FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE

 "Florence is perhaps best known for being the seat of Renaissance art and rightly so: A greatest- hits collection of artists passed through its streets- Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli  and Brunelleschi among them".

~Hanya Yanagihara

The Beginning of one of the greatest movement in arts and literature was seen in the city of Florence, Italy, where the Renaissance flourished and later spread to different parts of the world. Florence is known as the cradle of Renaissance and is still preserved as a Renaissance city with the wealth of Renaissance art and architecture that remains the city's unique treasures.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN? 

Before the Renaissance period, that is during the Middle Ages, Florence was already in the process of development and new changes started taking place at that time itself. Florence first emerged as a republic in the early 12th century but there were political unrest throughout the period due to economic strife, wars, etc and soon the ' Medici family' ( who were wool merchants and bankers)came into power and they ruled Florence throughout the Renaissance period. They had a major influence on the growth of Italian Renaissance through their patronage of the arts and humanism.They would pay artists commissions for major works of art. They did not only support the art and architecture but also supported science and was heartily accepting and supporting new experiments and explorations that were happening in the country itself.  A significant amount of the art and architecture that was produced in Florence at the beginning of the Renaissance was due to the Medici family. This was a time when Florence prospered economically also, for instance , ' Florin' ( a method of currency ) was first introduced in 1252 for the Republic of Florence. The city of Florence glorified itself through the embellishment of its churches with paintings, sculptures and architecture and majorly with its tremendous growth and richness influenced other parts of Europe as well. One of the main reason that Renaissance emerged in Florence is because the city saw itself as an ideal state, where freedom was guaranteed to citizens and state supported and encouraged new artists and art forms to develop and flourish in their city. As the individuals and their interests  were taken into account by the state, the idea of ' Humanism' thrived in Florence in the 15th century, which was one of the major elements of the Renaissance period. Therefore, one can say that due to the political stability( that was achieved much later) , economic prosperity and the patronage provided to the artists led to the beginning of the Renaissance in the city of Florence.

FLORENCE AND RENAISSANCE ART

As Florence is known as the birthplace of Renaissance, the emergence of the Renaissance art can also be traced back to the city of Florence. The patronage provided by the state and the Medici family played a significant role in the growth of art and the artists as well. The ' Florence School of Painting' became the dominant style during the Renaissance where the artworks depicted more secular subject matters as compared to the previous ages.Florence gave way to many new painters, sculptors and architectures who were experimenting with the new ideas developed during the period which was a break away from the traditional Gothic ideas. Some of the Artists who contributed to the genre of Art in Florence during the Renaissance period are listed below:

• MASACCIO 

Massico was a Florentine artists who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Early Renaissance period. Masaccio probably influenced the art of painting in the Renaissance. Masaccio used light and perspective to give his figures weight and three dimensionality, a sense of being in a space rather rather than simply on a painted surface. His art eventually helped to create many of the major conceptual and stylistic foundations of western paintings. One of the masterpiece work by Masaccio is " The Holy Trinity" , painted on the wall of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. This painting depicts the crucifixion of  Christ, with the customary figures of the Virgin and St. John at the foot of the cross. The use of 3 dimensional space in this painting represents the pinnacle of Masaccio's technical mastery.

The Holy Trinity 

• BRUNELLESCHI 

Filippo Brunelleschi was an Italian architect and designer, who is considered to be a founding father of  Renaissance architecture. He is said to have rediscovered the principles of linear perspective, an artistic device that created the illusion of space by depicting converging parallel lines. His principle contribution to the Renaissance in Florence was his innovative work in constructing the massive dome for the city's cathedral, still an iconic work of Renaissance architecture.  This dome is a double shelled structure, supported by sturdy pillars. He also used herring bone for the walls to keep the dome from falling and he brought about his innovative and experimental ideas and mechanical knowledge for the construction of one of the biggest dome in the world.

Dome of the Cathedral 

• DONATELLO 

Donatello was an Italian Sculptor of the Renaissance period, whose contribution helped to develop a complete Renaissance style in sculpture. Donatello was a master of both marble and bronze and had an extensive knowledge of ancient sculpture. He also developed his own style of relief known as ' Schiacciato' , which means flattened out.  His sculpted figures were considered as the first to represent anatomy correctly and to suggest a sense of individuality. Donatello's bronze statue of ' David' is one of his famous works, which represents strength and hope for people.It depicts David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after defeating the giant . It was the first free- standing male nude sculpture produced since antiquity and was controversial for a non-pagan, biblical figure. 

David's Bronze statue

> Besides, theses above mentioned few artists, there are many other artists who has immensely contributed to the Florentine Renaissance and whose works are still recognized as great masterpieces around the world. Piero della Francesca, an Italian painter, whose paintings are characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric use and perspectives.His most  famous work is the ' History of  the True cross' in the church of San Francesco. Another artists,Lorenzo Ghiberti, an Italian Renaissance sculptor, whose famous work ' The gates of Paradise' is one of  the best known Renaissance sculptor that depicts the scenes from the Old testament.

FLORENCE AND RENAISSANCE LITERATURE 

Literature was another important sphere of study that was experimented and as a result new ideologies were developed and brought into light during the Renaissance period in Florence. Most of the scholars made their contributions to the Renaissance literature by studying and revisiting the ancient classical works and re - producing it with a touch of new ideas, beliefs and perspectives.  Most of the intellectuals were interested in the concept of 'Humanism' that developed during the Renaissance period and they used the ideas of humanism in their works which allowed a space for the spectators to relate to the contemporary works. During the Renaissance period, poetry became one of the most valued forms of literature and was often accompanied by music. The genre of Drama - Tragedy and Comedy also started coming into light and created at profound impact on the Renaissance period. Some of the literary scholars who largely contributed to the Renaissance in Florence are listed below: 

• DANTE ALIGHIERI 

Dante Alighieri was one of the greatest Italian poet, writer and philosopher who through his works and philosophies contributed heavily to the growth of Renaissance in Florence and throughout Italy. Dante helped to raise the Tuscan dialect into the national literary language of Italy. He established vernacular languages as literary languages and demonstrated that great writers didn't have to use Latin and this is perhaps seen as his greatest contribution to the Renaissance. He contributed to the development of humanism and challenged the hegemonic nature of the church. Many of his ideas and themes were developed by later writers, artists and thinkers. Dante's most famous work ' The Divine Comedy' (1320) is an epic poem in which Dante imagines a journey through hell and paradise, while allegorically the poem represents the soul's journey towards God. This work was originally written in the Tuscan language and through this work Dante was able to establish the use of vernacular language, rejecting the idea of  Latin as the only language to be used in literary works.

Dante's Divine Comedy 

•FRANCESCO PETRARCA 

Francesco Petrarca, more famously known as Petrarch was one of the famous Italian scholar, poet and humanist, who is also considered as the ' Father of Humanism', a philosophy that sparked the Renaissance period. He developed the the concept of humanism, inspired by Cicero's letters that Petrarch rediscovered during the Renaissance period. Petrarch is best known for his Italian poetry, ' Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta' ( fragments of Vernacular matters), which is a collection of 366 lyrical poems in various genres, also known as ' Canzoniere' ( Songbook) . Petrarch was an enthusiastic latin scholar, therefore, most of his works were written in latin language only, but the ' Canzoniere' was written in the vernacular language, as he believed that this particular work can be expressed precisely in the language of ordinary men only.  Petrarch's writings include well known odes to Laura ,his idealized love. His writings were also used to shape the modern Italian language. In addition to this, Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance period and became a model for lyrical poetry.

Petrarch's Canzoniere

• NICCOLÒ  MACHIAVELLI 

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian political philosopher and statesman, who was also the secretary of the Florentine republic and one of the founding thinker of modernity. He is also known as the 'father of  modern political philosophy and political science.  One of the greatest works of Machiavelli that is still celebrated as a great political masterpiece is ' The Prince' (1532), a work which brought huge fame to Machiavelli and which is still considered as a great controversial text by many scholars and critics . In ' The Prince' Machiavelli uses the Renaissance value of humanism, targets human nature in portraying the ideal Monarchy and throughout the text he articulately examines the dynamics of humanity. He also talks about the qualities a Prince should have inorder to maintain a safe and prosperous state. Machiavelli was someone who talked about constant change and how human beings should be open to the possibility of that constant change. Through ' The prince' , Machiavelli challenges the corrupt nature of the Anglican Church, trying to free power from the religious notions and  to secularise politics. As at that period , the church and the state worked hand in hand, mostly influencing each other, Machiavelli's work received a lot of criticisms. But the work is still regarded as one of the greatest political work in the history due to Machiavelli's political philosophies and his use of Renaissance Humanism in the text.

> Besides these artists mentioned above, there are other writers as well who made their contributions to the Renaissance art in Florence. The Ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici, wrote the carnival song ' The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne ( 1490) which were written using the humanist values that were developing at the time. Another Italian writer, linguist and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti famously wrote ' The Treatise on Architecture' where he outlines the key elements of classical architecture. 

~ DEVIKA R NAIR