Download Chapter 29

Florence:The Gradle
of the Renaissance
29.1 Introduction
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In the last chapter,you learned that the Renaissancebegan in Italy. In this chapter, you will visit the Italian city of Florenceto learn about a numberof advances
that were made during the Renaissance.
Florenceis locatedon the Arno River,just north of the centerof Italy. The city is
often called the "cradle of the Renaissance."
Between 1300 and 1600,it was home
to some of the greatestartists and thinkers of the Renaissance.
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Renaissance
Florencewas a beautiful city. One of its most notablebuildings was
the duomo, or cathedral,of SantaMaria del Fiore. The domed cathedralwas the center of the city's religious life. Nearby was the PalazzoVecchio(Old Palace).This
building was the headquartersof the city government.The grand PalazzoMedici
was the home of Florence'sruling family, the Medicis. A more humble housewas
the Casadi Dante (Dante'sHouse).It was the home of Italy's most famouspoet.
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During Renaissance
times, Florencewas the banking centerof Europe.People
from around Europe came to the Mercato Nuovo (New Market) to trade their coins
for florins, the gold coins of Florence.Another busy spot was the PonteVecchio
(Old Bridge). This beautiful bridge
spannedthe Arno River and was
lined with the shopsof fine jewel-
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ers and goldsmiths.
Florence'swealth helpedto
make it a cultural leader during
the Renaissance.
In this chapter,
you lvill visit severalplacesin the
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city to learn about Renaissance
advancesin a numberof fields.
You'll explore Renaissance
architecture and engineering, painting, sculpture,
literature,
and science and
mathematics. You'll alsofind
out aboutFlorentinepolitics
and commerce
and trade.
Florence: The Cradle of the Renaissance 323
29.2The Gity of Florence
Florence was Italy's leading cultural center
during the Renaissance.The city was the birthplace of the great poet Dante Alighieri. The famed
painter and sculptor Michelangelo grew up there.
So did the brilliant thinker and artist Leonardo
da Vinci. Other Florentines, such as the sculptor
Donatello, also made their mark on the
Renaissance.
What made Florence so special?One answer
is its location.As you rememberfrom the last
chapter,in Renaissance
times Italy was divided
into city-states.Florencewas one of thesecitystates.The city's location on the Arno River made
it an important center for trade and commerce.
Florence becamethe hub of woolen-cloth trading
for all of Europe.About 100,000residentslived
inside the city walls.
Renaissance
Florencewas dominatedby a
singlefamily, the Medicis. The Medicis acquired
their wealth through Florence's major industry:
banking. In the early 14th century, Florence
becameEurope'sbanking center.
The banking and wool tradescreated wealth
that supportedintense cultural activity in
Florence.The city and its rich residentscould
afford to be patrons of talented artists and
ThePalazzo
Vecchio
housed
thegov- thinkers.The Medicis, for example,spentlavish sums on art. Their
Localauthorities home was a gathering place for artists, philosophers,and poets.
ernment
of Florence.
wantedto awepeoplewiththeir
Michelangeloonce lived for a time in the Medici household,where
powerandalsohavea placeof
he mingled with other artists.
safety,
sothisbuilding
wasmade
to looklikea fortressor castle.
Over time, the work produced by Florentines inspired still more
creative activity. People learnedfrom one another,and they sometimes
competedto produce even greaterwork. Florentines were also influenced by ideas from other places.The city drew travelers from many
parts of the world. Some came to do business.Some came to study art
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with Florence's master artists. Others came to learn at the city's schools
and libraries.Thesevisitors brought new ideas,goods,and technologies
that enlivenedthe city.
Florentines were also inspired by the freedom of ideas that was at
the core of humanism. Recall that humanistsprized the individual and
tried to look with fresh eyes at nature and human society.You'll seethe
influenceof humanismthroughoutthis chapteras you study examples
of Renaissance
advances.
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29.3 Advances in Architecture
and Engineering
You have learnedthat the humanistscholarsof the Renaissance
were influencedby classicalideas.So too were architectsand builders.
Renaissance
architectsstudiedGreek and Roman ruins, and they modeled their own buildings on what they learned.They were particularly
attractedto roundedarches,straightcolumns,and domedroofs.
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Architectsalso addedtheir own ideasto classicalbuilding styles.
During the Renaissance,
wealthy families built private townhouses
known aspalazzi (palaces).Many had shopson the ground floor and
homesabove.Most palazzi were built
arounda private courtyard,which might
Thedome
oftheDuomo
diSanta
MariadelFiore
rises
fromtheocta(eight
gonal
sidedl
cathedral,
lts
design
isoneofthegreatengineering
achievements
oftheRenaissance.
contain statuesand other works of art.
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Public spaceswere often influenced
by humanistideals.For example,humanists valued good citizenship.Architects
designedpublic buildings where citizens
could interactin settingsthat were grand
yet welcoming.They usedRomaninspired,roofed porchescalled loggia to
join buildings and createoutdoor plazas.
Advancesin engineeringmade new
kinds of architecturepossible.For
instance.one of the most impressive
architecturalfeatsof the Renaissance
was the great cathedral,the Duomo di
SantaMaria del Fiore. Florentinesstarted
building this eighrsided cathedralin
1296,but they had to leave an opening
for the dome.At the time. thev didn't
know how to build a large enoughdome that would not collapse.It
took a Renaissance
architect,Filippo Brunelleschi,to solvethe problem.
Brunelleschihad studiedancientruins in Rome. He had also learned
aboutthe mathematicsinvolved in creatingbuildings.The dome he
designedand built for the cathedraltook true engineeringgenius.It
'rsedno internal supportbeamsor columns.Instead,eight huge stone
&rchesmet at the top of the dome and leanedagainsteachother.Hoops
of iron, wood, and brick wrappedaroundthe arches,keepingthem in
place.Brunelleschiinventedmachinescalled hoists to raisebuilding
materials and food to workers at the top of the dome as they were
building it.
hoist a mechanicaldevice
used
people
to lift
or heavyobjects
T'hemagnificentdome was finished in 1436.It stoodmore than
3t\0 feet abovethe city. It still standstoday,over 500 yearslater.From
its tcrpyou can seemost of the city of Florence.
Florence:The Cradle of the Renaissance 325
29.4 Advances in Painting
center of
Wealthy patrons made RenaissanceFlorence a thriving
palaces'paintings'
art. The Medicis spenthuge sums of money on fine
andstatues.ThePa|azzoMediciwasfilledwithworksofartthatwere
commissionedbY the familY'
painters,
Patronslike the Medicis createdopportunities for talented
As you learned
who made a number of advancesin style and technique'
by the renewed
in the last chapter,Renaissancepainterswere influenced
They wanted
interest in classical culture and the spreadof humanism'
and who showed
to depict real people who were posed in lifelike ways
feelings.TheY also wantedto
include realistic backgrounds'
The result was a very different
style from the more flat, rigid
painting of the Middle Ages.
One key advancemade bY
RenaissancePainterswas the
discovery of perspective.Painters
use perspectiveto createthe
appearanceof dePth on a flat
surface.Renaissanceartists used
severaltechniquesto indicate
depth. One was the size of
objects. The smaller a Painted
object, the farther awaY it appears
to be. The larger an object, the
werethefirst
painters
Renaissance
of PersPective'
to usetechniques
of the
Adoration
elli's
Thisis Bottic
Magi.Noticethe senseof distance,
or depth,in the Painting'
closer it aPPearsto be. Painters
also learned that a feeling of depth
that came closer together as they recededinto
could be createdby lines
could make figures
the distance.They discoveredthat careful shading
of the Magi' a famous
and objects look three-dimensional'Adoration
techniques'
painting by SandroBotticelli, showssomeof these
advances'The
Scienceand mathematicshelped artists make other
out how to divide
Florentine artist Masaccio used geometry to figure
as they would in
the spacein a painting to make scenesappearmore
They observed
real life. Leonardo da Vinci and others studied anatomy'
them to portray the
bodies and how they moved. Their studieshelped
human bodY more realisticallY'
Renaissancesciencealsogavepaintersnewmaterials,suchasoilmixing powdered
basedpaints, to work with. Oil paint was made by
paint was thicker and
pigments (colors) with linseed oil' This type of
paint' Oil paint also
dried more slowly than the older, egg-based
to show details and
allowed artists to paint over previous work and
texture in new waYs.
326 ChaPter29
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29.5 Advances in Sculpture
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Like painters,Renaissancesculptorswere influencedby the humanist interestin realism.They were also inspiredby ancientRoman statues
dug up from ruins. Sculptorsbegancarving figures that looked like real
peopleand showedemotions.
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For the first time sincethe days of ancientGreeceand Rome, sculptors made freestandingstatuesthat could be viewed in the round. This
was very different from the relief sculpturesof medievaltimes.The
new statuescausedquite a sensation.They seemedto symbolizethe
humanistidealsof independenceand individuality.
Donatello,a Florentine,was one of the first sculptorsto use the new,
more lifelike style. His work expressedpersonalityand mood.A good
exampleis his statueof David, the young warrior in the Bible story
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of David and Goliath. In the 1500s,Giorgio Vasari,an architectand
painter,wrote that Donatello'sDavid is "so natural...it is almost impossible...tobelieveit was not molded on the living form." This statue
is thought to be the first life-size nude statuesinceclassicaltimes.
Donatello'swork influencedFlorence'sother great sculptor,
Michelangelo.This famous artist is renownedboth for his painting
and his sculpture.He was also a talented
poet and architect.Of all thesearts,he
preferredsculpturebecauseit seemedto
bring his subjectsto life.
Michelangelocreatedhis own
majesticstatueof David. It may be the
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world's most widely admiredsculpture.
Carvedin white marble,Michelangelo's
David standsabout 17 feet tall. It is
famed as an ideal of male beauty,yet it
reflectshumanistideas.David's expression shows the concentrationand tension
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of a real youth on the verge of battle.
Michelangelo'sDavid was installed
in the Piazza della Signoria, the plaza in
front of the PalazzoVecchio. It became
the prized expressionof Renaissance
genius in Florence.
' Mi"h"lungelo had an enonnous
inf luence on other artists.Giorgio Vasari
wais one of his followers. He wrote,
"Wlhat a happy age we live in! And
lcu'l fortunate are our craftsmen, who
hard:been given light and vision by
Michelangelo."
sits
Moses(above)
by Michelangelo
at thetombof PopeJuliusll in Rome.
the
Davidis perhaps
Michelangelo's
in
the
sculpture
world.
mostadmired
29.6 Advances in Literature
Literature, like other Renaissanceart forms, was changedby the
rebirth of interestin classicalideasand the rise of humanism.During
the ltalian Renaissance,the topics that people wrote about changed.
to earthlylife
secular relating
ratherthanto religionor spiritual
mafters
So did their style of writing and the languagein which they wrote.
In medievaltimes, literatureusually dealt with religious topics.Most
writers used a formal, impersonal style. Most Italian writers wrote in
Latin. Their work could be read only by a few highly educatedpeople.
In contrast,Renaissancewriters were interestedin individual experienceand in the world aroundthem. Writing about secular, or nonreligious, topics becamemore common. Writers used a more individual
style, and they expressedthoughts and feelings about life. By the end of
the Renaissance,most writers were writing in their own dialect instead
of Latin. As a result, far more people could read their work.
Dante Alighieri, a native of Florence,was the first well-known writer
to createliteraturein his native language.His besrknown work, The
Divine Comedy,was written in the early 1300s.This long poem describes
Dante's imaginary journey through the placeswhere Christians believed
Dante,
writerin
a Renaissance
Florence,
wrotea longpoem
called
painted
that souls went in the afterlife. With the spirit of the ancient Roman
TheDivineComedy.
Danteis
herewithscenes
ofheaven
andhell poet Virgil as his guide, Dante witnessesthe torments of souls condemned to Inferno, or hell. Virgil also takes him to Purgatory, a place
asdescribed
inhispoem.
between heaven and hell where
souls await entry into heaven.
Then a beautiful woman named
Beatrice shows him Paradise.or
heaven.
t
Like other humanist art, The
Divine Comedyhighlights strong
emotions and the experiencesof
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individuals.Dante'spoem is a
social commentary,too. It is filled
with real people. The inhabitants
of hell included people Dante disapprovedof. People he admired
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a
appearedin heaven.
Dante's work becamea model
for other Renaissancewriters. He,
strongly influencedtwo importarit
Florentine writers, Petrarchand
1
Boccaccio.They describedpeoi
ple's lives with a new intensityfof
feeling. Like Dante,they wrot{:
using the local dialect, so theirl
words touchedmany more people.
328 Chapter29
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29.7 Advances in Science and Mathematics
in thc arts.Scholars Leonardo
The Renaissance
was not.justa time clf progress
daVincistudied
many
including
things,
humananatomy.
in scienccand mathematics.
and othersalsomadegreatadvances
Befbrethe Renaissance.
mostof whatpeoplebelievedaboutthe
naturalworld was basedon ideasin ancientGreekand Rornantexts.
As the humanistspirit took hold. pcoplestartcd
questioning
old ideas.They begancarefullyobserv-
Thesesketches
of themuscles
oJ
thearmarefromhisnotebooks.
ing the world aroundthern.Insteadof rclyin-uon
old booksandtheories.scicntists
beganto pedirrrn
They analyzedthe resultsusin-9
experiments.
mathematics
and logic.This approachto research
changedthe studyol-:ciertce.
One of the nrostcreativeRenaissance
thinkcrs
was Leonardoda Vinci. Leonardowas r.urartist.a
scientist.
and an inventor.He studicdunderart rnasters in Florenceand did hrsearly work there.lt is
saidthat he was often to be fbund thinkingancl
sketchingat his favoritechurch.Orsanmichelc.
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Leonardowasendlessly
curious.Hc did not
acceptanythin-sas true until he haclprovedit hirnself. In his notebooks.he sketchedand wrote abolrt
an amazingvarietyof topics.He wrote about
-ucometry.engineering.
sound,motion.and architecture.
includin-e
He studiedanator.ny.
the circulation
of blood and the workingsof the eye. He learned
aboutthe efl'ectsof the moon on Earth'stides.He
was the first personto draw r.naps
fron.ra brrcl'seye view (abovethe ground).As an inventor,
,
weapons.
he designed
brrd-res.
and manyother
machines.Amon-rrhis rrany farsightedideaswas
an underwater
diving suit.
and mathernaticians
OtherItalianscientists
madebreakthroughs
as well. GirolamoCardano
solvedcomplexequationsin algebra.Cardano.who
was interested
in garnblin-u.
alsodid pioneering
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ity. He provedthata heavierobjectand a lighter
objectfall at the samerate.I1'thetwo objectsare droppedf}om the
sameheight.they reachthc groundat the sametirr-re.
Galileoalsobuilt
the first telescope
thatcouldbe usedto look into space.He usedhis
telescopeto discoverslurspotsand the nroousof the planetJupiter.
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circulation themovement
of
thebody
bloodthrough
By emphasizing
observation
andexperir.nent.
Galileoandother
paveclthe way fbr modernscience.
Renaissance
scientists
Florence:The Cradleof the Renaissance 329
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jt'':rl,iffi
:fr,,:*i.Ati,
work in probability.
the scienceof chance.Galileo
gravGalileidid importantexperinrents
concernin-g
29.4 Florentine Politics
The local governmentof Florencewas housedin the Palazzo
Vecchio.Like other ltalian city-states,Florencewas ruled by a governing board.As you learnedin Chapter28, however,theseboardswere
often controlledby rich families.The powerful Medici family con-
J
trolled Florence for nearly three centuries.
The Medicis maintainedtheir power in a number of ways. They
built palacesand kept a strongmilitary. They were involved in all
aspectsof life in the city. They were great supportersof artists,writers,
and musicians.The Medicis also defeatedenemieswho plotted against
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the family or even to murder someof its members.
Florins
werethemostvaluable
coinsin allof Europe
during
the
Renaissance.
One of the most powerful membersof the Medicis was Lorenzo the
Magnificent.A leadingpatron of art and scholarship,Lorenzo ruled
Florencefor more than 20 years,from 1469 until his deathin 1492.
Two yearslater,a revolution forced the Medicis into temporaryexile.
In 1512,the family regainedpower.
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A Florentinestatesmanand historian,Niccolo Machiavelli, watched
thesestrugglesfor power.During the Medicis' exile, he reorganizedthe
city's defenses.He also servedas a diplomat and spenttime observing
the actionsof other Italian rulers.
Machiavelli drew on his expe-
f.
riencesin a famous book called
The Prince. The book was a frank
accountof how politics and governmentreally worked. Machiavelli advisedrulers to make
their statesstrongby doing what
t
worked best, rather than by being
good or moral. He said that they
shouldeven lie if if helpedthem
to rule. In his view, the end, or
purpose,justified the means(the
actions taken to achieve a certain
purpose).Rulers,he wrote, should
be feared rather than loved.
The Prince seemsto contradict
humanistidealsaboutpeople's
goodness.Its cold realism shocked many readers.Yet in other ways
the book shows the influence of
t'I
s
humanistideas.It was the productof one individual's careful obserTheProcession
of theMagiisa
fresco
fromoneoftheMedici
familv's vation and thinking. It was concernedwith how things really worked
in the world. It also separatedideasabout governmentfrom religion.
oal aces
inFlor ence ,
In this respect,The Prince was a very modern work.
330 Chapter29
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29.9 Florentine Gommerce and Trade
As you have learned,one reasonthat Florencebecamea cultural
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centerwas the wealth that tradeand commercebrought to the city.
Let's concludeour visit to Renaissance
Florencewith a look at this
part of the city's life.
The economyof Florencewas unusually
flexible. Its first greatindustrywas woolen-cloth
making, but peopleoften worked in several
kinds of business.The owner of a cloth factory
might also deal in banking and real estate.A
grain dealermight also be a lawyer.Peopleoften
belongedto severalof Florence'sguilds at once.
{.
The shift to a money economyduring the
t
Renaissancehelpedcreatea thriving banking
industry in Florence.The Medicis, for example,
startedout as merchantsand moneylenders.
Over time, FlorencebecameEurope'sbanking
hub. The Medicis becameone of the wealthiest
families in Italy, and Florencebecamericher
lp
than the largestkingdoms in Europe.Popes
and kings borrowed money from its 80 banks.
There were two market centersin the city.
At the Mercato Vecchio(Old Market), people
bought everydayitems like vegetables,fruits,
't
bread,fish, meat,medicine,and shoes.The MercatoVecchiowas
crowded,noisy,and smelly.Still, peoplefrom all over Europecame
thereto buy and sell goods.
The MercatoNuovo (New Market) was built in the mid 1500sas s
centerfor the cloth and banking industries.City officials bannedfood
and weaponsfrom this new market.They wantedit to be clean and
orderly as a sign that commercewas highly regardedin Florence.
Florence's
MercatoNuovo(New
Marketlwasmuchcleanerandnicer
thanthe city'sMercatoVecchio(Old
Market).
TheMercatoNuovorepresentedFlorence's
highstatusin
Europeas a centerof commerce.
The Mercato Nuovo becameone of the largestfinancialmarketplaces
in Europe.Peopletraveledfrom far and wide to get loansor to convert
their money into florins, which could be used anywherein Europe.
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29-10 Chapter Summary
\
In this chapter,you visitedFlorenceto learnaboutRenaissance
advancesin a numberof fields.You sawhow humanisminfluenced
artistsandthinkerslike MichelangeloandI-eonardoda Vinci. You
alsolearnedaboutMachiavelli'spolitical ideasandFlorentinetrade
and commerce.
In the next chapter,you will learnhow Renaissance
ideasspread
from Italy acrossEurope.Thenyou will meetl0leading figuresof
the Renaissance-people
who changedthe world with their ideas.
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Florence:The Cradle of the Renaissance 33I
29.7 Advances in Science and Mathematics
lt-
The Renaissance
was notjust a time of progress
in the arts.Scholars Leonardo
many
daVincistudied
great
in
mathematics.
and othersalsomade
advances scienceancl
things,
including
humananaromy.
people
Befbrethe Renaissance,
most of what
Thesesketches
of the muscles
o{
believedaboutthe
naturalworld wasbasedon ideasin ancientGreekand Romantexts.
As the humanistspirit took hold. peoplestarted
questioningold ideas.They begancarefullyobserv-
thearmarefromhisnotebooks.
ing the world aroundthem. Insteadof relyin-eon
tj
old booksandtheories.scientists
beganto perlorm
experiments.
They analyzedthe resultsusing
mathematics
and logic.This approachto research
changedthe studyol'science.
One of the mostcreativeRenaissance
thinkers
was I-eonardoda Vinci. Leonardowas an artist.a
scientist.and an inventor.He studiedunderart rnasters in Florenceand did his early work there.It is
a
saidthat he was ofien to be fbund thinkingand
sketchingat his favoritechurch,Orsanmichele.
fo
Leonardowas endlesslycurious.He did not
acceptanythingas true until he had provedit him-
;r[{xrir*1{
'li,",ll'g',:"t't*l'*'"7
nurral 4i "r'l i rmrl !
\')r .dna)od',
.{^dl
r'.'9
rtci rn'
self. In his notebooks.he sketchedand wrote about
an amazingvarietyof topics.He wrote aboutgeometry,engineering.sound,motion,and architecture.
He studiedanatomy.includingthe circulation
I'
of blood and the workingsof the eye.He learned
aboutthe eff'ectsof the moon on Earth'stides.He
was the first personto draw nrapsfiom a bird'seye view (abovethe ground).As an inventor.
'?.t
he designedbridges,weapons,and many other
machines.Among his many larsightedideaswas
,1, n","n, u"a1,]' ! i, ,t
,l I" +var *,f'u t
an underwater
diving suit.
r)
OtherItalian scientistsand mathematicians
madebreakthroughs
as well. GrrolamoCardano
solvedcomplexequationsin al-eebra.
Cardano,who
was interestedin gambling.alsodid pioneering
work in probability,the scienceof chance.Galileo
gravGalileidid importantexperinrents
concerning
ity. He provedthat a heavierobjectand a li-chter
objectfall at the samerate.I1'thetwo objectsaredroppedf}om the
sameheight,they reachthe groundat the sametime. Galileoalsobuilt
the first telescopethat could be usedto Iook into space.He usedhis
il
circulation themovement
of
bloodthrough
thebody
telescope
to discoversunspotsand the moonsof the planetJupiter.
By emphasizing
observationand experiment,Galileoand other
Renaissance
scientistspavedthe way for modernscience.
Florence:The Cradleof the Renaissance 329