Complete and submit Week 7 Quiz 6: Chapters 11 and 12
- Read the following from your textbook:
- Chapter 13: Siena and Florence in the Fourteenth Century
- Chapter 14: Florence and the Early Renaissance – in Italy
- View the Week 7 Would You Like to Know More? videos
- Explore the Week 7 Music Folder
- Do the Week 7 Explore Activities
- Participate in the Week 7 Discussion (choose only one (1) of the discussion options)
The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia [diˈviːna komˈmɛːdja]) is an epic poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature[1] and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.[2] The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language.[3] It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven;[4] but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God.[5] At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.[6] Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse".[7]
The work was originally simply titled Comedìa and the word Divina was added by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce,[8] published in 1555 by Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari.
Would You Like to Know More? - Dante and The Divine Comedy
Click the image below to learn more about Dante and the Divine Comedy.
The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343.[6] From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population.[7] In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century.[8] The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century.[9] The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.
The plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history.
Click the image below to learn more about Dante and the Divine Comedy.
Ring side seat!--Join Dante's spiritual tour of the afterlife.
Ring side seat!--Join Dante's spiritual tour of the afterlife.
Ring side seat!--Join Dante's spiritual tour of the afterlife.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week6/WYLTKM-Dante/story.html
The Black Death or Black Plague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353.[1][2][3] Although there were several competing theories as to the etiology of the Black Death, analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe published in 2010 and 2011 indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, probably causing several forms of plague.[4][5]
The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343.[6] From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population.[7] In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century.[8] The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century.[9] The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.
The plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history.
Would You Like to Know More? - The Black Death
Click the image below to learn more about the Black Death.
Click the image below to learn more about the Black Death.
Devastation and Recovery: A "big picture" look at the Black Death of 1347-1350, and some of the unexpected impacts.
Click the image below to learn more about humanism and the Medici.
Click the image below to learn more about the Black Death.
Devastation and Recovery: A "big picture" look at the Black Death of 1347-1350, and some of the unexpected impacts.
Devastation and Recovery: A "big picture" look at the Black Death of 1347-1350, and some of the unexpected impacts.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week6/WYLTKM-BlackDeath/story.html
Renaissance humanism is the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term Renaissance humanism is contemporary to that period—Renaissance (rinascimento "rebirth") and "humanist" (whence modern humanism; also Renaissance humanism to distinguish it from later developments grouped as humanism).[1]
Renaissance humanism was a response to the utilitarian approach and what came to be depicted as the "narrow pedantry" associated with medieval scholasticism.[2] Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity and thus capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions. This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis, today known as the humanities: grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy.
According to one scholar of the movement,
The House of Medici (/ˈmɛdᵻtʃi/ MED-i-chee; Italian pronunciation: [ˈmɛːditʃi]) was an Italian banking family, political dynasty and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until they were able to fund the Medici Bank. The bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, seeing the Medici gain political power in Florence — though officially they remained citizens rather than monarchs.
The Medici produced three Popes of the Catholic Church—Pope Leo X (1513–1521), Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), and Pope Leo XI (1605);[2] two regent queens of France—Catherine de' Medici (1547–1559) and Marie de' Medici (1600–1610). In 1531, the family became hereditary Dukes of Florence. In 1569, the duchy was elevated to a grand duchy after territorial expansion. They ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from its inception until 1737, with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici. The grand duchy witnessed degrees of economic growth under the earlier grand dukes, but by the time of Cosimo III de' Medici, Tuscany was fiscally bankrupt.
Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana. Like other signore families, they dominated their city's government, they were able to bring Florence under their family's power, and they created an environment where art and humanism could flourish. They along with other families of Italy, such as the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua, fostered and inspired the birth of the Italian Renaissance.
The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected institutions in Europe. There are some estimates that the Medici family were the wealthiest family in Europe for a time. From this base, they acquired political power initially in Florence and later in wider Italy and Europe. A notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. The Medici family were among the earliest businesses to use the system.
Renaissance humanism is the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term Renaissance humanism is contemporary to that period—Renaissance (rinascimento "rebirth") and "humanist" (whence modern humanism; also Renaissance humanism to distinguish it from later developments grouped as humanism).[1]
Renaissance humanism was a response to the utilitarian approach and what came to be depicted as the "narrow pedantry" associated with medieval scholasticism.[2] Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity and thus capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions. This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis, today known as the humanities: grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy.
According to one scholar of the movement,
Early Italian humanism, which in many respects continued the grammatical and rhetorical traditions of the Middle Ages, not merely provided the old Trivium with a new and more ambitious name (Studia humanitatis), but also increased its actual scope, content and significance in the curriculum of the schools and universities and in its own extensive literary production. The studia humanitatis excluded logic, but they added to the traditional grammar and rhetoric not only history, Greek, and moral philosophy, but also made poetry, once a sequel of grammar and rhetoric, the most important member of the whole group.[3]Humanism was a pervasive cultural mode and not the program of a small elite, a program to revive the cultural legacy, literary legacy, and moral philosophy of classical antiquity. There were important centres of humanism in Florence, Naples, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Mantua, Ferrara, and Urbino.
The House of Medici (/ˈmɛdᵻtʃi/ MED-i-chee; Italian pronunciation: [ˈmɛːditʃi]) was an Italian banking family, political dynasty and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until they were able to fund the Medici Bank. The bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, seeing the Medici gain political power in Florence — though officially they remained citizens rather than monarchs.
The Medici produced three Popes of the Catholic Church—Pope Leo X (1513–1521), Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), and Pope Leo XI (1605);[2] two regent queens of France—Catherine de' Medici (1547–1559) and Marie de' Medici (1600–1610). In 1531, the family became hereditary Dukes of Florence. In 1569, the duchy was elevated to a grand duchy after territorial expansion. They ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from its inception until 1737, with the death of Gian Gastone de' Medici. The grand duchy witnessed degrees of economic growth under the earlier grand dukes, but by the time of Cosimo III de' Medici, Tuscany was fiscally bankrupt.
Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana. Like other signore families, they dominated their city's government, they were able to bring Florence under their family's power, and they created an environment where art and humanism could flourish. They along with other families of Italy, such as the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua, fostered and inspired the birth of the Italian Renaissance.
The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected institutions in Europe. There are some estimates that the Medici family were the wealthiest family in Europe for a time. From this base, they acquired political power initially in Florence and later in wider Italy and Europe. A notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. The Medici family were among the earliest businesses to use the system.
Click the image below to learn more about humanism and the Medici.
Click the image below to learn more about humanism and the Medici.
Bankrolling the Renaissance: Explore how the Medici and others made the Renaissance possible.
Bankrolling the Renaissance: Explore how the Medici and others made the Renaissance possible.
Bankrolling the Renaissance: Explore how the Medici and others made the Renaissance possible.
https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/HUM/111/1146/Week7/WYLTKM-Humanism/story.html
Week 7 Explore
Late Medieval Art, Literature, and Plague
Francesco Petrarca (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃesko peˈtrarka]; July 20, 1304 – July 20, 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (/ˈpiːtrɑːrk, ˈpɛtrɑːrk/), was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance.
Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism.[1] In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri.[2]
Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages."[3] This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day.[4]
Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature,[1] is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten-year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde. He is best known today for The Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer's work was crucial in legitimizing the literary use of the Middle English vernacular at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
Christine de Pizan (also seen as de Pisan ; French pronunciation: [kʁistin də pizɑ̃] (
listen) ; 1364 – c. 1430) was an Italian French late medieval author. She served as a court writer for several dukes (Louis of Orleans, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, and John the Fearless of Burgundy) and the French royal court during the reign of Charles VI.
She wrote both poetry and prose works such as biographies and books
containing practical advice for women. She completed forty-one works
during her 30-year career from 1399–1429.[1]
She married in 1380 at the age of 15, and was widowed 10 years later.
Much of the impetus for her writing came from her need to earn a living
to support her mother, a niece and her two surviving children. She spent
most of her childhood and all of her adult life in Paris and then the
abbey at Poissy, and wrote entirely in her adopted language, Middle French.
Her early courtly poetry is marked by her knowledge of aristocratic custom and fashion of the day, particularly involving women and the practice of chivalry. Her early and later allegorical and didactic treatises reflect both autobiographical information about her life and views and also her own individualized and humanist approach to the scholastic learned tradition of mythology, legend, and history she inherited from clerical scholars and to the genres and courtly or scholastic subjects of contemporary French and Italian poets she admired. Supported and encouraged by important royal French and English patrons, she influenced 15th-century English poetry. Her success stems from a wide range of innovative writing and rhetorical techniques that critically challenged renowned writers such as Jean de Meun, author of the Romance of the Rose, which she criticized as immoral.
In recent decades, Christine de Pizan's work has been returned to prominence by the efforts of scholars such as Charity Cannon Willard, Earl Jeffrey Richards and Simone de Beauvoir. Certain scholars have argued that she should be seen as an early feminist who efficiently used language to convey that women could play an important role within society. This characterization has been challenged by other critics, who say that it is either an anachronistic use of the word or a misinterpretation of her writing and intentions.[2]
In Medieval England, the Black Death was to kill 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. No medical knowledge existed in Medieval England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it was to strike England another six times by the end of the century. Understandably, peasants were terrified at the news that the Black Death might be approaching their village or town.
https://youtu.be/coDVVsTuEco
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo tries repeatedly to apply to a flying machine the articulations of a bird's wing in the various phases of flight: he calls this type of mechanical flight instrument flight.
- Chapter 13 (pp. 449-453, 456, 462-3), Boccaccio; (pp. 453-4), Petrarch; (pp. 454-6), Chaucer; (pp. 455-457), Christine de Pisan
- Chapter 13 ( 449-451, 458), The Plague
- The Plague at http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm
Francesco Petrarca (Italian pronunciation: [franˈtʃesko peˈtrarka]; July 20, 1304 – July 20, 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (/ˈpiːtrɑːrk, ˈpɛtrɑːrk/), was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance.
Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism.[1] In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri.[2]
Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages."[3] This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day.[4]
Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature,[1] is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten-year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde. He is best known today for The Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer's work was crucial in legitimizing the literary use of the Middle English vernacular at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
Christine de Pizan (also seen as de Pisan ; French pronunciation: [kʁistin də pizɑ̃] (
listen) ; 1364 – c. 1430) was an Italian French late medieval author. She served as a court writer for several dukes (Louis of Orleans, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, and John the Fearless of Burgundy) and the French royal court during the reign of Charles VI.
She wrote both poetry and prose works such as biographies and books
containing practical advice for women. She completed forty-one works
during her 30-year career from 1399–1429.[1]
She married in 1380 at the age of 15, and was widowed 10 years later.
Much of the impetus for her writing came from her need to earn a living
to support her mother, a niece and her two surviving children. She spent
most of her childhood and all of her adult life in Paris and then the
abbey at Poissy, and wrote entirely in her adopted language, Middle French.Her early courtly poetry is marked by her knowledge of aristocratic custom and fashion of the day, particularly involving women and the practice of chivalry. Her early and later allegorical and didactic treatises reflect both autobiographical information about her life and views and also her own individualized and humanist approach to the scholastic learned tradition of mythology, legend, and history she inherited from clerical scholars and to the genres and courtly or scholastic subjects of contemporary French and Italian poets she admired. Supported and encouraged by important royal French and English patrons, she influenced 15th-century English poetry. Her success stems from a wide range of innovative writing and rhetorical techniques that critically challenged renowned writers such as Jean de Meun, author of the Romance of the Rose, which she criticized as immoral.
In recent decades, Christine de Pizan's work has been returned to prominence by the efforts of scholars such as Charity Cannon Willard, Earl Jeffrey Richards and Simone de Beauvoir. Certain scholars have argued that she should be seen as an early feminist who efficiently used language to convey that women could play an important role within society. This characterization has been challenged by other critics, who say that it is either an anachronistic use of the word or a misinterpretation of her writing and intentions.[2]
In Medieval England, the Black Death was to kill 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. No medical knowledge existed in Medieval England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it was to strike England another six times by the end of the century. Understandably, peasants were terrified at the news that the Black Death might be approaching their village or town.
The Black Death | Top 5 Facts, 2:48
https://youtu.be/coDVVsTuEco
https://youtu.be/coDVVsTuEco
Leonardo da Vinci
- Chapter 14 (pp. 489-492), art of da Vinci; review Week 7 Music Folder
- Partial restoration of the Last Supper at http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/LeonardoLastSupper.htm
- Images, article, and 16th century copy of the Last Supper at http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo4.html
- Leonardo’s work in science and invention at http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/models-exhibited (scroll down to thumbnail photos; click to enlarge and read more information)
Leonardo tries repeatedly to apply to a flying machine the articulations of a bird's wing in the various phases of flight: he calls this type of mechanical flight instrument flight.
Codex Atlanticus, sheet 934
In this week's readings (chaps. 13-14),
there are two musical compositions mentioned, both of them in chapter
14. These (or decent equivalents) can be found on YouTube. Watch and
give them a listen. Here below is some background and description of
each--and the link to the YouTube (and sometimes other helps).
- Nuper Rosarum Flores (by Guillaume Dufay) (chap. 14, p. 472)
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8hx_hguwTo (The Latin text is http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=46201 and an English translation is at https://kevgru.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/guillaume-du-fays-nuper-rosarum-flores/ )
This polyphonic motet was composed by Dufay for the occasion of the consecration of Florence's great cathedral in the spring of 1436. The ceremony had flowers all over, and the Pope dedicated a golden rose at the high altar. In Italian, the cathedral’s formal name would be Santa Maria del Fiore, or St. Mary of the Flower). Dufay’s motet, given its title from its first line, is Nuper Rosarum Flores, which
means "Recently Blossoms of Roses…". He makes use of a fixed melody
with complex but beautiful vocals. Note our book's discussion (p. 472 in chap. 14)
about how Dufay tried to mirror this composition on the proportions of
Solomon's Temple. After reading p. 472, give the YouTube above a
listen.
Nuper Rosarum Flores, Harvard Chamber Singers, 6:10The Chamber Singers of the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum perform Dufay's Nuper Rosarum Flores
https://youtu.be/m8hx_hguwTo
----------
- Un di Lieto (Heinrich Isaac) (chap. 14, p. 483)
Read p. 483 (in chap. 14) carefully. Then give this a listen. This is an example of a lighthearted frottola song
that is clearly simpler than some of the polyphonic church music that
had developed over the years. Isaac lived in the late 1400s and early
1500s AD.
Heinrich Isaac - Un dì lieto giammai (Lorenzo de' Medici), 4:42https://youtu.be/RADd6Io2WG4
-----------------------------
BONUS: If
you wish to listen to some more music composed in the 1400s and 1500,
try the selections at the following link—some are sacred music, and some
are secular. These are from the website of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum:
Add to that this useful background and summary:
"Late Medieval Art, Literature, and Plague" Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Late Medieval Art, Literature, and Plague
- Quote a one (1) or two (2) line section that you enjoy from Petrarch, Chaucer, Boccaccio, or Christine de Pisan, and provide your reason(s) for the choice. Next, describe the historical significance of the writer whose work you have chosen. Comment on the degree to which the Black Death epidemic (1347-1350 CE) impacted that writer’s work. Compare the writer you chose to a specific writer (whether prose writer or poet or lyricist) of modern times.
Late Medieval Art, Literature, and Plague
- Chapter 13 (pp. 449-453, 456, 462-3), Boccaccio; (pp. 453-4), Petrarch; (pp. 454-6), Chaucer; (pp. 455-457), Christine de Pisan
- Chapter 13 ( 449-451, 458), The Plague
- The Plague at http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm
"Leonardo, the Renaissance Master" Please respond to the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response:
Leonardo da Vinci
- Describe the moment captured in Leonardo’s Last Supper painting, and discuss the reasons why disciples are shown on the same side of the table. Describe the most well-known techniques that Leonardo used to give more realism to the painting. Next, discuss one (1) of Leonardo’s inventions (or proposed inventions) that most fascinates or surprises you, and explain why. Compare Leonardo to some modern figure of the 20th or 21st century.
Leonardo da Vinci
- Chapter 14 (pp. 489-492), art of da Vinci; review Week 7 Music Folder
- Partial restoration of the Last Supper at http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/LeonardoLastSupper.htm
- Images, article, and 16th century copy of the Last Supper at http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo4.html
- Leonardo’s work in science and invention at http://www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/models-exhibited (scroll down to thumbnail photos; click to enlarge and read more information)
13 Siena and Florence in the Fourteenth Century TOWARD A NEW HUMANISM 435
Siena and Florence: Civic and Religious Life in Tuscany 436
Siena: A Free Commune 437
Florence: Archrival of Siena 439
Painting: A Growing Naturalism 440
Duccio and Simone Martini 440
Cimabue and Giotto 442
Dante and the Rise of Vernacular Literature in Europe 446
Dante’s Divine Comedy 446
The Black Death and Its Literary Aftermath 449
Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio’s Decameron 451
Petrarch’s Sonnets 453
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 454
Women in Late Medieval Society 455
READINGS
13.1 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 1 460
13.2 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 34 448
13.3 from Dante, Paradiso, Canto 33 449
13.4 from Boccaccio, Decameron 451
13.5 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Dioneo’s Tale 462
13.6 Petrarch, Sonnet 134 454
13.7 from Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue 454
13.8 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Filippa’s Tale 463
13.9 from Christine de Pizan, Book of the City of Ladies 456
13.10 Christine de Pizan, Tale of Joan of Arc 457
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel 444
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES
Tempera Painting 446
Buon Fresco 447
CONTINUITY & CHANGE The Dance of Death 458
PART THREE THE RENAISSANCE AND THE AGE OF ENCOUNTER 1400–1600 464
14 Florence and the Early Renaissance HUMANISM IN ITALY 467
The State as a Work of Art: The Baptistery Doors, Florence Cathedral, and a New Perspective 468
The Gates of Paradise 470
Florence Cathedral 472
Scientific Perspective and Naturalistic Representation 472
Perspective and Naturalism in Painting: Masaccio 476
The Classical Tradition in Freestanding Sculpture: Donatello 478
The Medici Family and Humanism 479
Cosimo de’ Medici 479
Lorenzo the Magnificent: “… I find a relaxation in learning.” 482
Beyond Florence: The Ducal Courts and the Arts 486
The Montefeltro Court in Urbino 486
The Gonzaga Court in Mantua 488
The Sforza Court in Milan and Leonardo da Vinci 489
Florence after the Medici: The New Republic 493
READINGS
14.1 from Poliziano, Stanzas for the Joust of Giuliano de’ Medici (1475–78) 483
14.2 “Song of Bacchus,” or “Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne,” from Lorenzo de’ Medici: Selected Poems and Prose 485
14.3 from Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) 485
14.4 from Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, Book 1 (1513–18; published 1528) 497
14.5 from Giorgio Vasari, “Life of Leonardo: Painter and Sculptor of Florence,” in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Architects, and Sculptors (1550, 1568) 498
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Brunelleschi’s Dome 474
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Michelangelo in Rome 495
13 Siena and Florence in the Fourteenth Century TOWARD A NEW HUMANISM 435
THINKING AHEAD
13.1 Compare and contrast civic life in Siena and Florence.
13.2 Outline how an increasingly naturalistic art replaced the Byzantine style in Italy.
13.3 Describe the distinguishing characteristics of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
13.4 Examine how the vernacular style developed after the Black Death.
Siena and Florence: Civic and Religious Life in Tuscany 436
How do the Sienese and Florentine republics compare?
The rival cities of Siena and Florence were located in Tuscany, the area of central Italy that lies between the Apennine Mountains, the central spine of the Italian peninsula, and a section of the Mediterranean known as the Tyrrhenian Sea (Map 13.1). Siena lies in the mountainous southern region of Tuscany, at the center of a rich agricultural zone famous for its olive oil and wine. Florence is located in the Arno River valley, the region’s richest agricultural district. Their rivalry dates back to the contest for supremacy between the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor during the time of Charlemagne (see Chapter 10). One faction, known as the Guelphs, sided with the pope, while another faction, the Ghibellines, sided with the emperor. Siena was generally considered a Ghibelline city, and Florence a Guelph stronghold, although factions of both parties competed for leadership within each city, especially in Florence. By the end of the thirteenth century, the pope retaliated against Siena for its Ghibelline leanings by revoking the city’s papal banking privileges and conferring them instead on Florence. As a result, by the fourteenth century, Florence would become the principal economic and political power in Tuscany.
Siena: A Free Commune 437
But in the late Middle Ages, Siena was still one of the most powerful cities in Europe. Its sense of its past lent it a feeling of historical weight. According to legend, its founders were Senius and Aschius, the sons of Remus, who with his brother, Romulus, founded Rome. Romulus had killed their father in a quarrel, and the boys, in retribution, stole Rome’s she-wolf shrine and carried it back to Siena, protected by a white cloud by day and a black cloud by night. The facade of the Palazzo Pubblico celebrates their feat: Sculptures of Romulus and Remus suckled by the she-wolf decorate it, and a heraldic crest, the balzana, consisting of a white field atop a black one, appears under each arch.
Siena remained a small Etruscan village for 700 years, until the Roman emperor Augustus colonized it in 13 bce. The town was dominated first by Rome and then by local nobles, Lombard and Frankish feudal counts, who arrived in successive invasions to rule in the name of their king. By the tenth century, large numbers of serfs had migrated from the surrounding countryside to three separate hilltop villages that soon merged into one. Feudal authorities were not altogether opposed to such migration. They had trained many of the serfs to manufacture the finished goods that they desired. It seemed practical to concentrate such production by chartering Siena and other towns. The charter stipulated that the townspeople would make manufactured goods, and in return, the feudal lord would protect them. Gradually, the towns gained more importance and power, and their citizens began to pay allegiance not to feudal lords or papal authority but to the wealthiest citizens of the community, whose power base was founded on cooperation and the orderly conduct of affairs. When Siena established itself, in 1125, as a free commune (a collective of people gathered together for the common good), it achieved an immense advantage over its feudal neighbors. “Town air brings freedom” was a common saying in the late Middle Ages. As the prospect of such freedom attracted an increasing number of people to Siena, its prosperity was soon unrivaled.
Florence: Archrival of Siena 439
Like Siena, Florence was extremely wealthy, and that wealth was based on trade. By the twelfth century, Florence was the center of textile production in the Western world and played a central role in European trade markets (Map 13.2). The Arno River provided ample water for washing and rinsing sorted wool and finished cloth. The city’s dyeing techniques were unsurpassed—to this day, the formulas for the highly prized Florentine reds remain a mystery. Dyestuffs were imported from throughout the Mediterranean and even the Orient, and each year, Florentine merchants traveled to England, Portugal, Spain, and Flanders to purchase raw wool for their manufactories.
As in Siena, it was the city’s bankers and money lenders who made Florence a vital player in world trade. Florentine bankers invented checks, credit, even life insurance. Most importantly, in 1252, they introduced Europe’s first single currency, the gold florin. By 1422, over 2 million florins were in circulation throughout Europe. This was a staggering number considering that a family could live comfortably on about 150 florins a year, and the finest palace cost about 1,000 florins. Florence was Europe’s bank, and its bankers were Europe’s true nobility.
Transition to the Renaissance – Siena & Florence, 6:25
Brief overview of historical developments leading to the Renaissance and the transitional paintings of Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto and others.
https://youtu.be/q8xR8KR0xUA
Painting: A Growing Naturalism 440
What came to replace the Byzantine style of painting in Italy, and why?
Even though Saint John the Baptist was the patron saint of Florence, the city, like Siena, relied on the Virgin Mary to protect it. Her image appeared frequently in the mendicant churches and elsewhere, and these images were said to perform miracles. Pilgrims from Tuscany and beyond flocked to Florence to receive the Madonna’s good graces. As in Siena, whenever the city was threatened—by war, by flood, by plague—the Madonna’s image was carried through the city in ceremonial procession. The two cities put themselves under the protection of the Virgin, and it was not long before they were competing to prove who could paint her the most magnificently. In the process, they began to represent her less in the stiff, abstracted manner of the Byzantine icon and more as a real person of flesh and blood.
Duccio and Simone Martini 440
After the Venetian rout of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204 (see Chapter 10), Byzantine imagery flooded Europe. One of the first artists to break from the Byzantine tradition was the Sienese native Duccio di Buoninsegna (active 1278–1318). In 1308, the commune commissioned Duccio to paint a Maestà, or Virgin and Child in Majesty (Fig. 13.5), to be set under the dome of Siena’s cathedral. The finished work was greeted with a great celebration. “On the day that it was carried to the [cathedral],” a contemporary chronicler reports
the shops were shut, and the bishop conducted a great and devout company of priests and friars in solemn procession, accompanied by… all the officers of the commune, and all the people, and one after another the worthiest with lighted candles in their hands took places near the picture, and behind came the women and children with great devotion… making the procession around the Campo, as is the custom, all the bells ringing joyously, trumpets and bagpipes playing, out of reverence for so noble a picture as is this.
Duccio was well aware of the greatness of his achievement. Along the base of the Virgin’s throne he wrote these words: “Holy Mother of God, give Siena peace and Duccio life because he painted Thee thus,” announcing both the artist’s piety and pride in his work and the growing prominence of artists in Italian society as a whole.
Sienese Art: Duccio, Martini, and Lorenzetti, 5:13
Works discussed: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Madonna Enthroned, c. 1285 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) Simone Martini, Annunciation Altarpiece, 1333 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, 1338-1339 (Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena) http://smarthistory.org/duccio-and-si...
https://youtu.be/0zfBltgsGVA
Cimabue and Giotto 442
Florence, too, had its master painters of the Virgin. At about the same time that Duccio was first becoming active in Siena, a painter known as Cimabue was painting a large-scale Virgin for the altarpiece of the Church of Santa Trinità in Florence (Fig. 13.7). Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets solidified his position as the leading painter in Florence. Although its Byzantine roots are clear—following closely, for instance, a Byzantine hierarchy of figures, with the Madonna larger than the figures that surround her—the painting is remarkable on several fronts. First, it is enormous. Standing over 12 feet high, it seems to have begun a tradition of large-scale altarpieces, helping to affirm the altar as the focal point of the church. But most important are Cimabue’s concern for spatial volume and his treatment of human figures with naturalistic expressions. The throne is especially interesting, creating as it does a spatial setting for the scene, and the angels seem to be standing on the architectural frame; the front two clearly are. If the Virgin and Child are stock Byzantine figures, the four prophets at the base of the throne are surprisingly individualized, suggesting the increasing prominence of the individual personality in the era, an especially important characteristic, as we will see later in the chapter, of the literature of the period. These remarkably individual likenesses also tell us that Italian artists were becoming more skillful in painting with tempera, which allowed them to portray the world in everincreasing detail (see Materials & Techniques, page 446). Perhaps most interesting of all is the position of the Virgin’s feet, the right one propped upon the throne in an almost casual position.
Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna & Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna, 6:58
Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna, c. 1280-90 and Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna, c. 1310 More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=DK... Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker & Dr. Beth Harris
https://youtu.be/DKnFvXmUlOI
Dante and the Rise of Vernacular Literature in Europe 446
What are the distinguishing characteristics of Dante’s Divine Comedy?
Until the early twelfth century, the language of almost all educated circles in Europe, and certainly in literature, was Latin. Gradually, however, writers began to address their works to a wider lay audience and to write in the vernacular, the language spoken in the streets. The French led the way, in twelfth-century works such as the Song of Roland (see Chapter 10) and Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot (see Chapter 10), but early in the fourteenth century, vernacular works began to appear throughout Italy as well, spreading to the rest of Europe.
1.0 - 6 Rise of Nationalist Literature in the Late Middle Ages, 3:56
Nationalist Literature, Vernacular, Dante, Chaucer, Villon
https://youtu.be/_mpwHXLwauQ
Dante’s Divine Comedy 446
One of the greatest medieval Italian writers working in the vernacular was the poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). In Florence, in about 1308, he began one of the greatest works of the literary imagination, the Divine Comedy (Fig. 13.9). This poem records the travels of the Christian soul from Hell to Purgatory and finally to Salvation in three books—the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. It is by no means an easy journey. Dante, who is the leading character in his own poem, is led by the Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid (see Chapter 6). (Virgil, too, visits the underworld in the sixth book of his poem.)
Dante's Inferno - Divine Comedy - Realms of the Dead - 7 Deadly Sins - after effects, 4:27
Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy, an epic poem, in the 14th century, where he tells of his journeys through the three realms of the dead: Inferno (hell), Purgatory (limbo), & Paradise (heaven). This video highlights the divisions of each realm, with dramatic scenes and background music. ***Please also watch my other DanteInferno video @ http://youtu.be/3LPsPm-YQ08
https://youtu.be/4CPug2geRSs
The Black Death and Its Literary Aftermath 449
How did the vernacular style continue to develop after the Black Death?
In 1316 and 1317, not long before Dante’s death, crop failures across Europe resulted in the greatest famine the continent had ever known. For two summers, the sun rarely shone (no one knew that huge volcanic eruptions thousands of miles away in Indonesia had sent vast clouds of ash into the atmosphere). Furthermore, between 1000 and 1300, the continent’s population had doubled to a point where it probably exceeded its ability to feed itself even in the best of times. In these dark years, which were followed by a century-long cooling period marked by too much rain to allow for good grain harvests, common people were lucky to eat, let alone eat well. Then, in December 1347, rats infested with fleas carrying bubonic plague arrived on the island of Sicily. They were carried on four Genoese ships that had set sail from Kaffa, a Genoese trading center on the Black Sea.
Exploring the Black Death in Literature, 5:03
EDUC 262 Educational Film (iMovie) Project Ever wonder where the Black Death/Bubonic Plague came from? Want to know how it has influenced literature? Then this is the video from you!
https://youtu.be/wOTZsURGANI
Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio’s Decameron 451
The frank treatment of reality found in the visual arts carried over into literature, where the direct language of the vernacular proved an especially appropriate vehicle for rendering truth. The Decameron, or “Work of Ten Days,” is a collection of framed prose tales in the manner of The Thousand and One Nights and Nezami’s Haft Paykar (see Chapter 9). The Florentine writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–75), who lived through the plague, sets the stage for the 100 prose stories of the collection with a startlingly direct description of Florence in the ravages of the disease (Reading 13.4):
Decameron, 2:12
https://youtu.be/tctUnanAUmY
Petrarch’s Sonnets 453
One of Boccaccio’s best friends was the itinerant scholar and poet Francesco Petrarca (1304–74), known as Petrarch (Fig. 13.13). Raised near Avignon, in France, where the papacy had established itself in 1309 and where it remained through most of Petrarch’s lifetime, Petrarch studied at Montpellier and Bologna and traveled throughout northern France, Germany, and Italy. He was always in search of manuscripts that preserved the priceless literary works of antiquity—copying those he could not pry loose from monastic libraries. As he wrote to a friend in 1351, these manuscripts, in a Classical Latin and hard for monks to decipher, were in danger of being lost forever:
What is a Petrarchan Sonnet? | Petrarchan Sonnet Definition, Structure & Example, 2:07
What is a Petrarchan Sonnet? | Petrarchan Sonnet Definition, Structure & Example: This video will show you the structure, definition and history of a Petrarchan Sonnet. I hope you will enjoy it. Please, share and subscribe if you like it.
https://youtu.be/NsPnUkVQyMA
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 454
The first Englishman to translate Petrarch was Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1342–1400). Well-educated, able to read both Ovid and Virgil in the original Latin, Chaucer was a middle-class civil servant and diplomat. In 1368, both he and Petrarch were guests at a wedding in Milan Cathedral, and four years later, he was in Florence, where he probably met Boccaccio. Chaucer’s masterwork, The Canterbury Tales, is modeled roughly on Boccaccio’s Decameron, but it is written in verse, not prose, and is composed in heroic couplets. Like the Decameron, it is a framed collection of stories, this time told by a group of pilgrims traveling from London to the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1170, Becket had been murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II in a dispute over the rights and privileges of the Church.
Chaucer, Satire, and The Canterbury Tales Notes, 4:30
Lecture about Chaucer, Satire, and The Canterbury Tales
https://youtu.be/E0pZKXNzngg
Women in Late Medieval Society 455
The seven women in Boccaccio’s Decameron and characters like Chaucer’s Wife of Bath represent the increasing social prominence of women in medieval society. This is no doubt at least in part a reflection of the growing role of the Virgin in medieval religious life, and her prominence helped raise the dignity of women in general. By the thirteenth century, women were active in all trades, especially the food and clothing industries; they belonged to guilds, and increasingly had the opportunity to go to school and learn to read, at least in their vernacular languages. They were, however, still generally excluded from the learned professions of medicine and law, and they performed the same work as men for wages on the average 25 percent lower.
THINKING BACK
13.1 Compare and contrast civic life in Siena and Florence.
Tuscany was dominated by two competing city-states, Siena and Florence. Both were republics, and central to their success was a new form of government in which Church and State were closely aligned. Siena established itself in 1125 as a free commune. What is a commune? By the twelfth century, Florence was the center of textile production in the Western world and played a central role in European trade markets. As with Siena, it was the city’s bankers and money lenders who made Florence such a vital player in world trade. Also as in Siena, in Florence, the guilds controlled the commune. How would you define a guild?
13.2 Outline how an increasingly naturalistic art replaced the Byzantine style in Italy.
In both Siena and Florence, artists began to break from the Byzantine style. One of the first was Duccio, who began to incorporate the Gothic tendency to naturalism into his Maestà, painted for Siena’s cathedral. Even more naturalistic is Simone Martini’s Maestà, painted for the city hall. How would you compare them? Florence, too, had its master painters of the Virgin, Cimabue and Giotto. In what did the latter exceed the others in terms of the naturalism of his art?
13.3 Describe the distinguishing characteristics of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
In the early twelfth century, writers across Europe began to address their works to a wider lay audience and to write in the vernacular. How would you define the vernacular? What does it imply about this new literature’s audience? One of the greatest medieval Italian vernacular writers was the poet Dante Alighieri, whose Divine Comedy records the travels of the Christian soul from Hell to Purgatory and finally to Salvation in three books—the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. How does Dante’s poem reflect the epic tradition? Consider its relation to, for instance, the Odyssey and the Aeneid.
13.4 Examine how the vernacular style developed after the Black Death.
In December 1347, bubonic plague arrived in Sicily. Within months, the disease spread northward, through Europe. In Tuscany, the death rate in the cities ran somewhere near 60 percent. Many blamed the Jews, who were widely persecuted. One of the most remarkable accounts of the plague opens Boccaccio’s Decameron, a collection of stories told by young noblemen and women who have escaped Florence for the countryside. Perhaps reflecting the reality of death that surrounds them, the stories are themselves imbued with a realistic representation of life as it is truly lived. After the Black Death, the realistic treatment of life continued in vernacular literature. The sonnets of Petrarch, composed in memory of the poet’s beloved Laura, inaugurate one of the most important poetic forms in Western literature. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, approach life in the Middle Ages with a realism even more profound than Boccaccio’s. Many of both Boccaccio’s and Chaucer’s characters are women. How do their female characters and Christine de Pizan’s help to establish new roles for women?
READINGS
13.1 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 1 460
13.2 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 34 448
13.3 from Dante, Paradiso, Canto 33 449
13.4 from Boccaccio, Decameron 451
13.5 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Dioneo’s Tale 462
13.6 Petrarch, Sonnet 134 454
13.7 from Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue 454
13.8 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Filippa’s Tale 463
13.9 from Christine de Pizan, Book of the City of Ladies 456
13.10 Christine de Pizan, Tale of Joan of Arc 457
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel 444
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES
Tempera Painting 446
Buon Fresco 447
CONTINUITY & CHANGE The Dance of Death 458
PART THREE THE RENAISSANCE AND THE AGE OF ENCOUNTER 1400–1600 464
During the period extending from about 1400 to 1600, Western European culture experienced a rebirth of Classical learning and values. For this reason we call the period the Renaissance, which means “rebirth” in French. By the middle of the fourteenth century, Dante Alighieri had picked the ancient Roman poet Virgil as his guide through his fictional Inferno and Purgatory, Petrarch was busy amassing his own Classical library, and Boccaccio, who like Dante wrote in the vernacular Italian instead of Latin, was also learning Greek.
At the dawn of the Renaissance, then, the values of the Classical past—simplicity, balance, and restraint in design, proportionality of parts, and purity of form—had already firmly established their place in Western culture. These values stimulated the emergence of humanism—the recovery, study, and spread of the art and literature of Greece and Rome, and the application of their principles to education, politics, social life, and the arts in general. In turn, humanism stimulated a new sense of the value of the individual. Each person had the capacity for self-determination in the search for truth and morality. Faith, sacred texts, or religious tradition were no longer the only guides.
After the Black Death, it seemed possible, even necessary, to begin again. In politics, feudal rule gave way to centralized forms of government. City-states flourished, strengthened by the influx of workers migrating from the countryside, as manufacture and trade supplanted agriculture as the basis of the European economy. The Church, which in medieval times had been the very foundation of Western culture, found itself challenged on all fronts. Politically, European monarchs questioned its authority. Philosophically, a growing class of intellectuals challenged its long-held doctrines. Morally, many of these same intellectuals denounced the behavior of its clergy and called for reform.
It was a time of invention and encounter. The printing press in Germany became a major instrument of change by making available to an ever-growing middle class works of literature, political tracts, and philosophical arguments that literally transformed their way of thinking. Even as the telescope revised human understanding of the cosmos and the world’s place in it, previously unknown civilizations in the Americas, Africa, and the Far East changed the Western understanding of its world. The Age of Encounter, which began in the fifteenth century and ended in the seventeenth, resulted in the colonization of most of the non-Western world. The effect of Western colonization was the displacement, enslavement, and large-scale death of native peoples. Those cultures that the West did not come to dominate—China and Japan especially—were deeply affected by their encounters with the West.
By the start of the sixteenth century, the humanistic spirit had begun to generate new forms of art and literature. The use of the rules of scientific perspective allowed for the convincing representation of three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface of a panel or canvas. The introduction of oil painting as a medium contributed to this naturalism by enabling artists to render the natural world in more precise detail than did tempera and to imitate effects of light and shadow both in the atmosphere and on the surface of objects. In architecture, structural innovations permitted the construction of the largest spaces since antiquity. New literary forms—the English sonnet, the personal essay, and popular theater—responded to a growing secular taste. And in music, where the courts maintained their own rosters of musicians, vernacular song and dance became popular even as the Church sanctioned innovative forms of polyphonic music for its liturgy. In this atmosphere, individual composers began to be recognized across Europe, and their works were published and widely circulated. Following the lead of the early fifteenth-century writer Christine de Pizan, women increasingly insisted on their own worth and dignity, assuming important roles as patrons, as artists in their own right, and, in England, as heads of state. All of these developments combined to bring Western culture to the threshold of modern life.
14 Florence and the Early Renaissance HUMANISM IN ITALY 467
THINKING AHEAD
14.1 Examine how sculpture and the use of scientific perspective were instrumental in the early development of the Italian Renaissance.
14.2 Discuss the influence of the Medici family on Florentine art and the development of humanist thought.
14.3 Describe how other Italian courts followed the lead of the humanist court in Florence.
14.4 Explain the symbolic significance of Michelangelo’s David.
The State as a Work of Art: The Baptistery Doors, Florence Cathedral, and a New Perspective 468
How did sculpture and the use of scientific perspective contribute to the “rebirth” that is the Italian Renaissance?
Florence was, in fact, so thoughtfully and carefully constructed over the course of the fifteenth century that later scholars would come to view it as a work of art in its own right. No event better exemplifies its character—and the character of the Italian Renaissance in general—than a competition held at the very beginning of the century, in 1401, to choose a designer for a pair of bronze doors for the north entrance to the city’s baptistery (Map 14.1; and see Fig. 14.1). The bapistery is a building standing in front of a cathedral and used for the Christian rite of baptism.
By the thirteenth century, a legend had developed that the Baptistery stood on the site of a Roman temple to Mars, subsequently rededicated to Saint John the Baptist. The octagonal building was thus the principal civic monument connecting Florence to its Roman roots, and it stood at the very heart of the city, in front of the cathedral, which was still under construction in 1401. The original doors, at the south entrance, had been designed by Andrea Pisano in 1336, before the advent of the Black Death, and the Wool Guild, or Arte della Lana (see Chapter 13), which was in charge of the Opera del Duomo—literally, the “Works of the Cathedral”—was determined to create a new comparable set of doors for the north entrance.
In many ways, it is remarkable that the competition to find the best design for the Baptistery doors could even take place. As much as four-fifths of the city-state’s population had died in the Black Death of 1348, and the plague had returned, though less severely, in 1363, 1374, 1383, and 1390. Finally, in the summer of 1400, it came again, this time killing 12,000 Florentines, about one-fifth of the population. Perhaps the guild hoped that a facelift for the Baptistery might appease an evidently wrathful God. Furthermore, civic pride and patriotism were also at stake. Milan, the powerful city-state to the north, had laid siege to Florence, blocking trade to and from the seaport at Pisa and creating the prospect of famine. The fate of the Florentine republic seemed to be in the balance.
Florentine Baptistery: The Renaissance Begins, 4:32
The competition that started the Renaissance (which is a thing). This is the story of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. A note on my mistakes: The doors shown at the end of the video are not the doors Ghiberti made after 1401. His success after the competition inspired the commission of a second set of doors, and this second set is shown at the end of my video. He made them between 1425 and 1452. The original set appear on the north side of the Baptistery. Thank you to subscriber Nancy Pettigrew for calling this to my attention. Written, editing, and narrated by James Earle Feedback given by Mr. Jensen, Mr. Watzka, and Mr. Wong. All images are in the public domain, or shot by James Earle Works cited: Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
https://youtu.be/x2CWfDghkZk
The Gates of Paradise 470
Ghiberti worked on the north-side doors for the next 22 years, designing 28 panels in four vertical rows illustrating the New Testament (originally the subject had been the Hebrew Bible, but the Wool Guild changed the program). Immediately upon their completion in 1424, the guild commissioned a second set of doors from Ghiberti for the east side of the Baptistery. These would take him another 27 years. Known as the Gates of Paradise because they open onto the paradiso, Italian for the area between a baptistery and the entrance to its cathedral, these doors depict scenes from the Hebrew Bible in ten square panels (Fig. 14.4). The borders surrounding them contain other biblical figures, as well as a self-portrait (Fig. 14.5). The artist’s head is slightly bowed, perhaps in humility, but perhaps, situated as it is just above the average viewer’s head, so that he might look out upon his audience. The proud image functions as both a signature and a bold assertion of Ghiberti’s own worth as an artist and individual.
Each of the panels in the east doors depicts one or more events from the same story. For instance, the first panel, at the upper left of the doors (Fig. 14.6), contains four episodes from the Book of Genesis: the Creation of Adam, at the bottom left; the Creation of Eve, in the center; the Temptation, in the distance behind the Creation of Adam; and the Expulsion, at the bottom right. This portrayal of sequential events in the same frame harkens back to medieval art. But if the content of the space is episodic, the landscape is coherent and realistic, stretching in a single continuity from the foreground into the far distance. The figures themselves hark back to Classical Greek and Roman sculpture. Adam, in the lower left-hand corner, resembles the recumbent god from the east pediment of the Parthenon (see Fig. 5.10 in Chapter 5), and Eve, in the right-hand corner, is a Venus of recognizably Hellenistic origin; compare Praxiteles’ fourth-century bce Aphrodite of Knidos (see Fig. 5.20 in Chapter 5).
Exploring Art History in the City: Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" (1425-1452), 5:04
Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" (1425-1452) stand as an achievement of the creativity and brilliance of the Florentine imagination during the early days of the Italian Renaissance. This video examines the narrative and stylistic charm of each panel as seen in the copy at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/academyo... The Academy of Art University Established in 1929, Academy of Art University is the largest accredited private art and design school in the US. Visit http://academyart.edu to learn about total costs, median student loan debt, potential occupations and other information. Interested in learning more? Follow us below Visit us on the web: http://academyart.edu Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademyofArt... Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/academy_of_art
https://youtu.be/3jlT-s9jGfI
Florence Cathedral 472
Construction of the Duomo (see Fig. 14.1), as Florence Cathedral is known, began in 1296 (see Chapter 12) under the auspices of the Opera del Duomo, which was controlled by the Wool Guild. The cathedral was planned as the most beautiful and grandest in all of Tuscany. It was not consecrated until 140 years later, and even then, was hardly finished. Over the years, its design and construction became a group activity as an ever-changing panel of architects prepared model after model of the church and its details were submitted to the Opera and either accepted or rejected.
Florence Cathedral, Italy, 3:21
The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris. The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.
https://youtu.be/0l7VolYTGp8
Scientific Perspective and Naturalistic Representation 472
No aspect of the Renaissance better embodies the spirit of invention evidenced by both Brunelleschi’s dome and Dufay’s music than scientific, or linear perspective, which allowed artists to translate three-dimensional space onto a two-dimensional surface, thereby satisfying the age’s increasing taste for naturalistic representations of the physical world. It was the basis of what would later come to be called buon disegno, literally “good design” or “drawing,” but the term refers more to the intellectual conception of the work than to literal drawing. Giorgio Vasari (1511–74), whose Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Architects, and Sculptors is one of our most important sources of information about Italian Renaissance art in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, defined it as follows: “Design (disegno) is the imitation of the most beautiful things of nature in all figures whether painted or chiseled, and this requires a hand and genius to transfer everything which the eye sees, exactly and correctly, whether it be in drawings, on paper panel, or other surface, both in relief and sculpture.” It distinguished, in his mind, the art of Florence above all others.
Perspective and Naturalism in Painting: Masaccio 476
Although Alberti dedicated On Painting first and foremost to Brunelleschi, he also singled out several other Florentine artists. One of these was Masaccio, whose Trinity (Fig. 14.10) was probably painted in 1425. This fresco is painted directly on the wall of the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence and represents a chapel off the nave of that building. All of its architectural features are painted according to the laws of perspective, and the man and woman who kneel on what looks like a narrow ledge on either side of this chapel are so realistically positioned and naturalistically rendered that they seem to exist within our own space. (They are actually images of the donors who commissioned the work.)
Italian Renaissance Painter " Masaccio " (1401-1428), 3:41
Hi everyone! I truly love Italian renaissance paintings because of their perfection and beauty and a sense of massage as well as the emotions which they spread everywhere. So today I am sharing the work of one of such wonderful Italian painter. His name is Masaccio and he is known to be the first great painter of the Italian Renaissance. His work was called to be one of the innovative works in the use of scientific perspective which inaugurated the modern era in painting. - See more at: http://www.fineartandyou.com/2013/11/...
https://youtu.be/yf93BbnxKyk
The Classical Tradition in Freestanding Sculpture: Donatello 478
Masaccio probably learned about the Classical disposition of the body’s weight from Donatello, who had accompanied Brunelleschi to Rome years before. Many of Donatello’s own works seem to have been inspired by antique Roman sculpture.
This Classical inspiration is visible in one of his earliest commissions, a statue of Saint Mark created for one of Florence’s lesser guilds, the linen weavers and peddlers (Fig. 14.13). It was one of a number of commissions by the city’s guilds to decorate niches on the outer walls of Orsanmichele, a building originally constructed in 1336 as a market and grain store (in case of famine or siege). As early as 1339, it was decided that each of the city’s guilds should provide a statue of their respective patron saints to decorate each of the niches on the Orsanmichele’s outer walls, but by 1400, only three of the guilds had complied. As civic pressure was brought to bear on the guilds to fulfill their obligations in the first years of the fifteenth century, the city was treated to a virtual exposition of the new Classical direction in sculpture, a direction matched only by Ghiberti’s work on his two sets of doors for the Baptistery, the other great commissions of the era.
Donatello and the Renaissance, 6:26
This beautiful short video briefly describes the works and contribution of Donatello, one of the most famous sculptors of the Renaissance. It also describes 3 of his most famous works - David, Mary Magdalene and the Equestrian at Gattamelata. Music: Piero Umiliani - Crepuscolo sul mare (Twilight On the Sea) Coldplay - Life in Technicolor
https://youtu.be/qba1faCNl1I
The Medici Family and Humanism 479
How did the Medici family help shape humanist Florence?
The Medici were the most powerful family in Florentine affairs for 76 years, from 1418, when they became banker to the papacy, until 1494, when irate citizens removed them from power. (They were briefly exiled earlier, for one year, in 1433.) A family of bankers with offices in Pisa, Rome, Bologna, Naples, Venice, Avignon, Lyon, Geneva, Basel, Cologne, Antwerp, Bruges, and London during the fifteenth century, the Medici never ruled Florence outright, but they managed its affairs from behind the scenes.
Over the course of those 76 years, they molded and manipulated, controlled and cajoled, persuaded and provoked the citizens of Florence into becoming a citizenry befitting the city they envisioned, a city that in some sense they sculpted, painted, and built. For them, the city was their own personal work of art. But the Medici trained the citizenry so well, especially imbuing it with a fierce independence of spirit, that the people eventually chafed at the control that the family exercised, and rebelled.
Cosimo de’ Medici 479
The family’s power was fully cemented by Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–1464), who, as banker to the papacy, secured Florence’s domination over rival Siena (see Chapter 13), putting the city at the very center of Italian politics. He had inherited great wealth from his father and secured the family’s hold on the political fortunes of the city. Without upsetting the appearance of republican government, he mastered the art of behind-the-scenes power by controlling appointments to chief offices. But he also exerted considerable influence through his patronage of the arts. His father had headed the drive to rebuild the Church of San Lorenzo (see Fig. 14.8), which stood over the site of an early Christian basilica dedicated in 393. San Lorenzo thus represented the entire Christian history of Florence, and after his father’s death, Cosimo himself paid to complete its construction and decorate it. In return, it was agreed that no family crest other than the Medici’s would appear in the church. Cosimo also rebuilt the old monastery of San Marco for the Dominican Order, adding a library, cloister, chapter room, bell tower, and altarpiece. In effect, Cosimo had made the entire religious history of Florence the family’s own.
Lorenzo the Magnificent: “… I find a relaxation in learning.” 482
After Cosimo’s death in 1464, his son Piero (1416–69) followed in his father’s footsteps, championing the arts, supporting the Platonic Academy, and otherwise working to make Florence the cultural center of Europe. But when Piero died only five years after his father, his 20-year-old son Lorenzo (1449–92) assumed responsibility for leading the family and the city. So great and varied were his accomplishments that in his own time he was known as il Magnifico—“the Magnificent.”
HANGIN' AT LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT'S SUMMER 'COTTAGE', 2:43
Head for Poggio a Caiano, a half hour max blue bus trip from Via Nazzionale near the train station. The Villa, gardens and woods are open seven days a week with entrance every hour on the half hour. Be sure to ask the office for directions to the return bus stop (the arrival bus stop is on a one way street). Also, foreign Medici brides-to-be spent their first nights in Italy here. Total price for the half day trip is four euros (RT bus fare). Of course that is the Medici Villa over my shoulder. BIG THANKS to Laura Mongillo for her article that disclosed the wonderful day trip. Find her article at: http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/floren...
https://youtu.be/QSGwV0rhIp4
Beyond Florence: The Ducal Courts and the Arts 486
How did the art and literature created in the ducal courts of Italy reflect Florentine humanist values?
Pico’s message of individual free will and of humanity’s ability to choose a path of virtue and knowledge inspired Lorenzo’s circle and the courts of other Italian city-states as well. These leaders were almost all nobility, not merchants like the Medici (who, it must be said, had transformed themselves into nobility in all but name), and each court reflected the values of its respective duke—and, very often, his wife. But if they were not about to adopt the republican form of government of Florence, they nevertheless all shared the humanistic values that were so thoroughly developed there.
Humanism and the Renaissance, 4:26
https://youtu.be/ULBFI3YvC2M
The Montefeltro Court in Urbino 486
One of the most prominent of these city-states was Urbino, some 70 miles east of Florence across the Apennine Mountains, where the military strategist and learned Duke Federigo da Montefeltro (1422–82) ruled. Federigo surrounded himself with humanists, scholars, poets, and artists, from whom he learned and from whom he commissioned works to embellish Urbino. He financed these expenditures through his talents as a condottiero, a mercenary soldier who was a valuable and highly paid ally to whomever could afford both him and his army. His court was also a magnet for young men who wanted to learn the principles of noble behavior.
The "Studiolo" of Federico da Montefeltro in Virtual Reality, 5:01
This video shows , in a short time, the realization of a sophisticated interactive and multimedial application made by the Physics Laboratory of the University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Italy. This computer-application has been programmed in order to show a virtual 3D reconstruction of the entire Studiolo of the Duke Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482): the fantastic small inlayed room located in the heart of Frederics Ducal Palace in Urbino. Realized true to scale, the application allows us to move freely inside the Studiolo, and to observe several three-dimensional reconstructions, such as objects and musical and scientific instruments, all represented on the walls of the Studiolo. With this application any detail of this fascinating enviroment could be explored: from the wonderful inlayed decorations, to the pictorial cycle of Illustrious men, until the polychrome ceiling adorned by symbols of Frederics war-enterprises.
https://youtu.be/6gIyAzEwU7s
The Gonzaga Court in Mantua 488
The marquis Ludovico Gonzaga (1414–78) brought his northern Italian city-state of Mantua, located on a marsh-surrounded plain between Milan and Venice, into prominence among the Italian courts in the middle of the fifteenth century. Like Federigo da Montefeltro in Urbino, the Gonzagas hired themselves out as mercenaries to other city-states, accumulating enormous wealth in this manner. At the same time, they encouraged literary studies and commissioned works of architecture and the other visual arts. The Gonzaga court exhibited the same mixture of humanist and chivalric values found at other Renaissance courts and likewise reflected the values of its ruler.
MANTUA glory of Gonzaga family, 1:00
Mantua, glory of Gonzaga family. A Vaghi per il mondo production, by Fabrizio Vaghi. See the full video "Pronti Partenza...Via", discovering MANTUA http://youtu.be/Su8QJpc9HHU
https://youtu.be/_Z63sJHurxY
The Sforza Court in Milan and Leonardo da Vinci 489
The Sforza family’s control over the court of Milan was somewhat less legitimate than most other ducal city-states in Italy. Francesco Sforza (1401–66) became ruler of Milan by marrying the illegitimate daughter, but sole heir, of the duke of Milan. His own illegitimate son, Ludovico (1451–1508), called il Moro, “the Moor,” because of his dark complexion, wrested control of the city from the family of Francesco’s legitimate brother and proclaimed himself Duke of Milan in 1494. Both Francesco and Ludovico understood the tenuousness of their claims to rule, and they actively sought to win the support of the people through the arts. They welcomed artists from throughout central Italy to their city and embraced humanism.
The most important of these artists was Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), who first arrived in Milan in 1482 as the emissary of Lorenzo de’ Medici to present a silver lyre, perhaps made by Leonardo himself, to Ludovico Sforza. Ludovico was embroiled in military matters, and Leonardo pronounced himself a military engineer, capable of constructing great “machines of war,” including designs for a catapult and covered vehicles that resemble modern-day armored cars.
The Sforza Castle in Milan - the fortress of the Duke, 2:49
Explore one of the biggest military buildings in Europe - find out more on http://www.leonardoamilano.org/english Transcript: Originally built in the XIV century as a military fortress, it became the Residence of the Duke during the Renaissance, when it was enriched and decorated in order to show the power of the duke well beyond its original military function. Let's have a look at the majestic fortress as it appears today. The first thing you notice is the impressive central tower. This tower was originally designed by the great Renaissance architect Filarete, but its fate was signed by a lightning which set fire to the explosives amassed in the tower. The tower exploded, and it wasn't rebuilt till the end of the XIX century, when the architect Luca Beltrami based his reconstruction on a surviving Filarete drawing. As you enter the castle, you'll find yourself in the great central courtyard, surrounded by walls, where you can easily imagine to be in the Renaissance. Go further into the castle through the second gate, and you can buy the tickets to visit the various museums hosted in the Castle. They are definitely worth a visit! I will point out only a few highlights here, but you'll find many more by yourself. The first is the Sala delle Asse, frescoed by Leonardo da Vinci with an intricate decoration of trees and leaves, as if to create a virtual garden. Leonardo put lots of symbols here, like its signature knot. The fresco is currently being restored, and we can't wait to see it in its original splendour. Another great artwork hosted in the Castle is the Pieta' Rondanini by Michelangelo, the last work of the great Renaissance master, an unfinished sculpture which is striking in its modernity, like a Modigliani sculpture. Don't miss the Sala della Balla, called after a Renaissance ball game which was played here. In this hall you can find twelve amazing giant tapestries designed by the Renaissance artist Bramantino, one for each month of the year, showing the activities that characterize each month. You will love the colours and richness of details of this textile masterworks! Finally, have a look the furniture museum, on the first floor. It exhibits the evolution of the Milanese furniture design from the Middle age to the contemporary. You will discover how the well known contemporary interior design has ancient roots.
https://youtu.be/zU7XgVxL4aI
Florence after the Medici: The New Republic 493
How did Michelangelo’s David symbolize the new Florentine republic?
In November 1494, the domination of Florence by the Medici family came to an end. Lorenzo had died two years earlier, and his successor, Piero the Unfortunate, faced with the threat of the same French invasion that ousted Ludovico Sforza in Milan, had blundered through a series of political moves and alliances until finally agreeing to cooperate with the French king, Charles VIII (1470–98). The Florentines would have none of it, and a mob drove Piero from the city. Into this power vacuum stepped a Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola (1452–98), abbot of the monastery of San Marco. Although, as a priest, he could not hold office, and although the city, freed of the Medici, was ostensibly a republic once again, Savonarola wielded tremendous political control. He appealed, first and foremost, to a moralistic faction of the populace that saw, in the behavior of the city’s upper classes, and in their humanistic attraction to Classical Greek and Roman culture, clear evidence of moral decadence. He appealed as well to the Florentine populace’s desire to reestablish its identity as a republic, which by 1490 everyone recognized had been lost, so dominant had the Medici family become. As early as 1491, Savonarola had preached that Florence was little more than a den of thieves. The arrival of Charles VIII was the scourge of the Lord, he said, ridding the city of the decadent and tyrannical Medici.
Michelangelo, David, marble, 1501-04 (Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence), 5:39
Michelangelo, David, 1501-04, marble, 517 cm (Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence) More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=-o... A conversation with Khan Academy's Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
https://youtu.be/-oXAekrYytA
THINKING BACK
14.1 Examine how sculpture and the use of scientific perspective were instrumental in the early development of the Italian Renaissance.
Florence was the center of the cultural revival that we have come to call the Renaissance, a “rebirth” that amounted to a revolution in human consciousness. How does the Baptistery doors competition of 1401 exemplify this new consciousness? How does Lorenzo Ghiberti’s new set of doors, the Gates of Paradise, articulate Renaissance values even more?
By 1418, Florence Cathedral still lacked a dome above its octagonal crossing. Brunelleschi won the competition for the dome’s design, a feat of architectural engineering unsurpassed in his day. For the cathedral’s consecration on March 25, 1436, French composer Guillaume Dufay created a new musical work, a motet called Nuper rosarum flores (“The Rose Blossoms”). How does Dufay’s composition reflect Brunelleschi’s feat?
Brunelleschi was also the first Renaissance artist to master the art of scientific perspective, probably as a result of his humanistic study of optics in Arab science and his own surveying of Roman ruins. What values does his interest in scientific perspective reflect? How does the work of sculptor Donatello also reflect these values?
14.2 Discuss the influence of the Medici family on Florentine art and the development of humanist thought.
Medici control of Florentine politics was secured by Cosimo de’ Medici, who surrounded himself with humanists. He sought their guidance about which books and manuscripts of the ancients to collect, and he commissioned translations of Greek philosophy and literature, championing especially the translations and interpretations of the works of Plato by Marsilio Ficino. How would you describe Ficino’s Neoplatonist philosophy? How does it recast Platonic thought? Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo, “the Magnificent,” continued the Medici tradition. His own circle of acquaintances included many of the greatest minds of the day, including the composer Heinrich Isaac, the poet Poliziano, the painter Botticelli, and the philosopher Pico della Mirandola. Can you describe how the work of each reflects humanistic principles?
14.3 Describe how other Italian courts followed the lead of the humanist court in Florence.
Lorenzo’s court inspired the courts of the leaders of other Italian city-states, the leaders of which were almost all nobility. In Urbino, Duke Federigo da Montefeltro championed the use of scientific perspective in the painting of Piero della Francesca. Also at Urbino, Baldassare Castiglione wrote The Book of the Courtier. How does this treatise define l’uomo universale? In Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga commissioned the painter Andrea Mantegna to decorate his palazzo with highly illusionistic frescoes. And in Milan, Ludovico Sforza commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint the Last Supper for the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. What would you say is Leonardo’s greatest strength as a painter? How does his portraiture reflect humanistic values?
14.4 Explain the symbolic significance of Michelangelo’s David.
In 1494, a Florentine mob drove the last of the Medici rulers from the city. Yet, into the breach stepped the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, who preached a moralistic brand of fire and brimstone, condemning humanist values. At first wielding great political power, Savonarola was finally tried as a heretic in 1498, and burned at the stake. Afterward, a relieved city council sought to reassert republican values in visual terms, and commissioned the giant nude sculpture. Why did the story of David seem so appropriate a subject?
READINGS
14.1 from Poliziano, Stanzas for the Joust of Giuliano de’ Medici (1475–78) 483
14.2 “Song of Bacchus,” or “Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne,” from Lorenzo de’ Medici: Selected Poems and Prose 485
14.3 from Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) 485
14.4 from Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, Book 1 (1513–18; published 1528) 497
14.5 from Giorgio Vasari, “Life of Leonardo: Painter and Sculptor of Florence,” in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Architects, and Sculptors (1550, 1568) 498
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Brunelleschi’s Dome 474
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Michelangelo in Rome 495
Resources on the Renaissance
Medici
Humanism
13 Siena and Florence in the Fourteenth Century TOWARD A NEW HUMANISM 435
Siena and Florence: Civic and Religious Life in Tuscany 436
Siena: A Free Commune 437
Florence: Archrival of Siena 439
Painting: A Growing Naturalism 440
Duccio and Simone Martini 440
Cimabue and Giotto 442
Dante and the Rise of Vernacular Literature in Europe 446
Dante’s Divine Comedy 446
The Black Death and Its Literary Aftermath 449
Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio’s Decameron 451
Petrarch’s Sonnets 453
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 454
Women in Late Medieval Society 455
READINGS
13.1 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 1 460
13.2 from Dante, Inferno, Canto 34 448
13.3 from Dante, Paradiso, Canto 33 449
13.4 from Boccaccio, Decameron 451
13.5 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Dioneo’s Tale 462
13.6 Petrarch, Sonnet 134 454
13.7 from Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue 454
13.8 from Boccaccio, Decameron, Filippa’s Tale 463
13.9 from Christine de Pizan, Book of the City of Ladies 456
13.10 Christine de Pizan, Tale of Joan of Arc 457
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel 444
MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES
Tempera Painting 446
Buon Fresco 447
CONTINUITY & CHANGE The Dance of Death 458
PART THREE THE RENAISSANCE AND THE AGE OF ENCOUNTER 1400–1600 464
14 Florence and the Early Renaissance HUMANISM IN ITALY 467
The State as a Work of Art: The Baptistery Doors, Florence Cathedral, and a New Perspective 468
The Gates of Paradise 470
Florence Cathedral 472
Scientific Perspective and Naturalistic Representation 472
Perspective and Naturalism in Painting: Masaccio 476
The Classical Tradition in Freestanding Sculpture: Donatello 478
The Medici Family and Humanism 479
Cosimo de’ Medici 479
Lorenzo the Magnificent: “… I find a relaxation in learning.” 482
Beyond Florence: The Ducal Courts and the Arts 486
The Montefeltro Court in Urbino 486
The Gonzaga Court in Mantua 488
The Sforza Court in Milan and Leonardo da Vinci 489
Florence after the Medici: The New Republic 493
READINGS
14.1 from Poliziano, Stanzas for the Joust of Giuliano de’ Medici (1475–78) 483
14.2 “Song of Bacchus,” or “Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne,” from Lorenzo de’ Medici: Selected Poems and Prose 485
14.3 from Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) 485
14.4 from Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, Book 1 (1513–18; published 1528) 497
14.5 from Giorgio Vasari, “Life of Leonardo: Painter and Sculptor of Florence,” in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Architects, and Sculptors (1550, 1568) 498
FEATURES
CLOSER LOOK Brunelleschi’s Dome 474
CONTINUITY & CHANGE Michelangelo in Rome 495
Question 1: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why does Virgil guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory? Given Answer: Incorrect Dante considered Virgil, author of the Greek Iliad, the greatest of the pagan poets Correct Answer: Virgil represented the embodiment of rationality out of 3 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Incorrect In what language did Chaucer write his Tales? Given Answer: Incorrect Latin Correct Answer: Middle English out of 3 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Incorrect Why did the Scrovegni family build and then hire Giotto to decorate Arena Chapel in Padua? Given Answer: Incorrect To sanctify the site of a Roman pagan arena Correct Answer: To atone for their flagrant usury out of 3 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct What literary trend does Boccaccio's Decameron introduce into Western literature? Given Answer: Correct Social realism Correct Answer: Social realism out of 3 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why by the end of the fourteenth century did Florence become an important banking city? Given Answer: Correct The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence Correct Answer: The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence out of 3 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct What 150-year time period in Italy did nineteenth-century historians label the Renaissance? Given Answer: Correct Mid fourteenth to early sixteenth Correct Answer: Mid fourteenth to early sixteenth out of 3 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why probably did Brunelleschi use nine circles of horizontal ribs for the dome? Given Answer: Correct As the reverse of Dante's nine circles of hell Correct Answer: As the reverse of Dante's nine circles of hell out of 3 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Medici supporters hurl stones at Michelangelo's David as it was moved through the streets? Given Answer: Correct They understood David's symbolism of the city standing up to tyrants Correct Answer: They understood David's symbolism of the city standing up to tyrants out of 3 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Who won the competition to create a dome for Florence Cathedral? Given Answer: Correct Filippo Brunelleschi Correct Answer: Filippo Brunelleschi out of 3 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Donatello depict his David as a young adolescent? Given Answer: Correct To symbolize Florence's youthful vitality and ability to conquer tyrants Correct Answer: To symbolize Florence's youthful vitality and ability to conquer tyrants
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why in the Arena Chapel frescoes does Giotto deliberately abandon the Byzantine balance and symmetry? Given Answer: Correct To make the scenes look more realistic Correct Answer: To make the scenes look more realistic out of 3 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct According to legend, who founded Siena? Given Answer: Correct Remus's sons, Senius and Aschius Correct Answer: Remus's sons, Senius and Aschius out of 3 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Christine de Pizan become the first female professional writer in European history? Given Answer: Correct A widow, she needed to support her family Correct Answer: A widow, she needed to support her family out of 3 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct How does Duccio's Maestrá break from Byzantine portrayals of Mary and the Christ child? Given Answer: Correct Mary's body has substance, and Christ resembles an actual baby Correct Answer: Mary's body has substance, and Christ resembles an actual baby out of 3 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why is the camel in Giotto's Adoration of the Magi not exactly realistic? Given Answer: Correct It has blue eyes Correct Answer: It has blue eyes out of 3 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct According to legend, what originally had stood on the site of the baptistery? Given Answer: Correct A Roman temple to Mars Correct Answer: A Roman temple to Mars out of 3 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why did the Florentines drive the Medici family from the city in 1494? Given Answer: Correct Piero de Medici formed an unpopular alliance with the French king Correct Answer: Piero de Medici formed an unpopular alliance with the French king out of 3 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct What distinction does Donatello's David hold? Given Answer: Correct The first life-size freestanding male nude since antiquity Correct Answer: The first life-size freestanding male nude since antiquity out of 3 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Michelangelo's Moses have horns? Given Answer: Correct A mistranslation of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin Correct Answer: A mistranslation of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin out of 3 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Lorenzo de' Medici prefer frottole sung in Italian, not Greek or Latin? Given Answer: Correct Italian was the most beautiful of languages for music Correct Answer: Italian was the most beautiful of languages for music
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why were Siena's guilds able to rise to such levels of power? Given Answer: Correct Siena was an important manufacturing city Correct Answer: Siena was an important manufacturing city out of 3 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why did the flagellants believe Europe was devastated by plague? Given Answer: Correct God's wrath against human sins Correct Answer: God's wrath against human sins out of 3 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Virgil guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory? Given Answer: Correct Virgil represented the embodiment of rationality Correct Answer: Virgil represented the embodiment of rationality out of 3 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why by the end of the fourteenth century did Florence become an important banking city? Given Answer: Correct The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence Correct Answer: The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence out of 3 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct What is an advantage of the buon fresco (paint on wet plaster) technique? Given Answer: Correct The paint becomes part of the wall Correct Answer: The paint becomes part of the wall out of 3 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why was Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, so interested in Leonardo da Vinci? Given Answer: Correct Leonardo could design great machines of war for him Correct Answer: Leonardo could design great machines of war for him out of 3 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Lorenzo de' Medici invite the young Michelangelo Buonarroti to live in his palace? Given Answer: Correct Lorenzo recognized Michelangelo's artistic promise Correct Answer: Lorenzo recognized Michelangelo's artistic promise out of 3 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct Which is the only panel on the Baptistery doors to represent a single event? Given Answer: Correct Meeting of Solomon and Sheba Correct Answer: Meeting of Solomon and Sheba out of 3 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Dufay's Nuper rosarum flores repeat the fixed melody on 6, 4, 2, and 3 units per breve? Given Answer: Correct To mirror the proportions of Solomon's Temple and Florence Cathedral Correct Answer: To mirror the proportions of Solomon's Temple and Florence Cathedral out of 3 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Cosimo de' Medici found the Platonic Academy in Florence? Given Answer: Correct To provide a place for the study and discussion of Plato's works Correct Answer: To provide a place for the study and discussion of Plato's works
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct Why were the people eager to buy the indulgences that Julius II sold to finance the St. Peter's project? Given Answer: Correct They wanted to shorten their stay in purgatory Correct Answer: They wanted to shorten their stay in purgatory out of 4 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Correct Why did early Venetians abandon the mainland for the swampy lagoon islands? Given Answer: Correct To flee the invading Lombards from the north Correct Answer: To flee the invading Lombards from the north out of 4 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Who was permitted to join a Venetian scuole? Given Answer: Correct Anyone regardless of political group or class Correct Answer: Anyone regardless of political group or class out of 4 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Pope Julius II wish to identify himself with Julius Caesar? Given Answer: Correct Like Caesar, he wanted to defeat the hated French Correct Answer: Like Caesar, he wanted to defeat the hated French out of 4 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why in the School of Athens does Plato point toward the heavens? Given Answer: Correct It's the realm of ideal forms Correct Answer: It's the realm of ideal forms out of 4 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct As discussed in the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section, what was the irony of monk and humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus? Given Answer: Correct He opposed the Church's excesses yet loved beauty and art Correct Answer: He opposed the Church's excesses yet loved beauty and art out of 4 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Who is reflected in the mirror in Jan van Eyck's double portrait Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife Giovanna Cenami? Given Answer: Correct Jan van Eyck Correct Answer: Jan van Eyck out of 4 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Flemish painters use oil instead of the tempera paint favored by the Italian Renaissance painters? Given Answer: Correct To create layers of paint that reflected light Correct Answer: To create layers of paint that reflected light out of 4 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Marguerite de Navarre modeled her Heptameron on what earlier poet's work? Given Answer: Correct Boccaccio Correct Answer: Boccaccio out of 4 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct What did patrons of works such as Robert Campin's Mérode Altarpiece and Jan and Hubert van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece hope to gain through their financial support? Given Answer: Correct Personal salvation Correct Answer: Personal salvation
Question 1: Multiple Choice Correct What is an advantage of the buon fresco (paint on wet plaster) technique? Given Answer: Correct The paint becomes part of the wall Correct Answer: The paint becomes part of the wall out of 3 points Question 2: Multiple Choice Incorrect According to the chapter's "Continuity and Change" section, what was a positive effect of the bubonic plague? Given Answer: Incorrect Port regulations became stricter Correct Answer: Per capita wealth increased out of 3 points Question 3: Multiple Choice Correct Which guild in pre-1355 Siena was most powerful? Given Answer: Correct Merchants Correct Answer: Merchants out of 3 points Question 4: Multiple Choice Correct Why is the camel in Giotto's Adoration of the Magi not exactly realistic? Given Answer: Correct It has blue eyes Correct Answer: It has blue eyes out of 3 points Question 5: Multiple Choice Correct Why by the end of the fourteenth century did Florence become an important banking city? Given Answer: Correct The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence Correct Answer: The Pope conferred Siena's papal banking privileges on Florence out of 3 points Question 6: Multiple Choice Correct Why did Donatello depict his David as a young adolescent? Given Answer: Correct To symbolize Florence's youthful vitality and ability to conquer tyrants Correct Answer: To symbolize Florence's youthful vitality and ability to conquer tyrants out of 3 points Question 7: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Dufay's Nuper rosarum flores repeat the fixed melody on 6, 4, 2, and 3 units per breve? Given Answer: Correct To mirror the proportions of Solomon's Temple and Florence Cathedral Correct Answer: To mirror the proportions of Solomon's Temple and Florence Cathedral out of 3 points Question 8: Multiple Choice Correct What principle did Brunelleschi master and apply to his dome's design? Given Answer: Correct Scientific perspective Correct Answer: Scientific perspective out of 3 points Question 9: Multiple Choice Correct Why is Leonardo's Last Supper fresco in very bad shape today? Given Answer: Correct Leonardo painted dry plaster with oil, which flakes off Correct Answer: Leonardo painted dry plaster with oil, which flakes off out of 3 points Question 10: Multiple Choice Correct Why does Masaccio place the vanishing point in The Tribute Money behind Christ's head? Given Answer: Correct To identify Christ as the fresco's most important figure Correct Answer: To identify Christ as the fresco's most important figure
