientific doctrine. The discovery in 1492 of the New World by Christopher Columbus challenged the classical worldview. The works of Ptolemy (in geography) and Galen (in medicine) were found to not always match everyday observations. As
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#173277221391510602-406: The "true mentor of Donatello". By early 1408 Donatello had acquired sufficient reputation to be given the commission for a life-size prophet for the cathedral, to be paired with another by Nanni di Banco , a brilliant sculptor of Donatello's age, who seems to have been both a rival and friend. In the end they were not placed as intended, probably because they appeared too small from far below, and
10773-404: The 14th century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance scholars such as Petrarch , Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437), and Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin authors as Cicero , Lucretius , Livy , and Seneca . By the early 15th century, the bulk of the surviving such Latin literature had been recovered;
10944-454: The 18th century; it was known as the "White Colossus" or homo magnus et albus ("Large White Man"). Another large-scale sculptural project in the city was the completion of the statues for the niches around the outside of the rectangular Orsanmichele , a building owned by the guilds of Florence , which was in the process of turning itself from a grain market to a church on the ground floor, still with offices above. There were 14 niches around
11115-480: The 1st-century writer Vitruvius and the flourishing discipline of mathematics, Brunelleschi formulated the Renaissance style that emulated and improved on classical forms. His major feat of engineering was building the dome of Florence Cathedral . Another building demonstrating this style is the Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua , built by Alberti. The outstanding architectural work of the High Renaissance
11286-468: The Black Death prompted a new wave of piety, manifested in the sponsorship of religious works of art. However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century. The Black Death was a pandemic that affected all of Europe in the ways described, not only Italy. The Renaissance's emergence in Italy was most likely the result of the complex interaction of
11457-566: The Carmelite Church in Pisa . The traces of influences from ancient Roman and Greek art that are present in some of Masaccio's works must also have originated from this trip. Unfortunately, any further innovation was curtailed by Masaccio's premature death at the age of 27. Eugenius IV (Gabriello Condulmaro, or Condulmerio) was born in Venice in 1388, of a wealthy family. He was nephew to Pope Gregory XII . His service to Pope Martin V
11628-508: The Convent of San Donato in Scopeto in Florence. The Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo de' Medici came to power – indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. In some ways, Renaissance humanism was not a philosophy but a method of learning. In contrast to the medieval scholastic mode, which focused on resolving contradictions between authors, Renaissance humanists would study ancient texts in their original languages and appraise them through
11799-408: The Donatello appears to be lost. From now on he received a series of commissions for full-size statues for prominent public locations. These are now among his most famous works, but after about 1425 he produced few sculptures of this type. His marble David may date from around this time, or slightly later, perhaps 1412. He was commissioned to rework it in 1416, the cathedral surrendering it to
11970-409: The Florence cantoria frieze (see below), they are not believed to have actually been carved by him. The Prato authorities were unhappy, and the ten years it had taken to get them finished seems to have strained relations with Michelozzo, and the partnership was not renewed in 1434. The two remained on amicable terms, and were to collaborate later. The pulpit reliefs are now replaced by replicas, with
12141-578: The Florentine Arte della Lana , the wool workers guild, which probably provided a good income. Donatello's actual surname was therefore Bardi , but if he was related to the well known Bardi family of bankers, it seems to have been rather distantly. The banker Bardis were still wealthy and powerful, despite the default of Edward III of England in 1345 having caused the failure of their bank. After Contessina de' Bardi married Cosimo de' Medici around 1415, any connection he had might still have been useful to Donatello. However, Donatello's father did have
12312-440: The Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was under way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts. Unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient Greek works on science, mathematics, and philosophy had been studied since
12483-760: The Islamic steps of Ibn Khaldun . Pico della Mirandola wrote the "manifesto" of the Renaissance, the Oration on the Dignity of Man , a vibrant defence of thinking. Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475), another humanist, is most known for his work Della vita civile ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528), which advocated civic humanism , and for his influence in refining the Tuscan vernacular to the same level as Latin. Palmieri drew on Roman philosophers and theorists, especially Cicero , who, like Palmieri, lived an active public life as
12654-515: The Quattrocento wall-tomb whenever an elaborate or particular impressive expression was wanted" with variations found well into the next century. After his death in 1427, the partnership took on the funerary monument of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci , a Medici ally, at the church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples . The work was done at Pisa on the coast, and the pieces shipped south. A donkey
12825-585: The Queen of Naples, Bracco di Montone, and others, he arrived on 28 September 1420. The first work began on the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran , which has been badly damaged in 1413. In 1421 the church was enriched by a new Cosmatesque floor and the ceiling was repaired, while Gentile da Fabriano received a commission to create a new cycle of frescoes in the right aisle. These were completed by Pisanello after his death in 1427. The basilica also received
12996-474: The Reformation and Counter-Reformation clashed, the Northern Renaissance showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristotelean natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine). The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements. Some view this as a " scientific revolution ", heralding
13167-618: The Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. Peter Rietbergen posits that various influential Proto-Renaissance movements started from roughly 1300 onwards across many regions of Europe . In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages , when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics, Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts. Broadly speaking, this began in
13338-421: The Renaissance has close similarities to both, especially the late and early sub-periods of either. The Renaissance began in Florence , one of the many states of Italy . Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors, including Florence's social and civic peculiarities at the time: its political structure, the patronage of its dominant family,
13509-456: The Renaissance period . Born in Florence , he studied classical sculpture and used his knowledge to develop an Early Renaissance style of sculpture. He spent time in other cities, where he worked on commissions and taught others; his periods in Rome, Padua , and Siena introduced to other parts of Italy the techniques he had developed in the course of a long and productive career. His David
13680-573: The Renaissance was first centered in the Republic of Florence , then spread to the rest of Italy and later throughout Europe. The term rinascita ("rebirth") first appeared in Lives of the Artists ( c. 1550 ) by Giorgio Vasari , while the corresponding French word renaissance was adopted into English as the term for this period during the 1830s. The Renaissance's intellectual basis
13851-541: The Renaissance" and were enormously influential, expressing "what was at the heart of the Renaissance—the classical reborn into the Christian". His most famous work in this genre is his relief frieze for the cantoria or singing gallery of Florence Cathedral. There are two of these galleries rather high on the walls of the nave. Luca della Robbia had been given the commission for the first in 1431, and Donatello for
14022-936: The Vatican Palace with the Villa Belvedere, engaging Bramante to accomplish the project . The famous frescoes of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms in the Apostolic Palace, the Court of St. Damasus with its loggias, the Via Giulia and Via della Lungara, even the statue of Moses which graces his tomb in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli , are lasting witnesses of his great love of art. The Medici Pope Leo X
14193-469: The West. It was in their new focus on literary and historical texts that Renaissance scholars differed so markedly from the medieval scholars of the Renaissance of the 12th century , who had focused on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, rather than on such cultural texts. In the revival of neoplatonism , Renaissance humanists did not reject Christianity ; on
14364-530: The Workings of the Human Body ) by Andreas Vesalius , gave a new confidence to the role of dissection , observation, and the mechanistic view of anatomy. Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( c. 1386 – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello ( English: / ˌ d ɒ n ə ˈ t ɛ l oʊ / ; Italian: [donaˈtɛllo] ), was an Italian sculptor of
14535-458: The above factors. The plague was carried by fleas on sailing vessels returning from the ports of Asia, spreading quickly due to lack of proper sanitation: the population of England , then about 4.2 million, lost 1.4 million people to the bubonic plague . Florence's population was nearly halved in the year 1347. As a result of the decimation in the populace the value of the working class increased, and commoners came to enjoy more freedom. To answer
14706-463: The annexed Palazzetto is taken from Roman elements combined, but without philological rigor. It incorporates the model of the viridarium and is inspired by the Colosseum in the overlapped architectural orders, and in the cornice with ornament in brackets . The width of the arches, however, is reduced and simplified so they will not look too impressive compared to the spaces they enclose. In
14877-480: The arch on a monumental. Renaissance vaults do not have ribs; they are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault, which is frequently rectangular. Renaissance artists were not pagans, although they admired antiquity and kept some ideas and symbols of the medieval past. Nicola Pisano (c. 1220 – c. 1278) imitated classical forms by portraying scenes from the Bible. His Annunciation , from
15048-417: The architect Filippo Brunelleschi and the sculptor Donatello , both Florentines. This inspired a corresponding classicism in painting and sculpture, which manifested itself in the paintings of Masaccio and Uccello . Pisanello and his assistants also frequently took inspiration from ancient remains, but their approach was essentially cataloguing, acquiring a repertoire of models to be exploited later. In
15219-716: The beginning of the modern age, others as an acceleration of a continuous process stretching from the ancient world to the present day. Significant scientific advances were made during this time by Galileo Galilei , Tycho Brahe , and Johannes Kepler . Copernicus, in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ( On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres ), posited that the Earth moved around the Sun. De humani corporis fabrica ( On
15390-456: The best. An attempt was made to get the two to share the commission, but amid bitter recriminations that lasted for years, this failed and Ghiberti was given the whole commission. Ghiberti himself on the other hand (and the only contemporary voice) claimed in his Commentarii that the vote went unanimously for him, including the competing artists. Any part played by the adolescent Donatello, presumably assisting Brunelleschi with his trial piece,
15561-529: The brevity of the pontificate of Pope Nicholas V, all the ambitious projects could not be completed. However, it made artists who shared an interest in the antiquity and charm of the classic ruins converge (especially the Tuscan and Lombard ones). This led to a certain homogeneity of their work. A paradigmatic example of the style that developed in that period in architecture is Palazzo Venezia , started in 1455, that incorporating existing buildings. The courtyard of
15732-615: The building itself (built from 1466), there was a more faithful revival of ancient models, which shows a gradually deeper understanding. For example, the hall was once a lacunar in concrete (taken from Pantheon or the Basilica of Maxentius ) with overlapping orders and partially leaning on the pillars, as in the Colosseum or in the Theatre of Marcellus . The renewal of the Constantinian Old St Peter's Basilica
15903-446: The case of his stained glass designs and perhaps other works these were his whole contribution. Vasari claimed to have several in his collection, which he praised highly: "I have both nude and draped figures, various animals which astound anyone who sees them, and other beautiful things..". But very few, if any, surviving drawings are now accepted as probably by his own hand, and these are strong and lively sketches with figures, such as
16074-440: The cathedral buildings was to remain a concern for the rest of the century; Michelangelo's David was intended for such a place, but proved too heavy to raise and support. Donatello, with Brunelleschi, proposed a large but lightweight solution, and made a prophet Joshua with a brick core, then a modelled layer of clay or terracotta, all painted white. This was put in place on the cathedral some time after 1415, and remained until
16245-513: The cathedral, as well as complete a row on the cathedral facade (in which Donatello was not involved). All the figures for the campanile series were removed in 1940, to be replaced by replicas with the originals moved to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. They were placed very high, and so were seen from a distance, at a sharp angle, factors which needed allowing for in the compositions, and made "fine detail virtually useless for visual effect"; Since 2015
16416-469: The center of a cultural rebirth, were linked to the Ottoman Empire , whose conquests led to the migration of Greek scholars to Italian cities. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity. Muslim logicians, most notably Avicenna and Averroes , had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and
16587-589: The classicising architectural framework. This "first clearly defines the Early Renaissance wall-tabernacle type" and was very influential. There was also the old-fashioned tomb slab for the cleric Giovanni Crivelli in Santa Maria in Aracoeli , which might well not be attributed to Donatello if he had not signed it. It is not clear whether a workshop was opened in Rome, or if these were carved in Florence and shipped down. It has been speculated that
16758-606: The commission for an exterior pulpit for Prato Cathedral ; highlights in the year at Prato , close to and controlled by Florence, were when the city's famous relic, the Girdle of Thomas ( Sacra Cintola ), thought to be the belt the Virgin Mary dropped to Thomas the Apostle as she rose in the air during her Assumption , was displayed to the population from a high pulpit. This took place five times every year, one coinciding with
16929-512: The commune and the papacy, and internationally by the great Western Schism . It was finally Martin V of the Colonna family who managed to bring order to the city, laying the foundations of its rebirth. Pope Martin V was born at Genazzano in 1368. He studied at the University of Perugia , became prothonotary Apostolic under Pope Urban VI , and papal auditor and nuncio at various Italian courts under Pope Boniface IX . On 12 June 1402 he
17100-504: The contrary, many of the Renaissance's greatest works were devoted to it, and the Church patronized many works of Renaissance art. But a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were brought back from Byzantium to Western Europe and engaged Western scholars for
17271-669: The cornerstone of the national church of the Germans, Santa Maria dell'Anima , the French Cardinal Briçonnet erected Trinità dei Monti , and the Spaniards Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli . To Alexander we owe the beautiful ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore , in the decoration of which he employed the first gold brought from America by Columbus. In 1503 Julius II was elected pope after
17442-554: The difficulty of fire-gilding a whole over-life size figure. The collaboration with Michelozzo may have begun with this piece, and 1423 marks the beginning of Donatello's documented work in bronze, with three recorded commissions that year: the Saint Louis , a reliquary bust of Saint Rossore , and the relief for the Siena Baptistery discussed below. Michelozzo had great experience with bronze, and no doubt helped with
17613-522: The first grandiose building projects of Renaissance Rome. The plan for the city focused primarily on five main points: The intent was to gain a citadel of religion that had its focal point on the Capitoline Hill. The project's aim was to exalt the power of the Church, clearly demonstrating the continuity between the Imperial and Christian Rome. It was to Nicholas V that Alberti dedicated in 1452
17784-543: The first time since late antiquity. This new engagement with Greek Christian works, and particularly the return to the original Greek of the New Testament promoted by humanists Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus , helped pave the way for the Reformation . Well after the first artistic return to classicism had been exemplified in the sculpture of Nicola Pisano , Florentine painters led by Masaccio strove to portray
17955-585: The flutes of a Doric column." Like most of the Orsanmichele statues, this has been moved to the museum inside, and replaced by a replica. About 1415 to 1417 he completed the marble Saint George for the Confraternity of the Cuirass -makers or armourers; the important relief on the base is discussed below, and was slightly later. Because of a staircase on the other side of the wall, the niche
18126-648: The foundation for the Roman Renaissance. Roman Renaissance art remained largely dependent on artists from further north, above all Florence , until at least the start of the 16th century. Spending by the popes and cardinals considerably increased, tempting many artists to the city. The 14th century in Rome, with the absence of the popes during the Avignon Papacy , was a century of neglect and misery. Rome dropped to its lowest level of population, and those that remained were starving and wretched. Before
18297-443: The frescoes began in 1481 and was concluded in 1482. This is also the date of the works in marble: the screen, the choir stalls, and the pontifical coat of arms over the entrance door. On 15 August 1483 Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass when the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Sistine Chapel, now the seat of the most important ceremonies of the papacy, became a point of reference for Renaissance art, setting
18468-658: The greatest transmissions of ideas in history. The movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical, and theological texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to the 1396 invitation from Coluccio Salutati to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355–1415) to teach Greek in Florence. This legacy was continued by a number of expatriate Greek scholars, from Basilios Bessarion to Leo Allatius . The unique political structures of Italy during
18639-633: The ground for the synthesis towards the end of the century, and led to the creation of a language properly "Roman". Pope Sixtus IV created the Vatican Library and entrusted it to the humanist Melozzo da Forlì , the Papal painter. He frescoed one of the emblems of the Roman humanist culture of the time, Pope Sixtus IV Appoints Platina as Prefect of the Vatican Library (1477), in which
18810-438: The height of the epidemic due to the chaotic conditions in the city, but a small group of officials was appointed to conduct the affairs of the city, which ensured continuity of government. It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence , and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized
18981-414: The human form realistically, developing techniques to render perspective and light more naturally. Political philosophers , most famously Niccolò Machiavelli , sought to describe political life as it really was, that is to understand it rationally. A critical contribution to Italian Renaissance humanism, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola wrote De hominis dignitate ( Oration on the Dignity of Man , 1486),
19152-481: The humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art. Renaissance humanists such as Poggio Bracciolini sought out in Europe's monastic libraries the Latin literary, historical, and oratorical texts of antiquity , while the fall of Constantinople (1453) generated a wave of émigré Greek scholars bringing precious manuscripts in ancient Greek , many of which had fallen into obscurity in
19323-493: The immune system, leaving young children without a fighting chance. Children in city dwellings were more affected by the spread of disease than the children of the wealthy. The Black Death caused greater upheaval to Florence's social and political structure than later epidemics. Despite a significant number of deaths among members of the ruling classes, the government of Florence continued to function during this period. Formal meetings of elected representatives were suspended during
19494-413: The increased need for labor, workers traveled in search of the most favorable position economically. The demographic decline due to the plague had economic consequences: the prices of food dropped and land values declined by 30–40% in most parts of Europe between 1350 and 1400. Landholders faced a great loss, but for ordinary men and women it was a windfall. The survivors of the plague found not only that
19665-427: The independent city-republics of Italy took over the principles of capitalism invented on monastic estates and set off a vast unprecedented Commercial Revolution that preceded and financed the Renaissance. Historian Leon Poliakov offers a critical view in his seminal study of European racist thought: The Aryan Myth . According to Poliakov, the use of ethnic origin myths are first used by Renaissance humanists "in
19836-545: The introduction of modern banking and the field of accounting. The Renaissance period started during the crisis of the Late Middle Ages and conventionally ends by the 1600s with the waning of humanism , and the advents of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation , and in art the Baroque period. It had a different period and characteristics in different regions, such as the Italian Renaissance,
20007-464: The language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome". Above all, humanists asserted "the genius of man ... the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind". Humanist scholars shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period. Political philosophers such as Niccolò Machiavelli and Thomas More revived the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers and applied them in critiques of contemporary government, following
20178-437: The late 13th century, in particular with the writings of Dante and the paintings of Giotto . As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of literary Latin and an explosion of vernacular literatures , beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch ; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering
20349-408: The meditative artist. The Jubilee celebration of 1475 injected revenue that inspired a number of projects and allowed the Pope to draw a large number of artists together. There were various collaborations between artists such as, Vivarini , Bartolomeo di Tommaso , Benedetto Bonfigli , Andrea del Castagno , Piero della Francesca , and perhaps Rogier van der Weyden . This wealth of ideas prepared
20520-665: The militant Bishop of Recanati, to restore order in the Papal States . Florence at that time was the centre of literary activity, and clearly influenced the Humanist movement. During his stay in the Tuscan capital, Eugene consecrated the Florence Cathedral , just then finished by Brunelleschi. Pope Eugene IV continued in this vein in Rome, commissioning the Florentine Antonio di Pietro Averlino, known as Filarete (1400–1469), to make two bronze doors, ( imposts ), for
20691-472: The monumental theoretical result of his long study of Vitruvius . This was his De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building), not a restored text of Vitruvius but a wholly new work. It became a bible of Renaissance architecture , for it incorporated and made advances upon the engineering knowledge of antiquity, and grounded the stylistic principles of classical art into a fully developed aesthetic theory. Due to
20862-402: The museum's new displays show this and other statues for the cathedral at the intended original heights. Donatello was responsible for six of the eight campanile figures, in two cases working with the younger Nanni di Bartolo ( il Rosso ). The commissions and starts stretched between 1414 and 1423, and while most were completed by 1421, the last of his statues was not finished until 1435. This
21033-608: The north and west respectively, and the Venetians to the north east. 15th-century Italy was one of the most urbanized areas in Europe. Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland. Historian and political philosopher Quentin Skinner points out that Otto of Freising (c. 1114–1158),
21204-589: The original in the Bargello Museum. Before about 1410 he made the painted wooden crucifix now in Santa Croce , which features in a famous story in Vasari. It portrays a very realistic Christ in a moment of agony, eyes, and mouth partially opened, the body contracted in an ungraceful posture. According to the story, Donatello proudly showed it to Brunelleschi, who complained it made Christ look like
21375-405: The outside, and each of the main guilds was responsible for one, normally choosing their patron saint. The location had the advantage that the niches were much lower than on the cathedral, with the feet of the statues some three metres above ground level. Nevertheless, according to a story in Vasari, Donatello had trouble with his first statue for Orsanmichele, a marble St. Mark (1411–1413) for
21546-487: The pope is portrayed among his relatives in opulent classical architecture. A few years later, under Giuliano della Rovere , Melozzo painted the apse of the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli with Ascension of the Apostles between Playing Angels , considered the first example of the view "from down to top". The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had the old Cappella Magna restored between 1477 and 1480. It
21717-693: The pope turns over to Raphael", wrote an ambassador in 1518. He finished the decoration of the Stanze begun under Julius II, even referring to Leo X in some of the scenes. He painted the Raphael Cartoons for the tapestries of the Sistine Chapel, which represent scenes from the lives of Saints Peter and Paul , the most magnificent of them being St. Peter's miraculous draught of fishes and St. Paul preaching in Athens . A third famous enterprise
21888-495: The present day the grand approach to St. Peter's. Though a scandalous pope, he was a patron of the arts and sciences, and in his days a new architectural era was initiated in Rome with the coming of Bramante . Raphael , Michelangelo and Pinturicchio . He commissioned Pinturicchio to lavishly paint a suite of rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, which are today known as the Borgia Apartments . In addition to
22059-419: The prevailing cultural conditions at the time. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci , Sandro Botticelli , and Michelangelo Buonarroti . Works by Neri di Bicci , Botticelli, Leonardo, and Filippino Lippi had been commissioned additionally by
22230-459: The prices of food were cheaper but also that lands were more abundant, and many of them inherited property from their dead relatives. The spread of disease was significantly more rampant in areas of poverty. Epidemics ravaged cities, particularly children. Plagues were easily spread by lice, unsanitary drinking water, armies, or by poor sanitation. Children were hit the hardest because many diseases, such as typhus and congenital syphilis , target
22401-412: The qualities of the ideal citizen. The dialogues include ideas about how children develop mentally and physically, how citizens can conduct themselves morally, how citizens and states can ensure probity in public life, and an important debate on the difference between that which is pragmatically useful and that which is honest. The humanists believed that it is important to transcend to the afterlife with
22572-418: The rather weathered originals displayed inside the cathedral. A factor in the delay was probably Donatello's travelling, which increased from about 1430, after a long period of steady work and residence in Florence after his return from Rome in about 1404. In 1430 he worked with Brunelleschi at Lucca on the construction of a defensive dyke and wall, and later in the year visited Pisa, Lucca again and finished
22743-617: The relief are low. This contrasted with the developing technique of other sculptors who included very high and low relief in the same composition, with Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" doors (1424-1451) for the Florence Baptistery a leading example. Donatello's "first milestone" in the technique is his marble Saint George Freeing the Princess on the base of his Saint George for Orsanmichele. The figures project slightly forward, but "by skilful overlaps are brought back into
22914-494: The return of the papacy, repeatedly postponed because of the bad conditions of the city and the lack of control and security, it was first necessary to strengthen the political and doctrinal aspects of the pontiff. When, in 1377, Gregory XI did return to Rome, he found his power more formal than real. It was a city in anarchy because of the struggles between the nobility and the popular faction. There followed four decades of instability, characterized locally by power struggles between
23085-549: The role played by the Medici , a banking family and later ducal ruling house , in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e., because " Great Men " were born there by chance: Leonardo, Botticelli and Michelangelo were all born in Tuscany . Arguing that such chance seems improbable, other historians have contended that these "Great Men" were only able to rise to prominence because of
23256-527: The same time". Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the Republic of Florence at this time, were also notable for their merchant republics , especially the Republic of Venice. Although in practice these were oligarchical , and bore little resemblance to a modern democracy , they did have democratic features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty. The relative political freedom they afforded
23427-495: The same year, and he seems to have died in modest circumstances, although this may not have been of concern to him; "he was very happy in his old age" according to Vasari. Donatello was born in Florence, probably in 1386, based on his own later statement in his catasto tax declaration; he claimed to be 41 years old in July 1427. He was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a "wool-stretcher" ( tiratore di lana ) and member of
23598-454: The secular and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity and through novel approaches to thought. Political philosopher Hans Kohn describes it as an age where "Men looked for new foundations"; some like Erasmus and Thomas More envisioned new reformed spiritual foundations, others. in the words of Machiavelli , una lunga sperienza delle cose moderne ed una continua lezione delle antiche (a long experience with modern life and
23769-407: The service of a new born chauvinism". Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in Florence at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular with the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374), as well as the paintings of Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337). Some writers date the Renaissance quite precisely; one proposed starting point
23940-508: The short reign of Pope Pius III . He was chiefly a soldier, and his fame is greatly due to his re-establishment of the Pontifical States and the deliverance of Italy from its subjection to France. But he also gained a reputation as a patron of the arts. Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo contributed some of their greatest masterpieces during his time. He laid the cornerstone of the Basilica of St. Peter on 18 April 1506, and united
24111-453: The start of Florentine Renaissance sculpture. Seven sculptors were invited to submit trial panels, for which they were paid; Vasari's Life of Brunelleschi wrongly claims that Donatello was one of them, but they were all more experienced figures. Following Vasari and Brunelleschi's biographer Antonio Manetti , the unexpected result declared by the 34 judges was that the entries by two young Florentines, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, were
24282-585: The structures erected by himself, his memory is associated with the many others built by monarchs and cardinals at his instigation. During his reign, Bramante designed for Ferdinand II of Aragon the Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio , on the traditional site of St. Peter's martyrdom. Bramante built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario the Palazzo della Cancelleria . In 1500, the ambassador of Emperor Maximilian laid
24453-570: The technical aspects, and Donatello took to the medium very quickly. In 1418 the Signoria commissioned a large and imposing figure of Florence's heraldic lion, the Marzocco for the entrance to a new apartment at Santa Maria Novella built for a rare visit by the pope; in the event he did not finish it in time. It was later placed in the Piazza della Signoria , where there is now a replica, with
24624-463: The three in its collections that the French government still attributes to Donatello himself. A story told both by Vasari and the earlier Pomponio Gaurico says that he kept a bucket containing money hanging on a cord from the ceiling of his workshop, from which those around could take if they needed it. A tax return from 1427, near the peak of his career, shows a much lower income than Ghiberti's for
24795-462: The visits led to meetings between Donatello and Leon Battista Alberti , then in Rome, and perhaps writing his De Statua . There may have been mutual influence, and Donatello seems to have returned from Rome with an interest in a modular system of human proportions. The bronze David uses proportions very close to those Alberti recommends. In the 1430s and 1440s Donatello made many sculptures of young children dancing, as well as putti (cherubs) and
24966-473: The works of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael representing artistic pinnacles that were much imitated by other artists. Other notable artists include Sandro Botticelli , working for the Medici in Florence, Donatello , another Florentine, and Titian in Venice, among others. In the Low Countries , a particularly vibrant artistic culture developed. The work of Hugo van der Goes and Jan van Eyck
25137-486: The year 1420, Pope Martin V moved the papal seat back to Rome, ending its long Avignon Papacy or "Babylonian captivity", and the Papal Schism , when several "popes" simultaneously claimed the office. He at once set to work, establishing order and restoring the dilapidated churches, palaces, bridges, and other public structures. For this reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school, and thus laid
25308-423: The year in Rome, where he spent much of his time until 1433. Some of this travel was to see antiquities, and political difficulties had greatly reduced the flow of commissions in Florence. Michelozzo was also with Donatello in Rome for some of the time, but the few products there of the visits lead art historians to describe the visits as mainly resulting in studying classical works. It is not clear whether anything
25479-423: Was a cultural "advance" from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and nostalgia for classical antiquity , while social and economic historians, especially of the longue durée , have instead focused on the continuity between the two eras, which are linked, as Panofsky observed, "by a thousand ties". The word has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as
25650-482: Was a lover and patron of the arts and sciences, and probably did more than any pope to establish Rome as the centre of European culture. He had San Giovanni dei Fiorentini , on the Via Giulia , built, after designs by Jacopo Sansovino and pressed forward on the reconstruction of St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican under Raphael and Agostino Chigi . He encouraged painting in particular, and Raphael benefitted enormously under his patronage. "Everything pertaining to art
25821-448: Was actually made there, or executed in Florence and shipped down. There was probably a large papal commission in view, but if so, nothing resulted. The main surviving piece is a tabernacle surround for Saint Peter's in marble relief, 228 cm (89.7 in) high, and now in the museum there. The main figurative sections are a stiacciato panel with the Entombment of Christ , and a total of sixteen child-angels at various points in
25992-409: Was an extension of the Middle Ages. The beginnings of the period—the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300—overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages , conventionally dated to c. 1350–1500 , and the Middle Ages themselves were a long period filled with gradual changes, like the modern age; as a transitional period between both,
26163-415: Was assigned to Bernardo Rossellino . The body was expanded with five aisles and longitudinal cross vaults on pillars that were to incorporate the old columns. The apse was rebuilt with the expansion of the transept , a choir was added, which was the logical continuation of the nave, and also a domed room at the intersection of the transept and choir. This configuration influenced the next plan by Bramante for
26334-587: Was conducive to academic and artistic advancement. Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. Merchants brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly the Levant . Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine glass , while Florence was a capital of textiles. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study. One theory that has been advanced
26505-403: Was followed by the brief papacy of Pope Adrian VI , and then that of Leo's cousin Pope Clement VII from 1523. The brutal Sack of Rome in 1527, by the troops of the Emperor Charles V , brought the Roman High Renaissance to an abrupt end. Some artists were killed, and most of the rest fled to other cities, as did their patrons in the Curia . When artistic activity revived, it was mostly in
26676-405: Was formalized as an artistic technique. The development of perspective was part of a wider trend toward realism in the arts. Painters developed other techniques, studying light, shadow, and, famously in the case of Leonardo da Vinci , human anatomy . Underlying these changes in artistic method was a renewed desire to depict the beauty of nature and to unravel the axioms of aesthetics , with
26847-441: Was founded in its version of humanism , derived from the concept of Roman humanitas and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy , such as that of Protagoras , who said that "man is the measure of all things". Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe: the first traces appear in Italy as early as
27018-470: Was made Cardinal Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro. At the Council of Constance he was unanimously elected pope on 11 November 1417, and took the name Martin V in honour of Martin of Tours , whose feast fell on the day of his election. King Sigismund of Germany tried to induce Martin V to stay in Germany while France begged him to come to Avignon, but, rejecting all offers, he set out for Rome on 16 May 1418. After many detours, primarily to cement relations with
27189-490: Was originally to be decorated by artists from Umbria and Marche. But through the intercession of Lorenzo de' Medici , the commission of the wall decoration was instead entrusted to the best Florentine artists of the time, Sandro Botticelli , Pietro Perugino , Pinturicchio , Domenico Ghirlandaio , and Cosimo Roselli . They created a series of frescos depicting the Life of Moses and the Life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe-l'œil drapery below. The work on
27360-442: Was particularly influential on the development of painting in Italy, both technically with the introduction of oil paint and canvas, and stylistically in terms of naturalism in representation. Later, the work of Pieter Brueghel the Elder would inspire artists to depict themes of everyday life. In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi was foremost in studying the remains of ancient classical buildings. With rediscovered knowledge from
27531-503: Was poor at organizing a workshop, at which Michelozzo seems to have excelled. Both had very good relations with the Medici family and so their powerful supporters. The partnership was very successful, and was renewed until it had lasted for nine years, when a dispute that was mostly the fault of Donatello ended it. The partnership's combination of skills in monumental sculpture and architecture made it well qualified to take on elaborate wall tombs. From 1425 to 1428, they collaborated on
27702-559: Was purchased to help with transport, and in 1426 Donatello had bought a boat to ship marble from Carrara to Pisa. Donatello's personal contribution was probably limited to the Assumption relief discussed above. Finishing in 1429, for the font at the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Siena , apart from the relief of The Feast of Herod (discussed above), he made small bronze statues of Faith and Hope , and three small bronze spiritelli , naked winged putti -like figures, classical in inspiration, and highly influential on later art. Images of
27873-411: Was some ten years older (born in 1377), and although not yet a master goldsmith , working on silver figures for an altar in Pistoia Cathedral . What experience Donatello had to assist him, if that was what he was doing, is unclear. Both Donatello and Brunelleschi returned to Florence in early 1401, in time for Brunelleschi to take part in the famous competition for the Baptistery doors, often seen as
28044-401: Was such that he was elected to the papacy on the first scrutiny. However, his papacy was destined to be a stormy one. In 1434, a revolution, fomented by the pope's enemies, broke out in Rome. Eugene escaped down the Tiber to Ostia , where the friendly Florentines were only too happy to receive him. He took up his residence in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella , and sent Vitelleschi ,
28215-413: Was the continuation of the new St. Peter's. Bramante remained its chief architect until his death in 1514. Raphael succeeded him, but in his six years of office little was done, much to his regret, through lack of means. Leo X has spent all the money carefully saved by his predecessor Julius II. He sold indulgences to help pay for it, a mistake which helped lead to the Protestant Reformation . Leo's reign
28386-421: Was the decoration of the Vatican Loggia done by Raphael's pupils under his direction, and mostly from his designs. The most exquisite of his paintings are the Sistine Madonna and the Transfiguration . Sculpture was not as favored under Leo X as painting, and while Michelangelo worked on a marble façade for the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, he did not finish it. The greatest and most difficult task
28557-446: Was the first freestanding nude male sculpture since antiquity; like much of his work it was commissioned by the Medici family . He worked with stone, bronze, wood, clay, stucco , and wax, and used glass in inventive ways. He had several assistants, with four perhaps being a typical number. Although his best-known works are mostly statues executed in the round, he developed a new, very shallow, type of bas-relief for small works, and
28728-437: Was the life of John the Baptist ). This is placed low, the bottom at about the level of the viewer's knee, and the relief allows for that. The composition has figures in three receding planes defined by the architecture. At left Herod recoils in horror as he is presented with John the Baptist's head on a platter; to the right of centre Salome is still dancing. In a space behind musicians are playing, and beyond them John's head
28899-418: Was the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica , combining the skills of Bramante , Michelangelo, Raphael, Sangallo and Maderno . During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters , and entablatures as an integrated system. The Roman orders types of columns are used: Tuscan and Composite . These can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against
29070-447: Was the striking Zuccone ("Baldy", or "Pumpkin Head" probably intended as Habakkuk or Jeremiah ), the best known of the series, and reportedly Donatello's favourite. His other statues for the campanile are known as: the Beardless Prophet and Bearded Prophet (both from 1414 to 1420); the Sacrifice of Isaac (with Nanni di Batolo, 1421); il Populano , a prophet not finally finished until 1435. The visibility of statues high on
29241-427: Was thought that the classics provided moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior. A unique characteristic of some Renaissance libraries is that they were open to the public. These libraries were places where ideas were exchanged and where scholarship and reading were considered both pleasurable and beneficial to the mind and soul. As freethinking was a hallmark of the age, many libraries contained
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