FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE
The date often given as the beginning of the Renaissance is the year 1401. when the Florentine authorities announced a competition for the right to make the second door of the baptistery. The candidates were to present a mock work on the Sacrifice of Abraham — a difficult test involving narrative problems, Expression, movement and spatial organization, where the scenery had to be properly depicted, animals and naked and dressed in robes of figures. The boldest solution to these issues, to watch in Bargello. presented by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), who, by the way, has fully mastered the technique of perspective. However, he did not win the competition and in bitterness abandoned sculpture in favor of architecture.; however, his mastery of plastic forms enabled other artists to further experiment and discover, providing a bridge between medieval and modern art..
The baton after Brunelleschi was taken over by Donatello (Ok. 1386-1466), who began his career by creating a new kind of free-standing statues for florentine churches, which have become an artistic symbol of the city. The heroic ones, of supernatural size figures are shown to stand firmly on the ground, with an expression of great energy and concentration on the face. A typical example is St.. George in Orsanmichele. below which the artist placed an unusual bas-relief depicting a saint inflicting death on a dragon, where for the first time in the history of sculpture the perspective is used and the technique of very shallow carving is initiated. His Bronze David, currently located in Bargello. Donatello restored the figural act, which is the biggest challenge for the sculptor; he also revived another forgotten art form, bronze equestrian statue, creating the Gattamelata Monument in Padua.
The winner of the competition for the doors of the baptistery was Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), who devoted most of his further life to this project. Initially, he did not reveal interest in the perspective and remained faithful to most of the old Gothic formulas., in his first pair of doors improving only the techniques of Andrea Pisan. However, the second pair of doors, called the Door of Paradise. shows the evolution of Ghiberti's style under the influence of classical patterns; the artist created a sense of space and illusion, and the characters and still a mildly lyrical expression.
Another artist, which successfully combined elements of Gothic and Renaissance, former collaborator of Donatello Nanni di Banco (Ok. 1384-1421), especially in the Four Saints in Orsanmichele. Another architect-sculptor, Bernardo Rosselino (1409-64), made a statue of Leonardo Bruni in Santa Croce. one of the first examples of a wall tombstone, which was to dominate for the remainder of the century.
Luca della Robbia (1400-82) he began his career as a sculptor in marble and bronze and practiced a classicizing style, which, however, differed from solemnity. what his contemporaries had in relation to antiquity. Luca, however, abandoned other forms of sculpture after the invention of glazed terracotta., assuming a lucrative family interest, who succeeded him by his nephew Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525).
Painter Masaccio (1401-28) is, next to Brunelleshi and Donatello, a key figure in the early Renaissance. His fresco The Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella certainly amazed his contemporaries, because the perfect rendering of depth and perspective created a sense of hollowing into a solid wall, on which it was painted. Masaccio collaborated with Masolino. especially in the cycle of frescoes in Santa Maria del Carmine. The scenes here are reduced to the most important details; the figures are characterized by heroism and dignity, with gestures captured at the moment of the most intense expression. A single light source is used, with properly targeted shadows.
Fra Angelico (1387/1400-55) combined new techniques with gothic tradition, like Ghiberti in sculpture. The images of this pious Dominican make an impression seen in the ecstasy of the vision of heaven. A significant component of them is color: Angelico's ethereal blue is unrepromisable, and the rest of the palette almost equally sophisticated. Frescoes for the purposes of his own monastery of San Marco, which were to serve as an aid in contemplation, are the most important group of his work. At the end of his career, Angelico was summoned to the Vatican., where frescoes covered the walls of Capella Niccolina. Their style no longer bore any gothic marks on it..
Fra Filippo Lippi (Ok. 1406-69) gradually departed from the style of his master Masaccio. developing a greater sense of drama and feeling, which is best seen in the frescoes in Prato Cathedral. In his later panel paintings, the artist creates a very personal, mystical vision, which is filled with the pensive Madonnas, played children and poetic landscapes. The only noteworthy imitator of Fra Angelico was Benozzo Gozzoli (Ok. 1421-97), whose works lack any deeper reflection, but they are characterized by undeniable decorative grace. best visible on the frescoes in Palazzo Medici-Ricardi, which present a lush panorama of life in Florence at that time.
The most eccentric painter in the city was Paolo Uccello (1396-1475). whose works show how much importance he attributed to matters of perspective and abbreviation. His Sir John Hawkwood in cathedral is an intentional trompe toeit. the effect of which, however, is weakened by the use of multiple points of view, features of many of his paintings, through which he tried to direct the eye deep into the image with as many lines as possible. Domenico Veneziano (1406-61) he was one of the most admired artists of his time, but only a few of his works have survived. including a cheerful altar painting of St.. Lucyna in Uffizi, with skilful spatial and gentle organization. pastel colors. Z kolei Andrea del Castagno (Ok. 1421-57) preferred aggressive, strong colors and overly dramatized poses of their characters, what is visible in the painting The Last Supper in Sant'Apolonia. In the Uffizi series Famous People, he initiated the Florentine fashion for the skilful transfer of Donatello's late sculptural patterns to canvas..
In the middle of the century, Florentine art gained a versatile artist in the person of Antonio Pollaiuolo (Ok. 1432-98). who acted as a painter, sculptor, woodcutter, goldsmith and embroidery designer. He became famous for the progress made in the field of anatomy and movement; he was also one of the first, who faced the great challenge of Renaissance art, namely, the combination of an accurate and realistic representation of all elements of the image with the creation of a satisfactory compositional whole. Another painter-sculptor was Andrea del Verrocchio (Ok. 1435-88). whose fame as a teacher wrongly distracted him from his own, comprehensive achievements. His Christ and Saint. Thomas in Orsanmichele proves his considerable compositional talent, because two statues were placed in a space intended for one and signals a departure from classicism, as well as the equestrian Monument of Bartolommeo Colleoni in front of San Zanipolo in Venice. Other Florentine sculptors of this period preferred a much more delicate style. Desi-derio da Settignano (1428-64) he created sophisticated busts of women and children and used the donatellows technique of shallow relief to sculpt scenes characterized by extraordinary sensitivity.. Mino da Fiesole (1429-84). Antonia Rosselino (1427-79) and Benedetto da Maiano (1442-97) had similar interests, focusing on the grace and beauty of the line.
An increasingly important place in the repertoire of Florentine painters of the second half of the fifteenth century. occupied scenes from classical mythology, first of all, as a result of the promotion of humanistic culture by the court. One of the most stylistically distinct Italian artists, Sandro Boticelli (Ok. 1445-1510). created some of the most famous and poignant paintings of its kind, and especially the Birth of Venus and Spring, works currently in the Uffizi. In his late works one can see the intended archaization, presumably the result of the religious fanaticism prevailing during this period.
Filippino Lippi (1457/8-1504), born from Fra Filippo's relationship with a nun, owes its fame to the completion of masaccio's frescoes in Santa Maria del Carmine. The artist developed a style based on Boticelli's manner, although the sense of antiquity is perhaps more conscious here. Another painter with pagan tastes was the introverted Piero di Cosimo (Ok. 1462-1521), which reached the highest level in enigmatic mythological scenes. In the same period, a new colorful type of frescoes was created by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-94). whose works in Florentine churches are now mainly of documentary value. full of portraits of contemporary personalities and humorous details.