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Brunelleschi And Ghiberti: Art Competition In Religious Art

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The number of people researching in the same field and quality of their results often depend on the amount of the project financing and complexity of the demand. In our case, the project was Renaissance, a complex cultural phenomenon of XV -XVIII centuries, flourished due to its extensive financing by the number of wealthy patrons from diverse religious and secular backgrounds. Another factor (out of the scope of today’s discussion task) was a specific political situation advantageous for the arts and science revolution.

In prospering Europe of XV-XVIII centuries, the church lost its status of the sole patron of the arts but still remained the dominant art commissioner. Besides, the royal and otherwise powerful families formed a competing …show more content…

Christianity spread around the world and developed advance structure, involving millions of donors, and that in turn allowed the church to commission large amounts of money for religious needs. Also, the Christian community split and formed Protestantism, and that in turn, forced the rulers of two religious confessions to compete for the audience, persuading the crowd with the help of advancing art techniques and the finest media. There is a ton of decent various scale examples here. Just to name one of them, let’s start with the birth of the Renaissance period, 1401 the Baptistry of Florence door metalwork art competition in Bargello, won by Ghiberti. (“Brunelleschi & Ghiberti, the Sacrifice of Isaac”, n.d.) Italian Popes Julius II and his descendent Leo X led the competition with Florence for the status of the greatest Renaissance patronage. This fight within the same religious confession almost brought the Vatican to bankruptcy but the artists themselves thrived and the art revolution benefited a great deal. Pope Julius II commissioned in such Renaissance masterpieces as frescoes of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, Raphael Rooms (papal apartments in Vatican created by Raphael, see the image below). Trying to generate the money for the St. Peter’s Basilica, he initiated the mass sale of indulgences, absolving the sins in exchange for money, and that in turn has fueled the formation of Protestantism, consequently – protestant Northern Renaissance, and religious symbolism. Thus, “The Fall of the Blind”, allegoric religious painting by Northern Renaissance master Peter Bruegel the Elder’s, is a Biblical parable “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14), symbolizing the painter’s view of the Italian papacy and church. (“Protestant Reformation Art”,

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