World History Florence Leads the Way (15:2)

Quattrocento  The century in which the Renaissance fully bloomed (1400’s)  This was the time in which history’s most celebrated writers and artists competed for the spotlight

The Medici  Powerful family which gained wealth and notoriety through trade and banking  Ruled the city-state of Florence during the Quattrocento  Cosimo de Medici was the most powerful and wealthy man in Florence  Never sought political office for himself; puppet regime

Cosimo de Medici  Emulating Pericles of Athens, Cosimo invested his own money into Florence  Once paid the debts of a friend in exchange for 800 texts (some ancient) and opened the first free public library

Cosimo  Cosimo de Medici died in 1464, but the family still held control of Florence  Power was eventually passed to his grandson, Lorenzo (the Magnificent)  Lorenzo ruled with absolute power with a republican front  Kept the people happy  Survived an attempted assassination by Pope Sixtus IV and the archbishop of Pisa  Wouldn’t provide a loan to buy Imola

Lorenzo the Magnificent  On his death bed Lorenzo was damned by Savonarola  Savonarola was later tortured and executed for his religious beliefs  It is said that at the moment of Lorenzo’s death the chapel at the church of Santa Reparta was struck by lightning  Saint Reparata – 3 rd Century Saint  Mythical figure denounced for being a Christian

Artists in Florence  Lorenzeo Ghiberti  Comissioned to produce doors to an eight sided cathedral  The doors were made of bronze, with intricate sculpted panels  Michelangelo referred to the final two doors as the “Gates of Paradise” (The name stuck)

Brunelleschi  Worked across the street while Lorenzo Ghiberti worked on the Baptistry  Was denied the job Ghiberti accepted  Proposed putting a dome on top of the Baptistry making it almost 400 feet high  Considering this was built in 1436, that is a substantial height

Donatello  Studied under Ghiberti at the age of 17  Studied classical and ancient ruins in Rome  Returned to Florence, ignoring the typical “front side only” statues  Created three-dimensional, free standing statues

Erasmo of Narni ( ), better known as "Gattamelata", (nickname meaning "The Honeyed Cat") was among the most famous of the condottieri or mercenaries in the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Narni, and served a number of Italian city-states: he began with Braccio da Montone, served Pope and Florence equally, and served Venice in 1434 in the battles with the Visconti of Milan condottieri mercenariesItalian RenaissanceNarniBraccio da Montone FlorenceVenice1434Visconti Milan He was the subject of Donatello's equestrian bronze sculpture in the main square of Padua, the same city over which he became dictator in 1437.Donatelloequestrian bronze sculpturePaduadictator1437

Masaccio  Changed painting by adding perspective  A vanishing point, adding depth and distance to the painting  Called the “father of modern painting”  Progress is obvious in “The Healing of the Cripple and the Resurrection of Tabitha”  Two events in the life of the apostle Peter

Masaccio’s “Trinity”

Machiavelli and Politics  The Golden Age lasted until 1492 when King Charles VII of France attacked Northern Italy  Florence just happened to be in his attack route  Piero de Medici (Lorenzo’s son) surrendered almost immediately  He then went into exile after his palace was stormed by angry Floretines

Machiavelli  In the early 1500’s the Italian city-states allied themselves with foreign powers for survival  Enter Machiavelli, who saw what life was like in the Golden Age of the Renaissance and what it had now become

Machiavelli  Serving as a diplomat to many courts, Machiavelli tried to understand why some rulers succeed while others failed  Machiavelli wrote The Prince, a book of advice  Pointed out that sometimes a ruler may have to deceive enemies as well as his own people for the good of the kingdom

Machiavelli  “The end justifies the means”  Morally right v. Politically effective  Is this prevalent in our society?