Florence 2012 Journal: Florence and the Renaissance

Florence and the Renaissance

Throughout the Renaissance there was a large sense of civic pride in Florence; not surprising considering that from the early Renaissance right through to the 16^th century the biggest names of the era came from the Tuscan city itself. Here I will discuss two of the most notable perspective techniques that marked the beginnings of the Renaissance that were introduced by the Florentine Donatello (1386 – 1466) and Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378 – 1455).

From very early on in the early Renaissance, the Florentine Donatello was already keeping perspective. The sophistication wasn’t quite of the same level of what came nearly 200 years later however; he did use linear perspective. Linear perspective is where the size and position of objects or figures are relative in that they will recede into the background as the lines of perspective draw in closer together running diagonally and meet at the ‘horizon’ of the painting.

For example, Donatello’s relief of the Feast of Herrod clearly shows linear perspective. However, this is a relief that also uses the technique of Pictorial perspective alongside the linear perspective. This means, while the relief shows the arches and figures getting progressively smaller the further away they are, they also get flatter. You would notice that the foreground of the relief, if you were to touch it, would protrude more than right at the background, where it is almost completely flat. This creates an illusion of space and the term used for a flattened (or smashed) relief is ‘Schiacciato’.

Another technique that was an innovation for the Florentines of the Renaissance was one point perspective. This in contrast to linear perspective made a certain point in an image the perspective and instead of the lines of perspective converging at the horizon, they would converge at a specific point. The one point perspective would usually have Jesus or the saints as the point of perspective to exemplify their overwhelming importance. This technique grew as the Renaissance went on. For example, Lorenzo Ghiberti’s ‘Doors of Paradise’ (‘Paradiso’ meaning the area between the front of the cathedral and Baptistery) show that one of the earliest panels (approx 1324) ‘Isaac & his sons’ had trouble with grasping the one point perspective - whereas the later panels achieve it perfectly (1340’s).

Florence 2012 Journal: Analysis of the Baptistery Doors

Analysis of the Baptistery doors.

At the turn of the 15^th Century, a competition arose to find the man who would complete the trio of doors at the Battistero di San Giovanni. Out of this came Lorenzo Ghiberti, who finished the north doors by 1424 and the east by 1449. The south doors had been completed by Ghiberti’s predecessor Andrea Pisano, whose work was completed in 1336.

The bottom two rows of reliefs on the north door (1424) are of the Bishop of Hippo, Jerome, Gregory the Great and Ambrose; followed by John, Matthew, Luke and Mark. These are, in the words of George Robinson, the first ‘promulgators and first interpreters of Christ’s teaching’.[1] Therefore, the consolidation of their place on the door lays in the fact that without them, we may not know (or understand for that matter) the teachings of the life of Christ that are so essential to the Christian faith. The remaining 20 quatrefoils go on to portray these teachings with scenes from the annunciation to the Pentecost.  

Similarly, Pisano’s door (1336) has 28 quatrefoils of which 8 do not portray the subject matter (in this case, the life of St. John the Baptist). The bottom two rows are virtues personified: Hope, Faith, Charity, Humility, Fortitude, Temperance, Justice and Prudence. The first three are theological virtues while the last four are cardinal virtues. It has been argued that the Humility relief was an addition ‘to lend greater harmony to the composition’ as 7 virtues were not enough to complete two rows.[2] This is unlikely because the people who lived during the Renaissance viewed art and architecture as ‘functional objects’ for ‘sacred or secular purposes’.[3] Thus, aesthetics came second to functionality. What’s more, if you were to consider the status of the project and the fact that bronze was extremely expensive at the time (often had to melt old works of art in order to obtain it), it is unlikely Pisano would have been negligent to the underlying meaning of his work. The more likely observation is that the panel pays homage to the humility of the Franciscan and Dominican orders that were came to prominence in light of the construction of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella.

Ghiberti’s final door (1449) is different in that it has only 10 panels that are also larger. They are all scenes from the Old Testament. The most significant aspect is the radical change in style in terms of not only Pisano’s work, but also of his own. It has been acknowledged that Ghiberti’s first door was subtly changing within the parameters of what style had been ‘acceptable’ up until the 1400’s (for example, Pisano’s ‘birth of the Baptist’ was conventional in that there was no care for perspective). However, the real emergence of naturalism can be seen in Ghiberti’s last door and is arguably comparable to Renaissance paintings in that it shows ‘the same innovations in naturalism and perspective’.[4] Depictions of saints and biblical scenes were no longer confined to the simplicity found in Byzantine art.

Early Renaissance art therefore began to explore the human form, nature and perspective as the taboo lifted on drawing a saint in any way other than holy and not of this world. To conclude, Ghiberti’s own accession to naturalism through his Baptistery doors epitomises the slow emergence of the renaissance in both architecture and art.     

---

[1] K. Clark, D. Finn, G. Robinson, the Florence Baptistery Doors (The Viking Press, 1980), 107.

[2] A. Giusti, the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence (Mandragora, 2000), 30.

[3] G. Johnson, Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2006), 3.

[4] R. Viladesau, The Triumph of the Cross: The Passion of Christ in Theology and the Arts from the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation (Oxford University Press, 2008), 62.

Florence 2012 Journal: Piazza del Duomo

Piazza Del Duomo

Florence is a city where the period of Renaissance has boldly left its mark, and on the 10th October I was able to see this first hand with a visit to the Piazza del Duomo, where Santa Maria del Fiore and the Battistero di San Giovanni are situated.

. The Battistero di San Giovanni was built on 11th century ruins and is a stylistic crossover of Romanesque and gothic style. The Romanesque aspect uses and recycles elements of roman architecture (which lends itself to much of ancient Greek architecture) such as the triangular pediments that are similar to ones that can be found on the Parthenon in Greece. The Gothic element is very much an influence of Christianity. Its shape is octagonal which represents the number ‘8’ and is a reference to the symbol of infinity (∞) and also therefore the possibility of resurrection. Furthermore, the architecture of the Baptistery refers to the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in that it has three levels with each side having three windows, three arcades etc.

Andrea Pisano’s door and Lorenzo Ghiberti’s first door contain 28 quatrefoils each, whilst the ‘Gates of Paradise’ have only 10 panels. Ghiberti’s first door uses 20 of the quatrefoils in portraying the life of Jesus whilst the others have a depiction of the four fathers of the church (Augustine, Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose) followed by the four evangelists (John, Matthew, Luke, Mark). The evangelists are sculpted alongside the ‘living creatures’ with which they are commonly associated from the theological works of St. Jerome. (John: Eagle, Matthew: Winged man (Ghiberti portrays this as an angel), Luke: Ox, Mark: Lion)

Opposite the east door of the Baptistery is the cathedral named Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral was built to replace what had stood in its place beforehand – the Basilica de Santa Reparata. The side facades are largely a 19^th century addition after the shoddily made walls of the Medici era where no longer adequate. Construction began in 1296, engineered in the gothic style by Alnorfo Di Cambio after which a handful of architects would take his place. Two prominent features of the cathedral are Giotto’s campanile (14^th century) and Brunelleschi’s Dome (15^th Century).  In order to understand how to construct the dome, Brunelleschi studied the Pantheon (Hadrian, 125 AD), and from there incorporated a double shell structure of the dome using herringbone (Opus Spicatum) brickwork into Santa Maria del Fiore.  The underbelly of this construction was to then be painted under the leadership of Vasari.

.

Florence top 5

#5 Boboli Gardens
Beaut in the summer. These gardens belong to the Pitti Palace, the former residence of the Pitti family before the Medici's made it their summer house. Entry can be solely to the gardens or with entry to the Palace and galleries. Cutest place ever, but you need some good shoes if you want to make the most of it. Good value for money and literally a stones throw away from the Ponte Vecchio.

.







#4 San Miniato al Monte
A gorgeous Romanesque church right on top of a hill in Florence. Lovely views, and neighbours a grave yard which houses the massive tombs of rich Floretian families from back in the day (and now). It is a good place to go because of the views and because the church begins to show hints of the proto-renaissance style. Florence is obviously the center of the Renaissance but it's cool to see where the Renaissance came from in the first place! If you time it right, then you will be able to catch the monks singing too which is a scary but unique experience. The name supposedly derives from the name of a saint of whom had his decapitated head rolled up the hill to its final resting place.





#3 Santa Croce
Santa Croce translates into English as the 'Holy Cross'. It is a church dedicated to the Story of the True Cross - where Helena, the mother of the first Christian Emperor of Rome Constantine searches for the cross that Jesus was crucified on. The story is illustrated in Fresco in the main chapel opposite the main entrance. I am unsure of whether the conservation work is yet complete but it's worth a look. What is more, the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo reside here too, alongside the dining room in the convent of the church with the Last Supper by Taddeo Gaddi. If you happen to be in Florence during the Christmas season there is a lovely German inspired Christmas market in the Piazza outside of it too.










#2 Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio was the government house for the brief republic that thrived during the expulsion of the Medici. Needless to say, once they came back in the early 16th century they were not too pleased and held a public execution of the head of the republic (Savonarola) in the middle of the Piazza della Signoria to send the message that they are a force to be reckoned with. Moreover, for those who lurve a good old Dan Brown style conspiracy then the Hall of 500 inside of this building is where there is a supposedly lost Leonardo Da Vinci drawing. My lecturer out there was actually on a research team of whom had found evidence that there was Leonardo's very identifiable pigment behind the Vasari Fresco. Famously behind the Italian phrase 'cerca trova' - he who searches shall find. Outside is also a collection of sculptures both around the perimeters of the building and under the Loggia dei Lanzi. If you're rich as well then you should book the tour of the secret Medici pathway that runs from the Pitti Palace, through the Ponte Vecchio and ending at the Palazzo Vecchio. If you're not rich, like the most of us, then en route to the Pitti Palace you will come across a simple church to your left (if you're coming from the Ponte Vecchio), the entrance is free and once you enter, turn around and look up. The small window is part of the passage way, so that the people using the passage could admire the inside of the church. Once you've seen that, you'll be able to notice the path that the passage way takes: It weaves in and around already built buildings. And Robert Langdon went there.
P.S, if you like art and Florence then I 100% recommend Dan Brown's Inferno - I have never been so excited by a book before!!







#1 Gilded Doors of the Battisero di San Giovanni
It seems as if most people pay more attention to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in the Piazza del Duomo than they do the Baptistery. The doors though deserve more attention because a) they are beautiful and so intricately carved b) they single handedly represent the transition from proto-renaissance to renaissance better than any museum or gallery could and c) because Dan Brown's Robert Langdon hid in there! The doors have been shifted around a bit so that the doors that face the door of the Cathedral (east) are now the Doors of Paradise, when really they were not in the central position to begin with. It is only when they were completed that the patrons decided that Ghiberti's doors deserved to be where they are now. It was originally Pisano's design that resided in its place but has since been moved to the south side of the Baptistery. The first doors were finished in 1336 by Pisano, Ghiberti then completed the second set of doors by the 1420's and then after their success began the long journey to complete the spectacular Doors of Paradise. They deserve a visit, and more than a superficial glance. However, these doors have recently been duplicated and the originals stored in the cathedral museum behind the cathedral for preservation, which is fairly pricey to enter.