Florentines have embraced nudity in their art since the Gothic period into the early Renaissance. Also, Florence’s society had become more individualistic, where individuals could amass wealth since the society had merchants and bankers. In the mid-15th century, Florence experienced a drastic change in the beliefs that impacted art. The turn of events happened when the republic lost some of its great artists of the early Renaissance. However, only some things in the previous periods were lost concerning art. Artists could still use some painting methods used in the Gothic and early Renaissance because of the knowledge passed on from their masters. The mid of 15th century was characterized by a quest for salvation for Florentines and a change in painting style, the emergence of a new set of innovative artists and the use of portraits in art.
Concerns for the salvation of the Florentines were on the rise, which put a lot of question marks on their Christianity. Since turning away from the pagan way of life, the Florentines had embraced Christianity and sought after one God. However, the beginning of the Renaissance period marked their start of being materialistic. Individuals had accumulated wealth and were the pagan subject matter. Preaching for salvation, Savonarola ensured art with nudity and other materials were burnt. This meant that many works of art were burnt since they had nude images of people. Nudity was liked with heresy. Coincidentally, during that time, there were new trends in art, with artists developing painting styles that were not dominant in others. Every style was equal. The major area of art development was using prosaic, poetic and scientific styles in painting arts. It was aimed at diversifying art in Florence. The new trends and development would impact the art in Florence, with great artists employing them.
The mid-15th century saw the artistic prowess of the great artists of the early Renaissance come to an end. Brunelleschi and Masaccio were dead, and Ghiberti had retired from the artwork. This gave rise to other artists such as Verrachio and Uccello, among others. These artists contributed much to art through their innovation and societal impact. Uccello was a great painter who painted the Battle of San Romano in Uffizi. In his painting of the Battle of San Romano, Uccello portrayed a conflict between surface decoration and deep space. He managed to conflate the Gothic period painting style, the mid-15th century painting style. Uccello employed linear perspective, mainly used in the early Renaissance, to paint the Battle of San Romano. In the painting, he used golden decoration, which was used in the Gothic period. Another great artist was Ghirlandoia, who was a fresco expert. He contributed to art through his artwork of Santa Maria Novella which was placed on the main altar of the Church of Santa Maria Novella. Ghirlandoia used narrative to conflate a story. He was innovative as he used texts from the Old Testament and the New Testament to create a complete story.
Also, there was Botticelli, who used mythological painting. He contributed by painting the Birth of Venus, among other paintings. Boticelli emphasized patterns with the use of rhythmic patterns of light and dark. Also, he use illusionism in his paintings to create 2-D images. He showed his understanding of human anatomy through his paintings, and in The Birth of Venus, he used shallow space. Like Botticelli, Della Francesca used the modelling of light and dark in his paintings. Della Francesca used symbolism in several paintings, such as the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. He showed the formality of profiles in the images he created. In the period where artists used perspectives, Della Francesca used a treatise on perspective. Della Francesca used oil paint and tempera in his painting of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. Tempera has been used since the Gothic period. Lastly is Verrachio, a great sculptor who sculptured David with the head of Goliath. In this painting, Verrachio used David to symbolize himself and the Republic of Florence, which other cities had attacked. He contributed by teaching Leonardo da Vinci, who was another great artist. The sculpture is in the contrapposto motion, which shows his great understanding of the human anatomy and the naturalistic movement of the body. These artists minimized the art with nudity as they sought after salvation which Savonarola had preached. However, individuals still accumulated wealth and were materialistic, especially the Medici family.
During the ancient Roman period, autonomous portraiture was used but disappeared and was revived in the early Renaissance. This was aimed at celebrating individuals because the portraiture could preserve memories. Portraitures were used initially by the ruling class as commemoration. Later they could be used in marriage negotiations and as diplomatic gifts. Later on, the wealthy class joined in the acquisition of portraitures. Both noble women and men appeared in the portraitures, and by the late 15th century, they were portrayed in three-quarter view with the length increased.
In conclusion, Florence experienced significant changes in painting styles with rising of young artists and the use of portraiture. No dominant painting style was used. There were three new styles. With Donatella not actively in Florence, a new bunch of artists came up to continue the artistic work, with portraiture being revived to be used by the ruling and wealthy classes. Florence remained to be a materialistic society.
References
Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus,” in Smarthistory, December 5, 2015, accessed June 3, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/sandro-botticelli-the-birth-of-venus/.
Dr. Sally Hickson, “Ghirlandaio, Life of the Virgin,” in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed June 3, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/ghirlandaio-birth-of-the-virgin/.
Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, “Piero della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino,” in Smarthistory, November 29, 2015, accessed June 3, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/piero-della-francesca-portraits-of-the-duke-and-duchess-of-urbino/.
Simons, P. (2018). Women in frames: the gaze, the eye, the profile in Renaissance portraiture. In The Expanding Discourse (pp. 38-57). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429492839-3/women-frames-patricia-simons
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