Download 25. Renaissance Florence

Renaissance Florence
Florence was where the Renaissance, or “rebirth,” was born. One might say it
was the city (and region) closest to earning the title of Capital of the Italian Renaissance.
We will look at Venice which became wealthy and famous through shipping.
Renaissance Rome was still the center of the Roman Catholic Church. But Florence was
the center of the Italian laboratory of achievement and curiosity. This bastion of
humanism conducted experiments in every area of human experience and knowledge but
especially in politics and in artistic development. Florence culturally surpassed all other
Italian city-states and all the rest of Europe from the early 1300s to the mid 1500s.
Geniuses were born “in the shadow of the Dome,” a reference to the cathedral of
Florence designed and built by one of the geniuses, Brunelleschi. He was only one of
four great architects to be born in Florence. Florence also produced two great poets, five
great sculptors, two great prose writers, nine great painters, one philosopher, and three
great historians. A simple matching exercise would be to see if you could place the most
famous of the famous Florentines in their categories above: Dante, Machiavelli,
Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo Buonnaroti. Be most careful with Michelangelo.
Geniuses can be touchy if you try to categorize them.
One Florentine family retains lasting fame mainly as patrons (financial
supporters) of art and culture, but they made their money as bankers, politicians, and
churchmen. The Medici family attained more power than any other family in all Europe
in their day, and their story is tied to that of the fame of Florence as were their
investments. You will meet Cosimo, Lorenzo, Giuliano, and Piero who are only some of
the famous people to end their name with the phrase, “de Medici.”
What Florence did not originate through the sheer weight of all this collective
genius, they refined and perfected. For example, Florentines took business methods,
humanism, and diplomacy further than anyone else had for 1,000 years (including the
Moors). Non-Florentines had a sort of secular pilgrimage, the goal of which was to dip
their clothes in the Arno River, the river along which Florence was situated. Even
Savonarola, the friar who preached against much of the movement his own city founded,
pronounced Florentines, “the cleverest people in Italy.” A glance at a simple document
from 1472 might explain why. Glance now.
Florence was founded by Romans on an old Etruscan town site. The Arno River
provided an excellent trade route to the sea, and several mountain passes to the east
allowed travel across the Apennine Mountains running down the Italian Peninsula. A
Roman amphitheater and some public baths remained until modern times. Medieval
Florence saw growth that required continual expansion of its walls until it crossed the
Arno. Three bridges were added to the one that remained from Roman times. The
30,000 inhabitants through the middle ages increased to 120,000 on the eve of the
Renaissance, and then the Black Death in 1348 reduced it to 60,000. Florence stopped
expanding around 1526 when the final stretch of walls was completed and topped with
cannon. The population stood at 100,000.
Modern tourists go to Florence for its beauty, but behind the lovely façade is a
history of crime, violence, assassinations, and revolutions, not to mention war with
outsiders. Leaders were banished only to return and banish their enemies. The most
famous Florentine leader of all, Lorenzo de Medici, was nearly assassinated while at
Church on Easter Sunday. His brother, Giuliano, was killed saving Lorenzo. We even
know how many stab wounds Giuliano received—19! The Medicis’ enemies then began
falling out of high windows all over Florence. The steamier side of life in Florence also
included licensed prostitutes who collected on a street still known as the street of the
“lovely ladies,” or Belle Donne. Through the turbulence and vice, however, Florence
maintained stability and pride. This civic pride was the driving force behind the
Renaissance as it commemorated itself with a variety of art forms.
The wealth to pay for expressions of cultural pride made by geniuses came from
two industries—wool and banking. Wool was brought from England, France, and
Flanders and dyed and woven into cloth in Florence. The ups and downs of the wool and
banking industries determined the rising and falling of members of the social classes
along with marriages which were viewed as business partnerships. Seven Great Guilds
made up of merchants, plus fourteen craft guilds made up of artisans constituted the 21
Florentine guilds that organized the local economy. Each guild had its own church and
its own hall in town. The guilds sponsored markets and parades. Both the Great Guilds
and the craft guilds needed each other so they worked together to maintain a republic in
Florence long after all the other Italian city-states fell into the hands of despots.
Regarding politics, laws passed in the late 1200s had barred the nobility from high
office, an incredibly revolutionary concept for the times. By the Renaissance, however,
the nobility had worked their way back into power through the Great Guilds as
merchants. One lower-class revolt in 1378 was successful in gaining influence for the
commoners for only about four years before several guilds of workers were dissolved.
Three times in the 14th century Florence invited outsiders to come in to solve internal
disputes. Each time the outsiders became dictators and together ruled Florence for 14
years, and each time a general uprising of Florentines booted them out.
Throughout the 15th century, Renaissance Florentines believed all this upheaval
had given them the best government in Italy, especially when Florence repulsed an
invasion by the despot of Milan. This pride in their political evolution created a trap,
however. In believing in their constitution and republic they allowed Cosimo de Medici
to rule them indirectly. Cosimo de Medici was the founder of the family banking
business who sought to control politics in order to preserve his wealth. His grandson,
known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was a politician who had to keep up the Medici banks
to preserve his power. Florence awoke in 1492 after Lorenzo died, finally realized they
had been manipulated, and made a more democratic constitution.
The Medicis had expanded their banks with branches in four other Italian citystates, four towns in France, and one in London. The Medicis were creditors and
counselors for the French king as well as for Popes. Once, Venice and Naples allied and
were marching to invade Florence when Cosimo simply called in all his loans to their
citizens. He used his money and his expertise to single-handedly rout the invaders who
turned around and went home. Lorenzo, however, did not inherit this type of business
shrewdness. He preferred politics, women, and art and left the Medici banks bankrupt
upon his death. While in power he also spent half the state’s income on books.
This curious connection between power and culture in Florence needs further
explanation. Florentines demanded practical, realistic political solutions. They were also
pioneers of realistic art. Florence resurrected the Roman political spirit; they also
resurrected Roman art (literally, by digging up old statues, etc.). Florentines were
intensely proud of their city, and their literature, art, and architecture was thus all
designed to reflect their greatness. The average citizen of Florence was interested in the
public affairs of government. In turn, Florence became a city of amateur art critics,
intensely devoted to appreciating public art. And the merchants paid for it all.
Why would rich merchants pay for the public art of Florence? Theories abound.
While they did buy pieces of art just for their private gardens and houses, historians posit
that giving the city art eased the rich merchants’ consciences about being so rich. Others
seemed to have consoled themselves when they suffered business losses by buying public
art. Businessmen would, of course, see art as investments, especially since they were
surrounded by acknowledged artistic geniuses. The shrewdest purpose for patronizing art
was to stave off jealousy and rivalry that might get you assassinated—no one complained
about beauty in church. If someone complained that you were gaining wealth through
usury, for example, you could decorate a church or two and be “absolved.” Lorenzo the
Magnificent calculated that he spent 663,755 florins on public art over 37 years. We
know that the average painting cost from 50 to 100 florins, so to put that in perspective
Lorenzo could have contributed 6,000 to 13,000 paintings! Sculptures cost more.
Merchants also bought art to show off their wealth, of course, as well as their
refined taste. The quest for excellent art became more important than collecting quantity.
Florence saw many famous contests among artists and architects to receive commissions,
each driving the competitors to higher levels of achievement. One of the most famous
competitions was won by Brunelleschi who was selected not because his idea for the
dome of the cathedral was best but because he was the only architect to figure out how to
build it at all. Not until the 20th century did modern architects rediscover his techniques
which I will in no way attempt to explain to you now, not because such knowledge is
above you but because it is above me!
The birth of realistic Renaissance art was centered in Florence and stemmed from
the desire of wealthy patrons to be remembered, even if as only a person standing in the
crowd of a fresco celebrating, say, the Nativity. Realistic art made figures in the
paintings or sculptures recognizable as individuals; there you have the Renaissance. The
greatest Renaissance artists—Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian—all grew up under the
influence of Florence’s realistic art which was in vogue across Italy. They then built
from there with the genius of their own perspectives, and they competed with each other
for commissions and individual fame; there you have the Renaissance. Artists became so
famous they were leading citizens, diplomats to other city-states and nations, heroes of
humanism, and servants of God. The focused force of their collective genius pushed
mankind toward the modern era.
Great art is always born out of great struggle, and Florence had painful internal
and external strife. The birthplace of the Renaissance was eventually persuaded to
overthrow Lorenzo’s son, Piero de Medici, by the preaching of a Dominican monk
named Savonarola. Savonarola had gained fame by predicting Lorenzo’s death and the
invasion of Italy by the French King, Charles VIII, and both predictions came true. He
exposed the intrigues of the Medicis and became the actual ruler of Florence. Gangs of
his followers went about Florence enforcing new laws against gambling, swearing,
immoral songs, horse racing, and fancy dressing. They ripped fancy dresses right off
women! For a while Florentines rejected the Renaissance, dressed in plain clothes, and
gave money to charity rather than to artists. They crowded into churches to hear
Savonarola or his close followers preach.
A climax came when Savonarola even criticized the Pope, and for this he is seen
as a precursor to the Protestant Reformation. The Pope, of course, excommunicated him
which brought him greater notoriety. A Franciscan monk then proposed a showdown, a
trial by fire with Savonarola. Both monks were to “walk through fire,” and the true
Order’s representative would not be burned. All Florence turned out on May 23, 1498—
but it rained! In the resulting outcry the whole city became disorderly. Savonarola and
his closest followers were arrested and burned at the stake (see diagram). After their
lives were extinguished, Florentines threw rocks at the parts of their bodies that hadn’t
fallen into the flames below. The ashes were all collected and carted off to be dumped in
the Arno River. Florence invited the Medicis back from exile in Venice. They ruled until
1743 when their family line died out naturally.