Download “Florence is widely considered as the birthplace of the Renaissance

“Florence is widely considered as the birthplace of the Renaissance.
In what ways did Florentine artists and scholars contribute to the
development of painting during the period?”
Rosina Hawkins
The Renaissance is associated with important developments in all aspects of society
and culture, and especially in the arts. In Florence, three generations of painters developed
the style, purpose and technique of painting, thus raising the status of the painter from
tradesman to intellectual. The first generation, led by Giotto (1266-1377) and influenced by
humanism, imbued their subjects with emotion and realism. This was entirely removed from
the unrealistic and highly symbolic art of the Middle Ages. The study of the classics by the
second generation during the fifteenth century led to revived interest in science, and its
potential in art. The discovery of perspective by Brunelleschi (1377-1446), further
development of chiaroscuro and realism by Masaccio (1401-1428), and the later study of
anatomy, revolutionised the technical aspects of painting. Though Leonardo da Vinci (14521519), Botticelli and Michelangelo (1475-1564) were capable of coping nature exactly, it was
their intellectual initiative that characterised the third generation of painters. During the
sixteenth century ‘High Renaissance’ they depicted ideal human beauty and proportion, and
redefined the artist’s role. Over two hundred years, painting was revolutionised by the
Florentine masters.
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By modern standards, the paintings of Giotto di Bondone are simplistic in their
attempt to accurately depict people and landscape. However, his idea of portraying his
subjects with realistic emotions and individual characteristics was unprecedented, and
influenced both his contemporaries and artists born two hundred years later. Previously,
medieval artists believed that a painting need only successfully convey a concept, such as
‘man’ or ‘Christ’. Similarly, during the Middle Ages, the purpose of painting and sculpture
was merely to adorn ecclesiastical architecture. Though these arts would eventually be
acceptable both inside and outside the church, during the entire Renaissance period religious
representations provided subject matter which was reinterpreted by each artist, and scenes
which were widely popular to viewers. For example, Giotto’s Crucifixion (c.1310) exactly
copies the composition and subject matter1 of the same painting by his predecessor Cimabue,
but develops the facial expressions and stance of his subjects, providing depth of emotion to
the artwork. The positions of the Virgin Mary, leaning on her neighbours for support, and
Mary Magdalene, who kneels at the feet of Christ, portray drama and emotions in
recognisable human expressions. All human figures, including Christ, are a similar size,
contrary to the medieval custom of enlarging subjects of greater importance according to the
hieratic scale. As the Florentine chronicler, Fillipo Villani, wrote of Giotto:
... [Giotto was] not only the equal of ancient painters but in artistry and skill their
superior. This man restored painting to its ancient dignity and great name...
(Webster & Green 1969, p.103)
The ‘ancient dignity’ of painting refers to the rediscovery of classical art and literature, which
were central to the evolution of the human intellect during the Renaissance and crucial to the
development of the Humanist movement. During his career Giotto determined the course of
Renaissance art, by returning its focus to the expression of humankind.
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The Crucifixion was a popular and widely used subject in Gothic Art, which directly preceded the era of
Giotto.
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Fifteenth century artists in Florence developed the new concepts of perspective and
chiaroscuro, thus altering pictorial composition. Earlier paintings, even those of Giotto,
lacked the pictorial depth later enabled by Brunelleschi’s invention of mechanical
perspective. This technique placed subjects of a painting on firm ground in a proportionate
setting, rather than floating them in air. Based both on Brunelleschi’s theories and on the
works of Aristotle, church architect Leon Battista Alberti devised the first complex scientific
formula for depicting imaginary spaces, in his book On Painting in 1435. However, it is
thought that many techniques described in the book were already being employed by painters
at the time of its publication. This is illustrated in The Tribute Money (c.1427) by the painter
Masaccio in the Brancaccio Chapel. In the foreground, Christ and the twelve apostles (one of
which is a self-portrait of Masaccio) establish the human subjects as the basis from which a
central vanishing point was calculated. Most importantly, the distance of the mountains in the
background is apparent, clearly demonstrating the heightened realism perspective enabled.
The development of chiaroscuro by Masaccio contributed to this new phenomenon, with the
contrast of light and shade adding further depth to his paintings, and increasing the threedimensional appearance of his subjects. In contrast to the paintings of the Middle Ages,
where subjects were lit by an indiscernible light and cast no shadows, Masaccio’s subjects
blended with their surroundings through his mastery of light:
‘...He painted his works with exquisite harmony and softness, matching the flesh colours of
the heads... with the colours of their garments...with a few simple folds, as they appear in
life...’ (Vasari et al. 1998, p.101)
The perfection of light and shade in the folds of the garments, and in the harmonious choice
of colour, gave Masaccio’s works a previously impossible realism. The study of anatomy
provided artists with the final tool for perfecting their representations of the human form.
Though the study and dissection of cadavers was more widely allowed during the sixteenth
century, Florentine artists and scholars in the preceding century almost certainly furthered
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their knowledge of human anatomy by this means. Andrea del Verrocchio, insisted that all his
apprentices study the inner workings of the body in intense detail. They clearly appreciated
the value of this education, as shown by his student Leonardo da Vinci’s later studies of
anatomy. Verrocchio’s own work The Baptism of Christ (c.1475), hints at the artist’s level of
knowledge of bone and muscle structure underneath the skin in the limbs and torso of Christ.
The fifteenth century was the time for painters to consolidate their knowledge of form,
perspective and light techniques, and their discoveries did much to further the development of
painting.
Sixteenth century Florentine painters had mastered the technical aspects, and the
humanistic inclination towards naturalism had survived for almost two hundred years:
‘...painting is nothing other than the art of imitating all the living things of Nature with their
simple colours and design just as nature produced them, so that anyone who fully follows
Nature should be considered a splendid artisan...’ (Vasari op.cit. 1998, p.100)
Leonardo da Vinci was a strong advocate of this view, but may have inadvertently
contributed to its demise in his Treatise on Painting, where he argued that painting should be
included in the liberal arts (Kreis, 2009). When painters were no longer obliged to hold
membership of a guild, their elevated status, greater intellectual prowess, and consequently
heightened sense of self-importance moved their focus from copying nature to idealising
human beauty and form. Patronage further assisted in redefining the status of the Renaissance
painter, allowing artists to work alone or manage their own workshops and apprentices.
Unfortunately, the necessity of pleasing the tastes of a patron limited a painter’s freedom to
choose his own subject matter. Often, paintings were confined to portraits of patrons
alongside prominent religious figures, better serving the reputation and status of the patron
than the artistic temperament of his painter. For Botticelli, Raphael and Michelangelo, the
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patronage of the ruling family of Florence, the Medici, allowed for slightly more freedom,
due to the family’s humanist philosophies. In Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1482) the face
and body of Venus, instead of copying that of a sitter, shows the artist’s personal ideal of
human beauty, an idealisation which came to define the High Renaissance painters. It is
highly likely that Michelangelo was among the majority in considering his artistic vision
more important than pleasing his patron. Later, Vasari wrote of Michelangelo’s trust in his
own judgement in the pursuit of the ideal beauty:
‘... [He] used to make figures nine, ten, even twelve heads high, simply to increase their
grace. He would say that the artist must have his measuring tools in the eye, rather than in the
hand, as it is the eye that judges...’ (Hale 1969, p. 97)
As a result of their humanist sympathies, the sixteenth century painters had an extensive
knowledge of classical art and literature and of the Bible. By this time their position as
intellectuals was guaranteed, and began to manifest itself in paintings filled with complex
symbolism. In previous centuries, well known religious symbols had been included in
painting, but artists like Michelangelo and Vasari required viewers of their works to equal
them in their understanding of literature in order to fully appreciate the symbolism. These
new ambitions of artists would soon lead to the development Mannerism which, with its
idealised yet disproportionate subjects and bright, unrealistic colours, heralded the end of
Renaissance painting in Florence.
The vision of Giotto was the catalyst for an artistic revolution in Florence. Over the duration
of the Renaissance, painting was transformed from church ornamentation to a form of
individual human expression. Giotto’s works were the first humanist paintings, demonstrating
the humanist belief that ‘man is the measure of all things.’ His innovations in the portrayal of
his subjects inspired Florentine artists in the following century to develop the technical
aspects of painting, with their reference to the classics advancing the humanist cause. The
third and final generation of painters in Florence developed Renaissance ideals in painting to
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their full potential, and in doing so gave painting a new direction. Nevertheless, the art of the
Renaissance has had a continuing influence on painting, and the work of the Florentine
masters played a vital role in the development of painting during the period.
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Bibliography
Books:
Primary Sources
1. Giorgio Vasari et al. 1998, Giorgio Vasari : The Lives of the Artists, Oxford
University Press, United Kingdom, viewed online: 31 May 2011, via Google Books,
at
<http://books.google.com.au/books?id=YrqpiRhIxTcC&dq=lives+of+artists+vasari+o
nline&source=gbs_navlinks_s>
2. Leonardo da Vinci 2001, A Treatise on Painting: With a Life of Leonardo and an
Account of His Works by John William Brown, elibron.com, viewed online: 4 June
2011, via Google Books, at
<http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KAPPKQaAOmoC&dq=leonardo+da+vinci+tre
atise+on+painting&source=gbs_navlinks_s>
Secondary Sources
1. Argan, G.C. 1969, The Renaissance, Thames & Hudson, London.
2. Hale, John R. 1969, Great Ages of Man : Renaissance. Time Inc, the Netherlands.
3. Hale, John R. 1993, The Civilisation of Europe in the Renaissance, Harper Collins,
London.
4. Hartt, Frederick 1970, A History of Italian Renaissance Art, Thames & Hudson,
London.
5. Huyghe, René (ed.) 1964 (3rd edition), Larousse Encyclopedia of Renaissance and
Baroque Art, Paul Hamlyn Ltd., London.
6. Jannella, Cecilia et al. 2003, The Great Italian Painters From the Gothic to the
Renaissance, Scala Group, Florence.
7. Martindale, Andrew 1966, Man and the Renaissance, Paul Hamlyn Ltd., London.
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8. Mates, Julian and Cantelupe, Eugene 1966, Renaissance Culture : A New Sense of
Order, George Braziller Inc., New York.
9. Penguin Books (No Author) 1978, How to Recognize Renaissance Art, Penguin
Books, New York.
10. Richardson, Carol M et al. 2007, Renaissance art reconsidered: an anthology of
primary sources, Wiley-Blackwell, viewed online: 5 June 2011, via Google Books, at
<http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SqNxBd8LS20C&dq=Renaissance+art+recon
sidered:+an+anthology+of+primary+sources&source=gbs_navlinks_s>
11. Webster, David and Green, Louis (eds.) 1969, Documents in Renaissance &
Reformation History, Cassel, Australia.
Journal article
1. Haughton, Neil 2004, Perceptions of Beauty in Renaissance Art, Journal of Cosmetic
Dermatology, November issue, no.3, pp. 229–233
Internet sites
1. Kreis, Steven 2009, Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, viewed 5 June 2011,
<http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/leonardo.html>
2. Pied Piper Child 2009, Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus – Blog 1, viewed 5 June 2011,
<http://hciampa.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/botticellis-the-birth-of-venus/>
3. The Renaissance Connection 2000, Patron of the Arts and The Artist’s Life, viewed 5
June 2011, <http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/about.php>
4. Zucker, Steven and Harris, Beth, Masaccio’s The Tribute Money in the Brancacci
Chapel, viewed 5 June 2011, <http://smarthistory.org/Masaccio.html>
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