The Lure of Antiquity: Quattrocento Italy I
Map of Italy ca. 1400
(French for “rebirth”) RENAISSANCE (French for “rebirth”)
Giorgio Vasari Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (first edition 1550; expanded edition 1568)
The Development of the Visual Arts according to Vasari Classical Antiquity Perfection Renaissance Rebirth The Middle Ages Decline
Herman Posthumus, Tempus edax rerum (“Time, devourer of things”), 1536 -In Renaissance, antiquity meant work, namely working in and «with» Rome «Time, devorer of all things» Ask students to take a moment to take in this image Herman Posthumus, Tempus edax rerum (“Time, devourer of things”), 1536
Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, begun 1059
Byzantine micromosaic icon of Christ, 12th century
Benedetto da Maiano, Monument to Giotto di Bondone, Florence Cathedral, 1490
Florence
Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence
Filippo Brunelleschi, The Sacrifice of Isaac, gilded bronze, 1401-1402 Lorenzo Ghiberti, The Sacrifice of Isaac, gilded bronze, 1401-1402
The Thorn-Puller (Spinario), bronze, 1st century BCE
The Thorn-Puller (Spinario) Entry into Jerusalem, Byzantine ivory icon, second half of the 10th century
Lorenzo Ghiberti, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401-1402
Lorenzo Ghiberti, north doors of the Florence Baptistery, gilded bronze, 1403-1424
Michelozzo di Bartolommeo, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence, begun 1445
Donatello, David, bronze, ca. 1440-1460 (height: 5’ 2¼’’)
Spinario
The victor is whoever defends the fatherland The victor is whoever defends the fatherland. God crushes the wrath of an enormous foe. Behold! A boy overcame a great tyrant. Conquer, O citizens!
Relief on Goliath’s helmet: cupids pulling a chariot with another cupid riding (Triumph of Love?)
Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (“Springtime”), tempera on wood, ca. 1482 (dimensions: 6’ 8’’ x 10’ 4’’)
Cupid Venus Zephyr Mercury Chloris Three Graces Flora
The Three Graces, marble, Roman copy of a Greek work of the 2nd century BCE
Mercury
Wind god ZEPHYR FLORA Nymph CHLORIS