Florence Creates a Renaissance Cathedral of Florence Santa Maria del Fiore Begun in late 13th century but left unfinished Did not know how to span 140 foot wide octagonal space Solution to the dome problem came from Filippo Brunelleschi--Brunelleschi’s Dome, Il Duomo cupola Massive ribs arch 100 feet up to create dome. Has two dome shells concealing 24 ribs …3x the Gothic 8 Brunelleschi studies geometry, creating architecture based on the circle and the square Filippo Brunelleschi

Baptistery Doors, 1401 The Sacrifice of Isaac Filippo Brunelleschi Crowded, Gothic verticality Lorenzo Ghiberti--the winner Horizontal, simple, elegant quatrefoil design

Brunelleschi describes and uses one-point perspective sometime between ….and Ghiberti quickly follows __________ Horizon line ………………………….Vanishing point the VANISHING POINT is the place on the horizon line where our eye focuses and all lines converge

Ghiberti’s East Doors No more quatrefoil One-point perspective

Leon Battista Alberti ( ) another Italian artist and philosopher, further defines perspective Alberti’s window, around 1435

What are other ways to deal with perspective? Gaddi, fresco, 1327,Presentation of MaryMantegna, fresco, oculus, 1473 Pontormo, oil, 1515, Joseph in Egypt Attempt it…. Perfect it…. Ignore it… Play with it… Hogarth, etching, 1754, Perspectival AbsurditiesEscher, lithography, 1938, Day and Night Bend it…

Dream it….change the rules Oil, 1937 “ I have painted feet, more or less realistically, outrageously enlarged or distorted. The foot has always been intensely interesting to me—its form, its function. Isn't it the foot that allows man to make contact with the earth? And there's irony in it, too. We talk about putting our foot in our mouth, don't we? No matter, during those years [1925] my paintings no longer showed the pull of gravity; I wanted to give it an astral quality. My preoccupation with dreams became mixed up with eroticism, whereas my open writing was enhanced by the addition of dotted lines. I also made poem-paintings, with written texts. My last work from this dream period were painted on white backgrounds. Their sharper linear quality reminds some people of frescoes.” Miro, 1962 Flatten it… Miro, 1926, oil, Person Throwing a Stone at a Bird

Fra Angelico ( ) Dominican monk Name means “Brother Angel” Only painted religious subjects Favorite subject was angels Knew perspective, studied Masaccio Paintings are a blend of Gothic and Early Renaissance styles Died in Rome while painting for the pope Annunciation c , fresco

Donatello ( ) The Prophet (Lo Zuccone), “Pumpkinhead” Marble Seen 55 feet above ground Commissioned for the Florence Cathedral

Donatello David, c First life-size bronze nude in the round since antiquity Medici Palace Donatello’s David, c First classical nude in the round since antiquity How does it resemble the classical Roman sculpture on the left?

Masaccio ( ) Lived in Florence Friends with Brunelleschi and Donatello Nickname means “sloppy” (Giorgio Vasari) First to use perspective and atmospheric perspective in painting Works are considered the first monument to Humanism Rumored to have been poisoned by a rival painter The Holy Trinity, ca. 1425, fresco Linear or one-point perspective Vanishing point at feet; triangular composition Science and religion “What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.” Memento mori—Adam’s skeleton

Masaccio Expulsion from the Garden, c Brancacci Chapel Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden shows that moment that they realize their mortality

Masaccio The Tribute Money, c. 1427, fresco St. Peter appears 3 times Linear and atmospheric perspective

Andrea Mantegna Dead Christ, c Tempera on canvas foreshortening

Botticelli The Birth of Venus, c Commissioned by the Medicis Tempera on canvas Commissioned by the Medicis The first fully nude female since antiquity Dual nature of love--- both sensuous and chaste

Botticelli Allegory of Spring, c Tempera on wood Chloris, the nymph of springtime, is chased by the south wind; she turns into a flower girl, symbolizing Florence Cupid shoots Chastity Beauty and Passion are at her side Mercury is both leader of the 3 graces and god of the winds, driving away winter and making way for spring

Botticelli Venus and Mars, 1485 egg tempera on board Baby satyrs are having a great time playing while the mighty warrior sleeps The goddess of love looks both skeptical and protective Can the power of love defeat war?

Savonarola, chases away the Renaissance in Florence…and the Medicis…and art and music this fire-and-brimstone monk is against luxury and excess, immoral art 1494: the Medicis are chased out of Florence and Savonarola becomes head 1497: Savonarola begins Bonfires of the Vanities, throwing art, books, mirrors, games into the fire at the town square Botticelli masterpieces are lost to the flames 1498: Savonarola is charged with heresy and thrown into the flames-- -at the same location as his bonfires