Florence, Italy-Renaissance Birthplace

In the early 15th century, a new innovation in art and literature began in Italy. Classical scholars believed the arts had been weakening in quality and style for 1000 years. Students of classical Greek and Roman cultures sought to revive the grandeur of ancient times, and they fervently studied classical literature, art, and architecture. This desire to reawaken the glory of the past became known as The Renaissance. The Renaissance was much more than just a reawakening of ancient cultures and art; it was a rejection of the Middle Ages, which was consumed by religion and life after death. The Renaissance persuaded people to look at the beauty of the present world, and begin thinking more about their own importance. Although artists were the first people influenced by the spirit of the Renaissance, it quickly filtered through all areas of life and now the name is given to an entire period of history.15th century Florence is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance. The father of Renaissance art, Giotto di Bondone, actually lived a century before Renaissance ideas really took off. Giotto painted religious images, as did artists in the Middle Ages, but his paintings depicted saints dressed in the every day clothing of the common people. They were real and touchable, unlike the lofty, ethereal beings of earlier artwork. Giotto paved the way for a new group of artists in Florence that wanted to break the Gothic traditions and shed the shackles of the old techniques. This first became apparent in the area of architecture. Filippo Brunelleschi traveled to Rome and studied the ruins of the classical period. When he returned to Florence, he fashioned a round Roman arch that flew in the face of the traditional pointed Gothic arch. The dome of the magnificent Florence cathedral is Brunelleschi's greatest work. Sculpture soon followed. Florence citizen, Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, carved the first freestanding statues, the likes of which hadn't been seen since ancient times. Donatello was a student of the human body, making an intensive study of ancient sculptures and nude models so he could understand all the workings of the human anatomy. His five sculptures of the prophets epitomized his knowledge of facial features, down to the last shadow of emotion. Luca della Robbia took sculpting in a different direction, using terra cotta (fired clay) which was less expensive than stone or bronze, and could be glazed in astonishingly bright colors. Della Robbia fashioned the saints with garlands, fruit and leaves, often sculpting them to adorn doorways and altars. Renaissance art was hardly limited to structures; paintings and frescoes (paintings on freshly spread plaster) soon dominated the scene. Masaccio, another student of human anatomy, was commissioned to create frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel in Florence. Masaccio was one of the first painters to establish the concept of perspective in painting, a technique that emphasized depth, clarity, and realism. Many followed in the footsteps of Masaccio, to give Florence the reputation as a city of art and progressive ideas. Paolo Uccello used perspective in his horses of "Rout of San Romano." Piero della Francesca, a painter and mathematician, used his expertise in geometry to perfect the "Legend of the True Cross" frescoes. Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," exemplified his longing, and that of his contemporaries, for the ancient past.Leonardo da Vinci was a Florentine Renaissance painter, as well as writer, engineer, inventor, musician, astronomer, and mathematician. Known to us as one of the masters, da Vinci was a master of facial expressions and gestures, personified particularly in his famous "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa." Another master of the time, Raphael, was greatly influenced by da Vinci. Raphael visualized man as the ruler of his world, rather than its servant. In 1508, he was called to Rome to paint several rooms in the Vatican, and perhaps his work most representative of the Renaissance spirit is the "Stanza della Segnatura, four murals portraying the doctrine of the Catholic Church in relation to philosophy, theology, law, and art. Michelangelo is in a class all by himself. Perhaps the greatest of the 16th century artists, Michelangelo was a painter, architect, poet, and sculptor. He was expert at combining classical Greek form with the modern Christian influence of the Renaissance, as is evident in his portrayal of the youthful, but bold, "David." He created masterpieces for several popes of his day and was commissioned by Julius II to decorate the pope's tomb and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The Sistine ceiling took four painful years to complete, while Michelangelo was awkwardly suspended from the ceiling, but it is now a timeless reminder of the Renaissance outlook regarding creation, sin, and the redemption of mankind.Later in the Renaissance, a band of artists in Florence became disillusioned with artwork that only glorified creation and portrayed the world as a wonderful place. Italy was fast becoming a battleground in the political and military realm, and these artists began to focus more on style than subject matter. They came to be called Mannerists. The realistic and unusual style of the mannerists signified the winding down of the Renaissance in Florence, and gave way to the up and coming Baroque style of art.The Renaissance was a time of reawakening in the world of art and literature. New ideas were born, old styles were resurrected, and the world seemed to come alive for the first time in many centuries. Masters emerged that created priceless treasures; Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo: all timeless names that are synonymous with perfection, magnificence, and splendor. If Italy was the crown in that colorful movement called The Renaissance, Florence was the jewel in that crown, producing some of the most influential artists that have ever lived.