Siena's Palazzo Pubblico

Palazzo Pubblico in Siena
Picture taken by Cava H.

Examples of secular themes in late Trecento Italian art were Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Ambrogio's frescoes on three walls in the Sala della Pace (Hall of Peace) of the Palazzo were commissioned by council members and addressed Sienese civic concerns. The subjects of the frescoes are Allegory of Good Government, Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government in the City, and Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country. In Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, Ambrogio depicts the city with walls, towers, churches, palaces, markets, and streets. Life is peaceful as people chat in groups, men work on the roof of a building, merchants sell their goods, and girls dance in a circle. There is order, unity of elements, and people are happy. Outside the city walls, the Tuscan countryside is lush with crops. A hunting party with dogs sets out, while peasants are busy at work in the farmlands. There is an abundance of food, and people live their lives freely and without fear. An allegorical figure of Security holds a scroll with a message promising safety to all who live under Sinese law. The fresco illustrates a peaceful, well-run state, and shows the Sienese tradition of detail and color.

Gates of Paradise

Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

When the Merchants' Guild and the Signoria of Florence decided to build the doors for the east entrance of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, they held a competition inviting all the greatest masters in Italy. The consuls of the guild chose Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia, Niccolo d'Arezzo, Francesco di Valdambrino, and Simone da Colle to produce a bronze panel to submit in the competition. They would receive a salary, and were given a year to produce a scene in bronze as a sample of their skill. The chosen scene was the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac. While most of the artists kept their projects a secret, Lorenzo showed the townspeople his models and asked for their opinion. Thirty-four painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths were summoned by the consul to judge the competition. The judges awarded the commission to Lorenzo for his beautiful design and composition, and the lively and graceful poses of his figures. Lorenzo was recognized and highly praised by his fellow citizens, indicating the increasing importance of fame and individual achievement in Quattrocento Italy. Lorenzo continued to receive many commissions after completing the doors. His skill was so renowned that the Merchants' Guild decided to commission him to do the third set of doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni. Michelangelo described the doors as “so beautiful that they would do nicely at the entrance to Paradise.” Lorenzo worked on the two sets of doors for a total of forty-nine years.

Cimabue and Giotto

Painting in Chapterhouse of Santa Maria Novella
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

Detail of above painting, showing Cimabue and Giotto
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

Giovanni Cimabue was born in 1240 in Florence, and was one of the first artists to break away from the Italo-Byzantine style of painting. According to Vasari, Cimabue “greatly improved upon [the Italo-Byzantine style of] painting, removing from it a good deal of their awkwardness....” Among Cimabue's accomplishments in Florence include the altar dossal at Santa Cecilia, a panel of Our Lady in Santa Croce, a large panel for the monks of Vallambrosa in the abbey of Santa Trinita, a large wooden crucifix in Santa Croce, three small arches on the life of Christ in the Cloister of Santo Spirito, and a panel of Our Lady in Santa Maria Novella. Vasari stated that “although Cimabue still had the Greek manner, he was gradually approaching, in some ways, the lines and style of modern times.”

Giotto di Bondone was born in 1267 in Vespignano, and was discovered and taken in as a student by Cimabue. Giotto is considered the father of Renaissance painting and a master of naturalism. According to Vasari, Giotto “became such an excellent imitator of Nature that he completely banished that crude Greek style and revived the modern and excellent art of painting, introducing good drawing from live natural models, something that had not been done for more than two hundred years.” Giotto designed the bell tower of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and received numerous painting commissions in Arezzo, Assisi, Pisa, Rome, Avignon, Verona, Ferrara, Ravenna, Urbino, Lucca, Naples, Gaeta, Rimini, Padua, and Florence.

Virgin Hodegetria

A Virgin Hodegetria painting on a corner
of Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

During the Dugento and Trecento, the increased importance of the Virgin Mary was apparent in Italian art. There was a growth of the cult of the Virgin in Europe, and the Order of the Servites was founded in 1233. The Servites were devoted to the Virgin Mary and performed good deeds in cities. Several artists were commissioned to create large-scale panel paintings of Mary. Coppo di Marcovaldo painted a seven-feet tall Madonna Enthroned (Madonna dei Servi) in 1261. Around 1280-1290, Cimabue painted Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, a large panel painting for Santa Trinita (Holy Trinity) in Florence. Giotto di Bondone's panel depicting the same subject, Madonna Enthroned, was painted for the Church of the Ognissanti (All Saints) in Florence around 1310. Duccio di Buoninsegna, a painter from Siena, completed his most famous painting, Maesta (Virgin Enthroned in Majesty), in 1311. The Virgin was the religious focus of Siena because the Sienese believed that she had brought them to victory at the battle of Monteperti. The paintings depict Mary as a Virgin Hodegetria as she holds the baby Jesus on her side and points to him, showing that he is the way to salvation. In the paintings, Mary often wears a red gown and a blue cape. Blue represents heaven, while red represents passion and earth.  

Evolution of Italian Renaisssance Art

Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with
 Angels and Prophets
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

According to Giorgio Vasari, Italian Renaissance art developed in three stages. The first stage was initiated by the groundbreaking styles of Giotto and Cimabue. Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with Angels, the Patriarch Abraham, and Prophets Jeremiah, David and Isaiah shows a sense of depth not seen in Byzantine paintings. Although Cimabue used a gold background common in Byzantine art, the Virgin's throne shows three-dimensionality and one-point perspective. Gold is used to show the folds in the Madonna's robe, and the heads and bodies of the angels overlap, depicting a sense of depth. The second stage of development was marked by more advanced techniques in perspective and design. Increasingly sophisticated skills in painting, sculpture, and architecture were demonstrated by Ghiberti, Donatello, Masaccio, and Brunelleschi. After several centuries of growth and development, Italian Renaissance art reached the third stage. Art of this stage possessed an ephemeral quality, and the artists who created the masterpieces were regarded by Vasari as geniuses. Vasari believed that talent improved with education and training, but training was inadequate to explain the work of geniuses such as Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. 

The Franciscans and the Dominicans

Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, a Dominican 

church in Florence

Picture taken by Cava Hadikusum

The largest and most influential monastic orders of the 14th century were the mendicants, or begging friars. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscans, and Dominic de Guzman founded the Dominicans. Unlike earlier monastic orders who tended to isolate themselves, the Franciscans and Dominicans settled in cities and towns. Every city had a Franciscan and a Dominican church, with a degree of rivalry between the two orders. In Florence, the Franciscan church, Santa Croce, and the Dominican church, Santa Maria Novella, are on opposite sides of the city. As cities developed and built churches, demand for works of art for the churches grew.
The Franciscans and Dominicans renounced worldly goods and committed themselves to a life of piety and charity. They encouraged a more personal and emotional relationship with God. Crucifixion, a painting by Coppo di Marcovaldo, shows a dying, suffering Christ with eyes closed and arms drooping. The viewer feels more empathy and sense of loss compared to earlier depictions. The emotion evident in such paintings during the proto-Renaissance paved the way for humanism in Renaissance art.

Giorgio Vasari

Who is Giorgio Vasari and why am I reading his book?  Giorgio Vasari was a painter, architect, and biographer who was apprenticed to Michelangelo in Florence. The first edition of his book, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, was published in 1550.  There were very few art books at the time and Vasari did not have any references guide him, so writing his book must have been a formidable challenge.  Even attempting such a daunting task deserves admiration.  Relying on his visual memory and oral tradition, Vasari explained the evolution of Italian Renaissance art. 

Vasari's interpretations transformed the status of the artist during the Renaissance.  Previously, artists were considered laborers because they worked with their hands.  Vasari believed in the value of artistic education, and saw the artist as a scholar, a man of learning.  During the Renaissance, the artist's status changed from a craftsman to a divine artificer.  Vasari revolutionized the concept of artist as genius.  He believed that artists should have a concept or idea behind the art that they created, a notion that is still prevalent today.

Humanism and the Renaissance

I have known that the word, Renaissance, means rebirth, but rebirth of what? I did not know the answer.  In my first week of art history class, I learned that the Renaissance describes the rebirth of Greco-Roman naturalism and the revival of classical values in art and culture.  It began in Italy and spanned the 14th to 16th centuries.  A distinctive concept during the development of the Italian Renaissance was humanism.  In contrast to religion's emphasis on otherworldly values, humanism focused on earthly fulfillment and human values.  To the humanists, the classical Greek and Roman cultures provided a model for living that was derived from reason instead of authoritative religious dogma.

As I embark on this journey through art history, I am excited to see the paintings, sculptures, and architecture of this significant period. I hope to learn to recognize the styles of the various artists and to make connections between the art and the societal changes of the time. I hope to see the dramatic yet gradual changes in art and their influences on the way we see art today.  Perhaps my rich learning experience will lead me to begin a renaissance of my own.

Florence is an ideal place to study Renaissance art history

Giorgio Vasari's The Lives of the Artists