The son of a goldsmith, in Florence, Italy, Lorenzo Ghiberti would become one of the most influential
Artists of the early Renaissance.A child prodigy, he received his first commission at age 23. Ghiberti multi-tasked much of his work including the doors for the Florence baptistery and numerous statues. He was a student of humanism and incorporated much of its philosophy into his work.
Lorenzo was born in Pelago, near Florence, Italy, in 1378 (the exact month and day of his birth are unknown). He was well-trained by his father, Bartoluccio Ghiberti, a well-respected goldsmith in Florence. In 1392, he was admitted to the "Silk and Gold" Guild as an apprentice, and by 1398, had passed his examination to become a guild master goldsmith. In 1400, he
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In rendering the doors, Ghiberti adopted the linear grace of the early 15th century gothic style of Florence to the expressive power of the newer Renaissance style. The result was a heightened illusion of depth. Completed and installed in 1424, the doors were so highly praised that the Arte Calimala hired Ghiberti to work on another set of doors.
Over the 20 years that he spent working on the doors, Lorenzo Ghiberti also devoted his time to creating the designs for the stained-glass windows of the Florence cathedral, and served as architectural consultant to the cathedral's building supervisors.
In 1412, the Arte di Calimala gave him another commission: to make a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of their patron saint, John the Baptist, outside the guild's communal building, Or San Michele (also known as Orsanmichele). A bold undertaking, Ghiberti finished the work in 1416 and was quickly commissioned to do two more similar large bronze statues for the guild. To complete all of this work, Ghiberti operated a smoothly functioning workshop with many
Documents indicate that Ghiberti and his stepfather, Bartolo di Michele, signed the contract together. The contract stated that Ghiberti must complete three panels a year. However after several years only four panels were finished, this was due to the number of commissions Ghiberti was working on at one time. Contracts required that the artist work on one piece of art at a time, Ghiberti disregarded what the contract stated, working on numerous pieces at any given time. This prompted the Calimala guild to enforce a new contract that caused Ghiberti to be the sole contractor and held him to stricter terms.
Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the leading architects of the Renaissance period and was known to use the ideal forms. He was also known for rediscovering the principles of linear perspectives during his stay in Rome. His discovery made it possible to make the exact representation of a three-dimensional object on a two dimensional surface. Brunelleschi’s development of spatial representation had an immense effect on art, architecture, and civic design during and after this period. In the year 1407, many architects sought out for advice on the Florence Cathedral dome. Arnolfo and Talenti constructed the cathedral with Gothic characteristics such as pointed arches and ribbed vaults atop piers. They intended to construct a dome nearly reaching
Lorenzo and his humanist circle had a great influence on artist in patronized including Botticelli.
Lorenzo De’Medici, fabulously wealthy, brilliant statesman and equally brilliant patron of the arts. He was quite possibly the greatest single contributor to the Renaissance and it’s fabulous wealth of art. His and his family’s patronage of the arts, amounting to hundreds of thousands of florins allowed artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo to flourish and thrive, creating some of their greatest works with Medici money. Lorenzo was heir to one of the great fortunes of late medieval Europe, through his family’s ownership of the Medici bank. His grandfather, Cosimo enhanced the bank’s power to its apex and its wealth was declining when Lorenzo came to power, but it was still an immensely wealthy organization. Lorenzo assumed unofficial
In the years to come, Raphael painted an additional fresco cycle for the Vatican, located in the stanza d’Eliodoro (“Room of Heliodorus, The miracle of bolsena, The Repulse pf Attila from Rome and the liberation of saint peter. During the same time, the ambitious painter produced a successful series of “Madonna” paintings in his own art studio. The famed Madonna of the chair and Sistine Madonna were among them. By 1514, Raphael had achieved fame for his work at the Vatican and was able to hire a crew of assistants to help him finish painting frescoes in the Stanza dell’Incendio, freeing him up to focus on other projects. While Raphael continued to accept commissions – including portraits of Popes Julius II and Leo X – and his largest painting on canvas, The Transfiguration (commissioned in 1517), he had by this time begun to work on architecture. After architect Donato Bramante died in 1514, the pope hired Raphael as his chief architect. Under this appointment, Raphael created the design for a chapel and an area within Saint Peters new basilica. Raphael’s architectural work was not limited to religious buildings. It also extended to designing
The book that I read was Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King. This book summarized the story of how Filippo Brunelleschi was a genius in architecture during the Renaissance and the mastermind behind creation and completion of the dome in the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral.
Family connections : He was the son of Nicolo di Betto Bardi, a wool merchant in Florence
Alessandro Filipepi most commonly known as Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence, Italy around 1445. Botticelli began studying under Renaissance painter Fra Filippo Lippi at the age of 16 and would go on to become one of the most acclaimed artists in Italy during his lifetime. During the Renaissance, art
The Renaissance was a period of cultural movement and the introduction of cultural heroes, is known as “Renaissance Men”. One of these men was Michelangelo Buenarroti. Michelangelo was a world-wide known painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, who was of great Importance and had a great impact on our modern day culture.
The Renaissance was a period of new development in art and literature. Artists and sculptors used their talents to express their inner most feelings and emotions. They influenced and established many of the methods that we still use to this day. Filippo Lippi, an Italian painter, was no different. He focused most of his art on his religious beliefs such the Seven Saints. Filippo was born in Florence, Italy in 1406 to a middle class family, whom were butchers. His parents died when the boy was at a young age, resulting him into becoming an orphan. Fortunately, his aunt, Mona Lapaccio, took him under her wing. Growing up, he was distracted from his studies and often drew instead.
Lorenzo was born in 1499 and was known as Lorenzo il Magnifico, the Magnificent. Lorenzo continued with his grandfather’s work and funded talented artists such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and also a public art school. Lorenzo was definitely more concerned with his power, popularity, and success rather than the banking business. He married a niece of a cardinal, and to keep his success locked in, Lorenzo married off his daughter to Pope Leo VIII’s son. Lorenzo also bought his son, Giovanni, the role of Cardinal. Giovanni eventually became Pope Leo X. In doing all of this, Lorenzo widened the Medici family’s influence, but he also lessened their personal bank account. Because the amount of money they had was getting smaller and smaller, the Medici power began to weaken. Luckily, Cardinal Giovanni de Medici had become Pope Leo X in 1513. Giovanni, Pope Leo X, was able to make the family wealthy again by selling the freedom from punishment of sins. Starting now, the Medici family turned its attention from the banking business to the business of the church. In 1523, Giulio, son of Giuliano and cousin of Giovanni, became Pope Clement VII. To keep the family full of wealth, Giulio married off his cousin, Catherine, to the heir of the French throne. The Medici family eventually had three French kings through this arrangement. Lorenzo had a great-great-grandson named Cosimo I who was born in 1569. As the Grand Duke of
Michelangelo, renowned Renaissance painter and sculptor, called the doors “The Gates of Paradise,” a golden gateway leading into the Heavens. The name stuck, but more so because of the significance of the doors’ location at The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, Italy, where during the Middle Ages, converts came yearly at the parade dedicated to St. John the Baptist, to be anointed and earn paradise; hence, the “paradise” in The Gates of Paradise (“Baptistery of San Giovanni”). Before naming the work of art though, it had to have first been built. Commissioned to goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1425 by the Arte di Calimala, a guild of wool merchants in Florence, the golden-bronze doors took twenty-seven years to construct and were
Giotto is considered the first artist to be fully immersed in the Renaissance, and the man who truly brought the Renaissance to Florence. He learned from the skills and progress of the artists before him and took their work one step further. By this time, artists were viewed as skilled workers in society, whereas before they had been seen more as craftsmen. It was recognized that creative and intellectual skill were needed to create art, and artists became more educated, prosperous, and prominent in society, and this increased respect allowed the artists to develop their skills further and take greater pride in their work. One of Giotto’s most extensive projects was the Arena Chapel in Padua, which was a series of frescoes lining the walls and ceiling of the chapel. He worked on this for five years, from 1305 to 1310. Giotto was commissioned to paint this chapel by Scrovegni,
Raphael was one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance. Raphael painted and designed many brilliant pieces of work and the stanzas inside the Vatican. He was a master at such necessities of modern art such as depth and perspective and the use of light and shadow, and was the turning point styles of paintings like the use of Madonnas in paintings. Through his short life, Raphael would make some of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, and influential works of art during the Italian Renaissance.
Giovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer born in 1554 and wrote many works in the ‘in between’ stage of Renaissance and Baroque. He was a composer and